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2006 Mercury Monterey problems

The most common problem on the 2006 Mercury Monterey is transmission and drivetrain, typically around 86,778 miles. It has fewer complaints than a typical Monterey model year.

Typical yearClose to a typical year
Year score
89/100
Owner complaints
44
Recalls
2
Service bulletins
14
Worst area
Transmission
Fuel economy
17mpg

The worst 2006 Mercury Monterey problems

Ranked by number of owner complaints. Mileage and cost come from what owners wrote.

Problems by type

Tap a problem to see which part fails, at what mileage and in which other years.

  • Transmission
    34
  • Brakes
    4
  • Acceleration
    3
  • Engine
    3
  • Driver assistance
    2
  • Electrical
    2
  • Body
    1
  • Fuel system
    1
  • Seats
    1
  • Steering
    1

Specific symptoms reported on the 2006 Mercury Monterey

Stalling 6

Recalls 2

SeatsReported March 7, 2013 · 196,667 vehicles affected
What is wrong
Ford is recalling certain model year 2004-2007 Freestar and Mercury Monterey vehicles manufactured from March 24, 2003, through November 7, 2006, equipped with a third row seat and originally sold in, or currently registered in, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia. The third row stowable seat can experience corrosion and structural degradation at the seat anchor mechanism mounted to the rear wheel wells. As a result of the corrosion, the third row seat may not fully latch into its seating position.
Risk
In the event that the vehicle is crashed into from the rear, an unlatched seat may increase the risk of personal injury.
Remedy
Ford will notify owners, and dealers will install new third row seat latch striker mounting brackets, free of charge. The recall began on March 28, 2013. Owners may contact Ford Motor Company Customer Relationship Center at 1‑866‑436‑7332.

Recall number 13V081000 · Recall details

Structure: body: hatchback/liftgateReported March 9, 2006 · 12,728 vehicles affected
What is wrong
On certain vans equipped with the power liftgate option, the power liftgate motor automatically disengages after the liftgate is powered open.
Risk
In the event of a liftgate strut malfunction, the liftgate can fall freely with no prior warning. Anyone standing beneath the liftgate may be injured if the liftgate falls.
Remedy
Dealers will reprogram the power liftgate module to reduce the likelihood that the liftgate could fall free of charge. The recall began on march 15, 2006. Owners may contact ford at 1‑800‑392‑3673.

Recall number 06V069000 · Recall details

See all 2 recalls for the 2006 Mercury Monterey

Defect investigations

Stabilus Rear Liftgate Struts FailingOpened September 28, 2012, closed December 31, 2012

Please see the attached closing resume summary.It has been attached to this document as a PDF.

EQ12010

Corrosion of Third-Row Seat AttachmentOpened April 23, 2012, closed May 2, 2013

Ford is conducting a safety recall to repair the third-row seat's latch mechanisms in approximately 196,667 model year (MY) 2004 through 2007 Ford Freestar and Mercury Monterey vehicles (see the federal safety agency recall 13V‑081 for more details).The recall covers vehicles originally sold, or currently registered, in the salt belt states or high corrosion areas of the United States: Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.Approximately 100,000 remaining MY 2004-2007 Freestar and Monterey vehicles--those vehicles that were not originally sold, or are not currently registered, in salt belt states--are not included in the recall action. Although these vehicles are the same as the ones described above, they experience significantly lower failure rates because of reduced road salt exposure.ODI is currently aware of only one complaint on vehicle outside of the recall scope.ODI will monitor complaints and take further action if warranted by the circumstances.For owners of vehicles that are outside of the recall scope but exhibit the defect condition, owners (and affected Ford dealers) can contact Ford to request the recall repair.This Engineering Analysis is closed.See attached report and associated recall file for additional information.The ODI reports cited above can be reviewed online at http://www-odi.the federal safety agency.dot.gov/owners/Searchreference under the following identification numbers: 10399896, 10410491, 10420028, 10424850, 10433928, 10436592, 10438529, 10440616, 10441489, 10441641, 10442809, 10446564, 10450295, 10450559, 10450587, 10452933, 10453826, 10454977, 10455545, 10456985, 10457423, 10457910, 10458738, 10459042, 10460511, 10461074, 10462910, 10463126, 10463262, 10463366, 10463600, 10464243, 10467003, 10467680, 10468429, 10469188, 10469200, 10470216, 10470510, 10471280, 10471520, 10471813, 10471978, 10472514, 10473087, 10473159, 10477025, 10477387, 10477954, 10478449, 10479247, 10479758, 10480611, 10480665, 10481054, 10481412, 10482213, 10482236, 10482613, 10482620, 10487872, 10489445, 10490515, 10490641, 10490663, 10490744, 10491495, 10492220, 10493470, 10493572, 10496348, 10497631, 10497976, 10498310, 10498433, 10499681, 10499861, 10500495.

EA12003

Engine StallingOpened August 23, 2010, closed July 15, 2011

The subject vehicles suffered from a design issue whereby water could run down onto the cowling under the hood and located in the area of the windshield wipers and then drip onto a computer module, the Powertrain Control Module (PCM), which could be manifested in a variety of symptoms depending on which part of the circuit board became wet or which of the connector pins shorted out.In addition to causing an engine to stall, which may or may not then restart, the water intrusion could also cause the transmission to shift poorly, the vehicle to have erratic power, a malfunction indicator light to come on, or result in an inability to start the vehicle, an inability to shift the vehicle into either forward or reverse. Also the problem could cause a higher than normal idle RPM in Park, or for the radio to malfunction, or the interior lights to stay on.During this investigation ODI was concerned with the effect of the engine stalling or a drastic and sudden loss of power either of which may create a safety risk.In reviewing the actual number of these types of incidents, collectively referred to here as engine stalls, the number was found to be below what would be considered a defect trend.For example, the number of engine stalls identified in Ford's warranty claims for the model year (MY) 2004 subject vehicles, the MY with the most failures, was 200 out of population of 125,865, for a failure rate of 0.16%.The one crash recorded by a complainant to the federal safety agency, VOQ 10311522, alleged that the engine stalled, due to water intrusion into the PCM, while the road was turning causing her to go off the road and according to the police report the vehicle then hit an embankment and a tree stump. Ford reported in their response that there were three alleged crashes but none of these were validated as being caused by a problem with water intrusion into the PCM causing a stall.Accordingly 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.

PE10033

Technical service bulletins for the 2006 Mercury Monterey 14

Bulletins tell dealers how to fix known problems. A warranty extension means the manufacturer pays for that repair for longer.

See all 14 bulletins for the 2006 Mercury Monterey

2006 Mercury Monterey fuel economy

Official EPA estimates in miles per gallon (MPGe for electric). Ranges cover trims that share the same engine.

EngineDriveCityHighwayCombined
4.2L 6‑cylFWD152117

What 2006 Mercury Monterey owners say

Most recent owner complaints, unedited.

Filed Nov 1, 2020 · Transmission · 180,000 miles · CA

I was driving down the road at approx. 30-35 MPH, when all of a sudden a high pitched squealing sound, occured and my vehicle would not accelerate forward anymore. I coasted into a parking lot, put the vehicle in park, and then shifted the car into r,d, and od and nothing engaged... This happened on a city street...had it towed to repair shop and was told it was something with my transmission, but they didnt say what, only that is was going to cost $2250 to replace it.....had it towed home..not repaired

Filed Apr 20, 2020 · Transmission · 167,195 miles · AL

My 2006 mercury mmonterey started jumping while going down the road and making a noise when you press the gas. Mechanic said it was the tcc selenoid so we replaced it an that did not fix the issue so took it backto find the torque conveter is bad.

Filed Dec 1, 2019 · Transmission · 126,000 miles · AL

My family was traveling on the I-65 south interstate and the van, 2006 mercury monterey, stop responding in the middle of fast traffic. It took me by total surprise. The engine was still running. So, I initially thought it had accidently went in neutral but that wasn't the case. I tried a lower gear with not luck. Not wanting to be stuck in the middle of the interstate I then turned on my hazard lights and frantically maneuvered the van to the side of the busy interstate road. Once on the side of the road my husband tried every gear and the van wasn't responding in any of them. We ended up getting it towed to our house. After we got home my husband started researching the problem because he had never heard of a vehicle stop responding like that without any warning signs. He said this has to be vehicle defect and looked up recalls for the van on the federal safety agency.org website. There wasn't a recall for this issue but there were plenty of complaints about this exact safety issue. After doing more research we found that the 2004 model of this van had the same issue which ford did do a recall for the torque converter. The ford company needs to be immediately notified that this is also a big safety issue with the 2006 model. One the reasons my husband bought the vehicle was because it was built by ford and he trusted their products. I hope ford will take the complaint seriously and stand behind their product and get this safety issue with the torque converter on the mercury monterey 2006 vehicles resolved quickly.

Filed Jun 17, 2019 · Transmission · 141,000 miles · VA

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 mercury monterey. While driving 70 MPH, the vehicle failed to respond as the accelerator pedal was being depressed. Also, the rpms increased to high. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who stated that the torque converter was stripped. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and did not assist. The failure mileage was 141,000.

Filed Jun 8, 2019 · Transmission · 88,000 miles · MI

Our van was driving just fine and suddenly, with no warning at all, went into neutral, stopping in an intersection. The vehicle only has around 88000 miles on it. It was towed to the dealer, and the lincoln dealer diagnosed that the torque converter had failed. I noticed ford had already recalled all of the 2004 freestars and 2005 montereys for this problem, but yet somehow my 2006 with a september 2005 build date was not part of the recall. So guess what? Ford knowingly left me in an unsafe vehicle, and now I'm responsible for the repair bill. Ford so very clearly knew about the problem and never corrected the problem by the time by vehicle was built. The federal safety agency needs to encourage ford to recall all the 2006 and probably all the 2007s as well. Ford should be paying for my repair, not me.

Filed Aug 23, 2018 · Transmission · 121,000 miles · IN

Driving down the street...lost all forward movement. Everything was running, just no engament of transmission

Filed Apr 15, 2018 · Transmission · 116,464 miles · WA

Takata inflators. Driving in traffic without warning vehicle just stops moving in heavy traffic.believe solenoid to drive tranny is faulty.

Filed Feb 23, 2018 · Transmission · 150,000 miles · NC

I was driving down the road, just normal driving, posted speed or below,. Had gas pedal down and suddenly the vehicle has no power. Had to push to the side. Can move gear shift, but car doesn't go into any direction, forward or backward.

Filed Jun 17, 2017 · Acceleration, Transmission · 93,000 miles · FL

Transmission problem its racing also the cruse control speed up more than it should my family and are not safe when going on a long road trip how would you feel having a break down in the middle of no where and on the high way because of the bad transmission you put in the vehicle please fix it please

Filed May 23, 2017 · Transmission · 71,080 miles · FL

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 mercury monterey. While driving 20 MPH, the vehicle failed to accelerate without warning. The vehicle was towed to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the torque converter failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 71,080.

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Other model years

2004200520062007

Questions about the 2006 Mercury Monterey

Is the 2006 Mercury Monterey reliable?

Owners have filed 44 complaints about the 2006 Mercury Monterey, fewer than a typical Monterey model year.

What is the 2006 Mercury Monterey year score?

The 2006 Mercury Monterey scores 89 out of 100 (good). The score compares it with the other model years of the Mercury Monterey: 75 is a typical year, 50 means twice the usual complaints, and serious complaints and recalls lower it.

What is the most common problem with the 2006 Mercury Monterey?

Transmission and drivetrain, with 34 complaints, typically around 86,778 miles. Next is brakes (4).

How many recalls does the 2006 Mercury Monterey have?

2 recalls, covering seats and structure.

What year does the Mercury Monterey have bad transmission?

The Mercury Monterey model years with the most transmission complaints are 2004 (203 complaints), 2005 (97 complaints) and 2006 (34 complaints).

What gas mileage does the 2006 Mercury Monterey get?

Official estimates for the 2006 Mercury Monterey range from 17 mpg combined. The most efficient version (4.2L 6-cyl, FWD) gets 15 city and 21 highway.

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