While driving, I came to a stop light and suddenly, the car idled high and lurched forward while my foot was on the brake, luckily, I was stopped well away from the vehicle in front of me. The car idled high and seemed to have a mind of it's own. I took the back roads home and backed into our garage. The car smelled hot, and I though I had smoked my brakes, trying to keep control of it. Later that night, I told my husband about the car's actions and he did not believe me, though my daughter who was with me at the time confirmed that the car had indeed accelerated on it's own. My husband started the car and it did idle high and get hot once again, although only parked with no one in it. He thought he knew what the problem was and we turned off the car and closed the hood and went inside to order the part. A few minutes later, we heard a couple popping noises and I opened the door that led into the garage from the basement. Smoke was coming into the house and my husband said that a flame shot over my head. The car had caught on fire under the closed hood. We called the fire department, but by the time they arrived, a good portion of the basement was on fire. The house was a total loss. My husband though that the pvc elbow under the hood was sticking closed, so that is the part we were going to order. Unsure, if that was the real cause or not. The car did not have any warning lights or any other indications of a problem before this incident.
2004 Mercury Grand Marquis engine problems
13 complaints (4% of all complaints for this car). Typical mileage when it fails: 100,000.
- owner complaints
- 13
- of this car's complaints
- 4%
- typical mileage
- 100,000
- crashes
- 0
- recalls
- 0
Which part fails
- Exhaust system: manifold/header/muffler/tail pipe4
- Engine1
At what mileage
Complaints by mileage at the time of the problem.
Mercury Grand Marquis engine problems in other years
Specific symptoms reported on the 2004 Mercury Grand Marquis engine
Phrases found in the owners' own descriptions, so one complaint can mention several symptoms.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Related investigations
Steering Column Shaft Obstruction
On July 7, 2014 the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a preliminary evaluation based on five complaints (VOQs) alleging incidents ofinterference between dislodged exhaust manifold heat shields and the lower steering shaft/knuckle, including one alleging the interference resulted in a crash on a highway entrance ramp. Since opening this investigation, ODI has received four additional owner complaints.One indicated that the shield was removed before binding could occur.The other three occurred at low speed and produced some momentary steering binding that was overcome by the driver when additional steering effort was applied.Once the shield was repaired or removed, the steering returned to normal.The single incident ODI identified as a possible crash (VOQ No. 10578715) related to this condition could not be verified and the description of the crash in the complaint was not supported by the police accident report.No additional crash allegations have been identified related to the alleged defect condition.Information provided by Ford in its September 10, 2014 response to ODI's information request letter identified 10 additional incidents resulting in a low rate of 1.6 incidents per 100,000 vehicles sold in vehicles ranging from 7 to 11 years in service.Six of these incidents were reported by a single source, a state police fleet that corrected the problems in March 2011 and has not reported any additional failures since.Ford also reported 5 warranty claims, but these incidents occurred at very low mileages and appeared to be caused by loose or missing heat shield attachment hardware rather than the corrosion condition that was the cause of the more recent incidents and the focus of this investigation.This investigation is closed. The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by the federal safety agency that a safety-related defect does not exist. The Agency will continue to monitor complaints and other information relating to the alleged defect in the subject vehicles and take further action in the future if warranted.The following VOQs are associated with this investigation:10643753, 10615584, 10611362, 10610451, 10578715, 10479681, 10471833, 10317493.
PE14021
Spark plug ejection from cylinder head
On september 6, 2005, odi received a petition requesting that the agency investigate allegations of engine spark plug ejection in certain model year 1997 through 2004 ford vehicles with triton v-8 and v-10 engines.odi received a total of 474 non-duplicative complaints on the subject vehicles where the complainant, or the dealer repairing the vehicle, reported that a spark plug detached from the cylinder and/or ejected from the engine.as of december 8, 2005, odi is not aware of any allegations where the alleged defect resulted in a loss of vehicle control, a crash, an injury, or a fatality in any of the 10,319,810 subject vehicles.in addition, odi is aware of only two incidents where the vehicle stalled without restart.information contained in the odi consumer complaints and obtained from 72 telephone interviews with complainants showed the following:(1) 99% of the complaints were on my 1997 to 2002 subject vehicles.(2) most the complainants reported hearing a loud pop while driving or upon starting up the vehicle followed by a loud, repetitive clicking or popping sound.(3) many of the complainants reported that the popping sound was accompanied by some loss of vehicle power; however, in 99% of the incidents reported, the vehicle did not stall.in the very few incidents where the vehicle did stall, most vehicles could be restarted.(4) only a small percentage of the complainants cited that they smelled gas or a slight burning smell when the incident occurred.(5) in all but a very few incidents, vehicle damage was limited to the engine.in one incident, the complaint reported that the fuel rail was damaged and replaced after one of the spark plugs ejected from the engine; however, the complainant reported that the damage did not result in any type of fuel leak or fire.in another incident, the only incident where a fire was alleged, the complainant reported that no fluid leak was observed, but that a fire resulted after the spark plug had ejected from the engine and he had restarted the vehicle and driven to another location.none of the complainants reported any damage to the vehicle hood.(6) only two complainants reported that they observed what appeared to be some drops of fuel coming from the cylinder where the spark plug had failed or on the spark plug itself; however, each of these complainants reported that there was no smoke or flames as a result of his incident.as the petitioner noted, and odi?s analysis showed, it is possible for a spark plug to detach from the engine cylinder threads in the subject vehicles.however, odi?s analysis of 474 complaints describing such incidents found only a very few alleged any safety-related consequences.none of these showed any evidence of a serious safety consequence.given the large population and relatively long exposure time of the subject vehicles, the complaint analysis indicates that the risk to motor vehicle safety from the alleged defect is very low.in view of the foregoing, it is unlikely that the federal safety agency would issue an order for the notification and remedy of the alleged defect at the conclusion of the investigation requested in the petition.therefore, in view of the need to allocate and prioritize the federal safety agency?s limited resources to best accomplish the agency?s safety mission, the petition is denied.
DP05005
What 2004 Mercury Grand Marquis owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
The contact owns a 2004 Mercury Grand Marquis. The contact stated that she noticed a leak underneath her vehicle with the check engine and coolant warning lights illuminated. The contact had taken the vehicle to an independent mechanic where it was discovered that coolant had been leaking from a crack in the intake manifold. The dealer nor the manufacturer had been notified of the failure. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 150,000.
I was driving at a speed of 45mph on a county road in rush hour traffic when my car's engine light came on simultaneously as power of vehicle slowed while making a rattle type noise and cab smelled strongly of gas. I rolled windows down pulled over within a block to a napa store. The employee told me they do not run diagnostics and I would have to take it somewhere. I drove slowly to a 2nd auto parts store 1 mile away to run diagnostics. Once done, diagnostics identified a miss-fire on spark plug #2. Had vehicle towed to home and took 'heli-coil' off and spark plug came out with it damaged. The heli coil was also damaged. The threads of spark plug was flattened three threads from bottom. Contacted auto parts store again where the technician told me that ford has been having problems with there triton spark plugs blowing out on the 5.4l engines that they only screw in 3 threads into the head of the engine and there were pending lawsuits. The next day I called ford dealership and spoke with the acting service manager. "he told me there was nothing he could do about it and I should call customer care of ford: 800‑392‑3673. I did and rep. Told me there was no recall and my vehicle and it was out of warranty at 101,100.mi. There was nothing they could do. In the event there were to be a re-call to save my receipts and ford would reimburse me. I read about the problems that multiple customers were or had had regarding the same problem with a few vehicles leaking gas with the problem. This is all happening when the cars, trucks and suvs exceeds 100,000miles. I feel this is not only poor manufacturing of an inferior aluminum casing and spark plug and also not enough threads to hold the spark plug in safely. To have it jump out allows gas to also be expelled onto the cars remaining parts and vapors could ignite causing the car to potentially catch fire.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 mercury grand marquis. While driving 30 MPH, smoke emitted from the engine compartment of the vehicle. Upon inspection, the contact noticed that there was no coolant in the vehicle. The coolant was replenished and the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the intake manifold had fractured and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 mercury grand marquis. The contact stated that the exterior headlamps independently failed. The contact stated that the headlamps would sporadically work after a period of time. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. Prior to the failure, the intake manifold leaked anti-freeze. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was confirmed that the intake manifold needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failures. The failure mileage was 96,794.
The left hand (driver side) heat shield that covers the exhaust manifold has completely rusted at the bolting points causing the cover to dislodge and drag against the steering shaft . Several times while turning at intersections, especially when making left turns, the steering would temporarily lock up for a few seconds making turning extremely hazardous. Once I almost struck another vehicle due to the steering being locked while turning. I initially suspected low power steering fluid but fluid checked correct and pump seems to be working fine. I did not notice the rusted cover pinned between the steering shaft and manifold until I removed the engine cover and air intake tubing to access the spark plugs. I removed the rusted shield and the car turns just fine now. I have the rusted shield available for inspection if needed. Thanks
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 mercury grand marquis. The contact noticed that the vehicle continuously leaked coolant. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where they stated that the intake manifold needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified, but did not disclose that the part was modified from plastic to metal. The contact experienced multiple leaks before the part was modified to metal. The approximate failure mileage was 85,000. Remailed 08/18/14*lj updated 9/18/14*cn updated 02/11/2015
I had what seems to be a simple coolant leak but it turned out to be the plastic intake manifold cracked. Putting a plastic part on top of a motor seems to me a failure of engineering on the part of ford. I did not receive any call back for this part. I did some searching on the web and found that many ford owners had the same problem. I plan to call ford company on monday. Do you have any info for me on this subject. Thank you.
Tl* the contact owns a 2002 buick rendezvous. The contact started the ignition and the temperature gauge displayed a hot level reading with the illumination of the coolant warning indicator. The engine began to overheat. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where they replaced the head gasket. The VIN was unavailable. The failure mileage was 96,000.
2004 mercury marquis 4.6 l engine. Spark plug blew out while driving, creating significant safety hazard because of loss of power and presence of combustible gasoline fumes. This is a safety hazard!
Questions about the 2004 Mercury Grand Marquis engine
Does the 2004 Mercury Grand Marquis have engine problems?
Owners have filed 13 complaints about the engine of the 2004 Mercury Grand Marquis, 4% of all its complaints.
At what mileage do 2004 Mercury Grand Marquis engine problems start?
The typical (median) mileage in owner complaints is 100,000 miles.
Was there a recall on the 2004 Mercury Grand Marquis engine?
There is no recall for this problem on this model year.
What year does the Mercury Grand Marquis have bad engine?
The Mercury Grand Marquis model years with the most engine complaints are 1997 (126 complaints), 1996 (86 complaints) and 1999 (33 complaints).
Other 2004 Mercury Grand Marquis problems
Lights 209Steering 65Electrical 40Acceleration 23Visibility 11Transmission 9Body 8Brakes 7Airbags 6Fuel system 6Tires 5Suspension 3Locks 2Wheels 1
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