Mercury Monterey won't shift problems

Filed Aug 7, 2017 · Transmission · 186,332 miles · MO

Transmission would not go into reverse in driveway. Turned vehicle off and restarted and it went into reverese. I then put in forward gear and as I am driving down road the vehicle dies. No issue with shifting before today. If I put the vehicle in neutral the RPM goes up to 2000. I called ford today with VIN # and they told me this vehicle has been fixed per safety recall 11s25 supplement #1. Vehicle is full of fluid and fluid does not have a burnt smell.

Filed Apr 9, 2014 · Body, Electrical · 123,880 miles · MA

The front end of the car was welded improperly and the weather stripping was faulty allowing water to pour down into the car and onto the powertrain control module (PCM) at any time after it rains causing the car to lose power and the transmission to fail. This is a known and common problem among '04 monterey and ford freestars. When the PCM is wet it shorts out all transmission shifting and engine regulation. The first time this happened the car would not start or run properly, had irregular engine power, and the transmission would not shift. The engine was trying accelerate even in park. The car had been parked overnight and ran fine the day before, but caused trouble the next day. It had rained during the night. When the PCM dried out the car ran normally again. The second time however, the PCM completely shorted out and is irreparable. The engine runs sporadically and the transmission will not shift out of first gear creating a driving hazard. The car seemed alright until I was on the road test driving and the car would not accelerate, causing me to be stuck going a max of 15 MPH in traffic. The car then lost power, forcing me to pull of to the side.

Filed Sep 30, 2013 · Electrical, Engine · 85,000 miles · MI

It was raining and my vehicle kept going into neutral and stalling. I'd press the gas, nothing would happen. It wouldn't go into reverse. When I put it in neutral the engine just revved up. Putting it park was ok. Check engine codes p0715 and p0340 appeared. A flashing check engine light (!), and solid check engine light appeared. Putting in drive, it would only go into 3rd gear. 1st gear worked if I moved the prndl to 1. Reverse didn't work at all. I could have easily been killed if this happened while driving anywhere but my neighborhood. This is different from the recent torque converter recall that is also scary and also results in loss of forward momentum. My problem is with the PCM. The dealer performed diagnostics and repairs according to ford's tsb 06-14-10 which indicates this is a common problem on all 1999-2007 ford vans. If they've known about this for 7 years, and it affects nearly a million vehicles, why hasn't it been recalled? Surely the federal safety agency has received complaints about this. I have a friend who had this happen on her 2004 ford van within the last year. She also lost reverse and the car would limp in drive just like mine did. The repair shop knew exactly what to do and repaired her PCM. I've asked her to file a the federal safety agency complaint as well. This is a safety concern. I paid my ford dealer to fix because my safety is at stake, and obviously because the vehicle was performing sub-par, but I feel this particular issue should be covered by ford, not by the customer, just as was done with the recent rear seat rust and torque converter recalls on this same vehicle. This is no different. It is beyond normal wear and tear.

Filed Apr 25, 2013 · Transmission · 84,000 miles · NJ

My wife was leaving work, when she attempted to drive her van home the van would not go into gear and kept stalling. I just thank god that this didn't happen while she was on the interstate. She works part time for a ford dealer and we were able to roll the van around to the service area. Three days later the service writer notified us that it was a defective PCM module. Apparently there is a known defect that because of a design flaw water is able to drip onto the control module thus shorting it out and rendering the car useless. I read several complaints on line as well as discovering that ford knows about this condition and even has a tsb out concerning this situation. I called ford and explained what happened and even mentioned the known tsb. They were not very sympathetic and would do nothing to help me out. When I said I was going to file a complaint with the federal safety agency they invited me to do so. The needed repair is going to run me roughly 800.00 dollars to fix. I have to put out my hard earned money to fix something that ford is aware of by the existence of their own tsb. I do not feel I should be financially responsible for ford's mistake, the dealer should have offered to fix it for free regardless of being out of warranty. We have been very inconvenienced by this being one car down. There are seven fords in our family and I have owned fords all my life. I previously lost a lot of money on a 99 windstar that lost it's transmission at 80k. I will more then likely buy another ford but I have to say that I am toying with the idea of switching to another brand, one that stands behind their product instead of turning their backs on a loyal customer. Other manufactures offer 100k or ten year warranties, why can't ford? I firmly believe that myself along with others with this same problem should be compensated by ford, they are clearly negligent in this situation.

Filed Jan 15, 2013 · Electrical · 116,000 miles · IN

1st - radio started flashing on and off randomly - took to ford dealer - no error code, no answer. 2nd - heated seat on drivers side quit working - took to ford dealer - no error code, no answer. Took to private repair shop - error code of low voltage battery - replaced battery for $125 3rd - automatic lights quit working, dashboard control went blank - took to ford dealer - same low voltage error code - despite new battery. No other answers. 4th - automatic seats started moving when using code to open door - took to ford - found that all problems traced to one relay box - replaced relay box for $650. 5th - engine light came on one week later - no problems starting/running, made appointment to take to dealer in 3 days. 6th - engine died next day, would restart and then die again after 5 feet, towed to ford dealer, tow truck driver noted engine would not go into gear- repeatedly gave no code. Asked them to have tech take car home and drive it. Finally found corroded and wet PCM. Quoted $1400 for the repair. I looked up PCM on merc. Monterey/ford freestar - as these are essentially the same vehicle. Found tons of same complaint. Poor design from ford allowing water to drip onto main computer/electrical supply causing thousands of dollars of repairs to owners. The battery was likely just fine, the relay box likely just fine. I am working with dealer to pay less for the PCM since they should have found this from the first or second electrical complaint. Car still at dealer, I will not pay $1400 to get it repaired.

Filed Sep 4, 2011 · Transmission · 65,300 miles · SC

I was driving off of an exit ramp onto a secondary road, had just made the turn and was beginning to accelerate when the van completely lost its "pull" and would not go into gear. The electrical system still functioned fine, and the engine would rev, but the vehicle would not go. There were no warning signs whatsoever prior to the complete loss of pull. This situation was very concerning because had I been performing another action like crossing a 4 lane highway, I could have easily been hit. Additionally, with only 65,000 miles on the vehicle, I feel that this failure must be a defect in the transmission as there has not been a sufficient amount of wear and tear on the vehicle to justify this level of repair. (my in-laws purchased the vehicle new and were both conservative drivers and I am a mother of two small children and also tend to be a very conservative driver so the vehicle has not been exposed to any rough driving conditions.) I had the vehicle towed to a transmission shop where they indicated that there was an internal problem with the transmission and it would have to be rebuilt at a cost of approximately $1,800. I am reporting this because I am concerned that the sudden loss of power could cause an accident and I want other mercury monterey owners to be aware of this possibility.

Filed Aug 26, 2011 · Transmission · 67,000 miles · WI

Without warning (lights, noises, messages) our 2004 mercury monterey, with only 67k miles, would not go into reverse. When we then tried to put it into drive, it would not go forward. When switched back to reverse, it then went forward! Luckily our service garage is only a few blocks away. ...so it only took us a couple of hours to get it there. Mechanic found magnet in tray covered with not only metal shavings, but also larger chunks of metal. Luckily this happened in our alley, so there were no traffic issues to deal with and no one got hurt.

Filed Aug 2, 2011 · Transmission · 142,921 miles · KY

On 7/25/11 I was on my way to work and without any problems, my 2004 mercury monterey just wouldn't go into gear. I had to tow my vehicle to the repair shop which notified me that the torque converter had to be replaced.

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 Jan 25, 2011 · Transmission · 49,842 miles · MI

I am the owner of a 2004 mercury monterey minivan which I purchased new. About a month ago and literally without any sign of problems, I came out of work and discovered that my van would start up fine but would not go into gear (forward, reverse etc.) I had the van towed to the nearest ford dealership and was told that the torque converter had went out and that it would cost me $1600 to repair. After threatening to tow the vehicle to another shop I eventually got them to agree to drop the cost to $1000. I was shocked that the transmission would have such a major break down with less than 50,000 miles. After researching the internet I discovered that there are many complaints about the same problem and that it always seems to occur around the 50k mileage mark. In fact, I discovered that a class action lawsuit has been filed in ny for this very issue. Please investigate and if appropriate force ford to issue a recall. I would like to be reimbursed for these repairs if it is discovered that faulty or cheap parts are to blame for this problem. Thanks.