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2004 Mercury Monterey transmission complaints

Page 5 of 8: complaints 101 to 130 of 203, newest first, as owners wrote them.

See the summary of 2004 Mercury Monterey transmission problems: which part fails, at what mileage and related recalls.

Filed Oct 30, 2010 · Transmission · 59,700 miles · FL

2004 mercury monterey 59,700 miles and the torque converter went out. Thankfully the vehicle broke down in front of the house. After reviewing a bunch of websites, there should be a recall on this vehicle for this problem. This is a family vehicle sold to the consumers as safe. Hardly, the case!

Filed Oct 22, 2010 · Transmission · 62,000 miles · OH

Without any warning our 2004 mercury monterey had drivetrain issues. We were at a red light and when we went to accelerate the van did not move. We turned it off and waited a few minutes the started it back up. We were then able to park it along the road before the transmission started to not work again. We now are not sure as what to do about it. We can not afford to put money not it to have it repaired. After reading here and on line this seems to be a issue with ford. We called ford and they said to take it to a dealer and have it looked at. I first went to the dealership and they said it would be $75.00 per hour to look at it with a window of 1 to 3 hour cost. And 1 hour minimum fee.

Filed Oct 15, 2010 · Transmission · 88,000 miles · TN

Had transaxle repaired in 2009 for $2,500. Transaxel was replaced. Driving home from nashville to knoxville last night transaxel went out at 70 MPH. Had to coast to a stop. Was smoking when pulled over.

Filed Oct 11, 2010 · Transmission · 105,000 miles · NC

On june 27, 2010 the vehicle lost power to the drive wheels without any warning noises or other physical indicators and without any dashboard indicator lights. Approximate mileage - 105,000. Qualified mechanic advised to replace transmission. A used transmission was obtained and installed by qualified mechanic with the same results on october 8, 2010.

Filed Oct 3, 2010 · Transmission · 178,000 miles · MI

Driving on the highway in our 2004 mercury monterey, the car acted like it went into neutral and had to be coasted onto the shoulder. There was no warning light or indication of any mechanical problem beforehand. After taking it to the dealership, they declared it was a problem with the transmission. All required maintenance had been done on the vehicle. The vehicle is currently at the dealership.

Filed Oct 1, 2010 · Transmission · 12,500 miles · SC

2004 mercury monterey with 120,000, wouldn't move in the middle of long trip. Torque converter stripped out. Started jumping in and out overdrive when finally did move, but blew out seal.

Filed Sep 28, 2010 · Transmission · 116,000 miles · IN

2004 mercury monterey - wife driving down the highway (with one child as a passenger) at 65 MPH. Vehicle lost all ability to accelerate. No gear. Had to coast to the side of the highway (during rush hour) where there was little to no room to even exit the vehicle safely. She was stuck in the vehicle while cars and trucks sped by rapidly often coming close to hitting her. Police were called and also a tow truck. The van had no movement in any gear. Only had park and neutral. Van was towed and the problem was determined to be a failed torque converter. Specifically the splines inside the converter where the shaft coming out of the transmission engages. Repair cost plus tow is $2000. Luckily no one was hurt but it was a very dangerous situation. After some research there is apparently a class action suit against ford on this issue and a the federal safety agency investigation underway (ea09016).

Filed Sep 16, 2010 · Transmission · 86,500 miles · IL

Traveling along rt.270 towards st.louis regional airport at 60 mpr lost go power. Luckily engine continued to run so was able to move out of traffic and pull over on shoulder. Having being pulled to nearest mercury dealer they found the torque converter had gone out worth over $1500.

Filed Sep 14, 2010 · Transmission · 99,500 miles · OH

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 mercury monterey. The contact was driving 35 MPH when the transmission slipped out of gear and would not return to the appropriate gear. The contact was unable to drive the vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired. Neither the dealer nor manufacturer was contacted. The failure and current mileage was 99,500.

Filed Sep 1, 2010 · Transmission · 98,000 miles · TX

We bought a 2004 mercury monterey with 97k miles on it in june 24, 2010...everything was fine until august 11, 2010. I was driving and all of a sudden the car will not accelerate...so I drift to the side of the road and try to get the van to accelerate but nothing happened. I had to get it towed and the transmission guy took it apart and said the torque converter needs replaced it went out...we are still waiting to see if our extended warranty covers it if not it will be 1400-1600 bucks to get it fixed. I mean we had not even had it for two months yet. I started researching and found alot of complaints on it and still nothing has been done. Thanks goodness no one in my family got hurt, what will it take to get them to recall this problem and to keep people safe?

Filed Aug 30, 2010 · Transmission · 62,000 miles · MI

Driving home from west side of state to east sideof state and had cruise control on. Had my 2 year old, 4 year old and 5 year old and wife in car. Engine was at 2300rpm and around 65mph. Cruise control was engaging power to maintain 65mph and then RPM flared up to 4000rpm and all loss of power. I was on freeway and barely was able to pull over. Was half on shoulder and part on white lane marker. Could not get car to drive off lane. People were honking and was worried that we would get hit. Could not get kids out of car because of dangerous objects from moving car tires passing by. I have no power in reverse drive, second or 1st. Its like being in neutral with engine revving and no movement. Please advise.

Filed Aug 29, 2010 · Transmission · 75,000 miles · MI

2004 mercury monterey lost power while driving 65mph on freeway. I was able to coast to the next exit ramp and called a tow truck. Van is at mechanic, but I suspect it is a bad torque converter.

Filed Aug 10, 2010 · Transmission · 67,000 miles · IL

2004 mercury monterey has had power train automatic transmission replaced twice and only has about 67,000 miles on it.

Filed Aug 8, 2010 · Driver assistance, Transmission · 41,600 miles · VA

Incident first occurred on 6/20/2010, on I-64. I was driving our 2004 mercury monterey when I realized that the transmission had slipped from d3 to d2. I stopped van and it worked fine after restarting, but was afraid to use it; only used several times for short trips in the interim - no problems, however, with the transmission. Took to dealer on 7/30 - 41,779 miles - extended warranty (esp) expired 2/5/10. Dealer replaced transmission range sensor and brake pressure switch at a cost of $325.22, including diagnostic check. Dealer also flushed and filled transmission - twice to remove water - cost: $184.87. I asked for the old parts - dealer did not return them. Picked up vehicle on 8/1/10; transmission worked fine, but the traction control system (tcs) light turned on and stayed on. Did not drive until 8/6 when I took it tire shop to have tires replaced - no cruise control and the tcs light was on. The service manager at the tire shop checked alldatapro.com and found a tsb that indicated that ford had learned that some 2004-2007 freestar and monterey transmissions had water/moisture problems causing problems with the tcs, among other things. Also, in checking other complaints reported to the federal safety agency, found one where a ford dealer noted that a transmission seal had failed allowing water to enter computer (transmission range sensor?) causing both computer and transmission to fail. On 8/7, found that dealer had not reconnected cruise control, and noticed that the tcs light turned on after depressing the brake twice. Then noticed that the transmission would not shift to drive 3 - stayed in d2 - back to the original problem from 6/20! Stopped and started van again, no change in the transmission, and the tcs light turned on after pressing brake twice. Have not tried to drive the car today, and now, after reading many of the complaints regarding transmission failures in 2004 montereys, I'm not sure if I should even attempt to drive it the 38 miles back to the dealer.

Filed Jul 17, 2010 · Transmission · 36,898 miles · KS

While on the highway and accelerating to pass a car, about 65 MPH, transmission failed, and had to coast vehicle over to the side of road and stopped. In park, revved engine and no engagement of transmission was realized. Had to tow car to ford_mercury dealer. Dealer replaced transmission-do not know if old transmission is available.

Filed Jul 15, 2010 · Transmission · 64,000 miles · NC

Our 2004 mercury monterey has approx.64,000. On july 7,2010 the torque converter output shaft failed. The vehicle is now having to have the transmission rebuilt. Approximate cost $3,000.

Filed Jul 14, 2010 · Transmission · 75,000 miles · FL

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 mercury monterey. The contact stated while driving at an unknown speed, the torque converter failed and caused the contact to momentarily lose control of the vehicle. The contact was able to stop the vehicle without incident. The dealer advised that the torque converter would need to be replaced at the contacts expense. There was not a recall for the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileages were 75,000.

Filed Jul 9, 2010 · Transmission · 44,000 miles · MI

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 mercury monterey. The contact stated that while driving 70 MPH the vehicle suddenly stop accelerating. The contact was able to drive the vehicle onto the emergency lane and call a tow truck. The vehicle was towed to a local mechanic who stated that the transmission was destroyed. The manufacturer stated that since there were no recalls, or related warranties that there was nothing that they could do. The contact was concerned about the safety risk as well as the possibility that a crash could occur. The failure mileage was 40,000.

Filed Jun 30, 2010 · Transmission · 30,000 miles · PA

5 days after a wonderful vacation (in which I used my 2004 mercury monterey van), I was driving to work when I felt a shifting in the front of the vehicle as I was turning a corner. I knew something was wrong right away and pulled (coasted) into a parking space. Luckily, I was on a side street and not a highway. I put car in park and listened and waited for a moment. When I shifted into reverse to leave the parking space, nothing happened. I tried forward and reverse a few more times, I turned off the air conditioning and made sure the radio was still working. The car would still not change gears. Had the car towed ($75) and needed a new (rebuilt) transmission - $2,300. Warranty expired a few months ago, so it was all out of pocket. It took a week to fix the vehicle, so I was without a car for that period of time. I have 30,000 mi. On the car. I have no confidence left when I drive this van now and there's no way I can afford a new vehicle right now. These are family vans and I wonder when mercury/ford will own up to this problem?? It's quite scary.

Filed Jun 25, 2010 · Transmission · 78,000 miles · NY

Own a 2004 mercury monterey with a rebuilt tranny when bought. 3 young kids under age 3. Transmission just went while driving with all 3 kids. Thank god no-one was hurt! This is a known problem. Why is there no recall????

Filed May 18, 2010 · Transmission · 88,023 miles · OH

With no warning, our van would not go into any gear. We were fortunate to be just pulling away when transmission disengaged and not on the highway. After investigating problem, seems mechanic will have to replace/rebuild transmission.

Filed May 17, 2010 · Transmission · 105,000 miles · TX

My family owns a 2004 mercury monterey. While driving through mountainous highway conditions, our transmission failed. Even though the dash has warning lights, there was no warning when we lost all motive power at highway speeds. We were fortunate to make it to the side of the road without being run down by the numerous semi trucks that were close on our tail pipe going up a hill. We were more than 100 miles from home, so decided to get the repairs done in the nearest large city. We were told the transmission was useless and we needed to replace it or have it rebuilt. Our vehicle had 105k miles when this break-down occurred. The mechanic found a suitable replacement transmission from a vehicle that had been in a rear-end collision, and it only had 38k miles. We chose to have the transmission replaced with the used part that only had 38k miles. Of course, the mechanic kept all the old parts, and I was never in a position to see the work in progress. I was not given any specific information about the other vehicle's make and model other than the fact that it was not a mercury monterey. After doing some research, I now have concluded that it was most likely a ford freestar transmission we received as a replacement part. It has been 2-1/2 years and 22k more miles since this incident (equaling 60k total miles on the replacement transmission), and we are now taking this vehicle back into the shop again because of more transmission problems. Is there anything anyone can do?

Filed May 13, 2010 · Transmission · 63,000 miles · IL

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 mercury monterey. While driving at 35 MPH, the trans axle light illuminated which indicated that there was a failure within the automatic transmission. The torque converter output shaft lines were stripping which caused a sudden loss of power to the drivetrain. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealership where the torque converter and torque converter clutch was partially replaced. The failure occurred again; the dealer then stated that the entire transmission needed to be replaced. The failure mileage was approximately 63,000. The current mileage was approximately 100,370.

Filed May 8, 2010 · Transmission · 53,000 miles · OH

We have a 2004 mercury monterey with a little over 50k miles and my husband was traveling out of state and after a few hours of driving on the highway the transmission stopped working. He is now stranded in another state 5 hours from home and 6 hours from his destination with 3 children. Something has to be done about this.

Filed Apr 29, 2010 · Engine, Transmission · 94,365 miles · NC · fire

While driving my daughter to school this morning, I felt like the accelerator seemed to slip, I had to stop for a bus stop as this happened. When the bus moved and I could go I pushed the gas and the engine revved but the car wouldn't move. There were numerous cars behind me on a narrow two lane road. Fortunately a gentleman offered to push me off the road, I thought I was going to have to have a twelve year old boy get behind the wheel so I could push the van off the road. I had to have the van towed home, and am currently trying to figure out what to do. I just had to have the compressor and fan replaced on this vehicle. This is just one more problem in a long line of problems I have had with this van. This is the worst car I have ever owned. Based on the complaints I've now found on this van same year and model I believe my next step is to contact my senator, this ranks right up there with the toyota recalls. I'm frankly very surprised there have been no recalls yet for this lemon. I thought I was just unlucky but I see I'm far from the only one suffering from these problems. By the way this van has approximately 94k miles. Not what I would call high mileage.

Filed Apr 24, 2010 · Transmission · 77,450 miles · AZ

Going up a hill (56 MPH zone) on a clear sunny day, light traffic. On the way down our 2004 mercury monterey van was placed into cruise control. After a minute RPM shot up and lost momentum, coasted to right shoulder, all of the transmission fluid spilled over the road and into other vehicles. First occurrence, no warning, no accident due to light traffic. Stranded about 40 miles away from home vehicle towed to a dealership. Transmission replaced.

Filed Apr 15, 2010 · Transmission · 52,000 miles · OK

No prior warning, working fine then not working at all... Will not go into gear (engine will rev, you can shift to reverse, or drive but nothing). Transmission failure on my mercury monterey 2004. I have not corrected the problem as of yet dealership says new transmission cost is $3500.

Filed Apr 14, 2010 · Transmission · 51,000 miles · MD

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 mercury monterey. The contact applied the brakes at speeds of 30 MPH. She then attempted to regain speed but the vehicle would not accelerate. The vehicle was towed to her residence and then to an independent mechanic. The mechanic stated that the transmission had failed and would need to be replaced. The failure and current mileages were approximately 51,000.

Filed Apr 13, 2010 · Transmission · 112,000 miles · PA

2004 mercury monterey had torque converter/transmission failure during acceleration on the highway. There are reports of over 3,000 on the nhtsb website and only 32,000 vehicles were produced, so this is occurring in over 10% of these vehicles. I don't understand why these vehicles are still on the road and not being recalled by your agency.

Filed Apr 7, 2010 · Transmission · 80,313 miles · GA

Transmission is slipping during acceleration in 2004 mercury monterey with less than 80,000 miles making it dangerous to drive. This started recently and was first noticed driving up hills, but now is occurring on level highways.

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