2004 Mercury Monterey: transmission slipping

Filed Aug 11, 2012 · Transmission · 115,180 miles · PA

About 5 or 6 months ago we started to notice that my car is jerking when it drives - especially when accelerating and going up hill, but will do it at other times as well. It seems as if maybe the transmission is slipping or something is not 'catching' as it's trying to accelerate. We received a recall notice about the power train so we assume that this may have to do with the recall, but are still waiting for word of a fix for this issue.

Filed Jun 5, 2012 · Transmission · 51,162 miles · OH

2004 mercury monterey. Consumer writes in regards to a defective transmission *tgw the consumer stated he noticed the transmission was starting to slip. In may of 2008 the vehicle would not go forward or backward. The vehicle was towed to a repair shop where the transmission was replaced at a cost of $ 1985.00. The consumer received a recall notice in the mail regarding the defective transmission. The notice also stated if the torque converter had already been replaced, that addressed the specific issue, he may be eligible for reimbursement.

Filed Jun 4, 2011 · Transmission · 64,775 miles · WA

We are the owners of a 2004 mercury monterey with just over 64,000 miles on it. I was shocked when my wife called me on the evening of june 3rd, 2011 and told me that she had gotten into the van, started it and tried to go in reverse and the van wouldn't move. She then put it into "drive" and it seemed to work fine for a few minutes and then it made an awful clunking sound a few times and lost power as she was driving near our home heading toward the freeway. I immediately knew it was a problem with the components of the transmission. Thankfully no one was injured as she was traveling at slow speeds on surface streets just before making it onto the freeway. It scares me to think what could have happened had the problem not occurred until 5 minutes later when she would have been traveling at 60 MPH on the freeway. Prior to the incident, there were no other signs that the transmission was having problems, no slipping or missing gears. It had always driven very smoothly. I got online and found that there were many stories like mine with the 2004-5 mercury monterey/ford freestar. I'll be having my van towed to our mechanic on monday, june 5th so I can find out the extent of the damage and cost. I won't be surprised when they tell me it is the torque converter from what I have been reading from others with my same mini-van. The van currently won't shift into reverse, idles horribly and barely shifts into drive.

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 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 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.

Filed Jan 30, 2010 · Transmission · 45,000 miles · MI

My mercury monterey 2004 transmission surges an slipped while traveling down the highway an sometimes in reverse when backing out of driveway it has 45,600 miles and is under warranty till april 22 2010 ,I will be going to the shop for repairs or service next week.

Filed Jul 11, 2008 · Transmission · 69,000 miles · OH

Driving home from a family road trip, car began slipping and went into neutral. Will not go into drive or reverse. No accident, but very close calls during stop and go traffic on the way home. Very stressful situation for a 2004 mercury monterey with 69,000 miles on it.

Filed Jan 4, 2008 · Transmission · 46,000 miles · VA

I was driving along at about 40 MPH when my 2004 mercury monterey suddenly slipped out of gear and began slowing down. Fortunately I was able to pull off the main road onto a side street so the car could coast to a stop. According to two seperate ford dealerships the problem is with the transmission. Both dealerships claim the entire transmission needs to be repaired at my expense for a cost of $3500. The car only has 46,000 miles on it. Upon searching the internet I discovered that this is a problem that ford has known about for some time and they refuse to issue a recall. The reason that the transmission has to be replaced is due to the thousands of transmission failures there are no parts to repair the problem. This is an expensive repair that is not the fault of the owner. There should be a recall by ford to repair these transmissions. *cn duplicate to 10231864 *smch