2002 Mercury Mountaineer: engine failure

Filed Apr 4, 2011 · Engine · 92,213 miles · CA

New showroom 2002 mercury mountaineer. The engine in this vehicle malfunctioned twice without warning; no overheating, no dashboard light indicators either time. July 2004/odometer reading 92213, the mechanics at the freeway lincoln mercury were baffled. They advised me that all the fluids were in the vehicle. Later (one week) they found a "hole" in the radiator. I was told I had a new engine, with a new warranty. 2nd time was june 06, odometer 166199,(new engine 73986) no warning, no dashboard lights, no overheating. Per a different certified mechanic not only was the engine not new but it had severe corrosion in it and showed signs of multiple overheating conditions. They told me of an "all technical service bulletin" dated 1/21/02 for my vehicle's engine regarding the "engine head gasket"---"some engine assemblies with aluminum cylinder heads repaired in-vehicle have been found to leak coolant and/or oil from the cylinder head gasket area due to particle contamination or scratches and dents to block mating surfaces." action: refer to the following service information for recommended gasket sealing surface preparation procedures. If the engine diagnosis points to a faulty head gasket (leaks oil, leaks coolant, oil or coolant contamination, or air in coolant), thorough cleaning procedures are necessary for a successful head gasket repair. Diagnosis and post- repair confirmation can be done successfully utilizing leak detection methods such as a black light dye process. Service procedure:to sum up, a successful leak repair depends on:accurate diagnosis of the leak using ford-recommended test equipment and procedures .surface preparation and gasket installation using the approved tools, cleaners, and methods.exercising care and cleanliness during disassembly/assembly of components use of genuine ford oem replacement parts<use of a ford remanufacturer

Filed Nov 7, 2010 · Engine · 86,000 miles · TX

Driving from dallas, tx, to west lafayette, in, in jan 2010, the 2002 mercury mountaineer with 4.6l v8 engine blew a spark plug out of the cylinder head causing us to stop in a small town to have the engine repaired. This was a factory installed (not replaced) spark plug. I have seen many complaints about this in the ford v8 engine. The vehicle had around 86,000 miles on it at the time and was not due for a spark plug replacement until 100,000 miles. This was a safety hazard as gasoline is spewing out of the cylinder head with an attached and still arcing spark plug.

Filed Feb 16, 2009 · Body, Engine · 52,000 miles · NM

Rear panel under window has recently cracked, there are now 2 vertical cracks running down the back of the vehicle. Also, hitch to rear door doesn't stay up. This vehicle has also had a new engine put it and injectors have popped out on more than one occasion. This is the most expensive vehicle I have ever purchased and it has given me more problems than I could ever expect in a vehicle. Ford needs to compensate for this vehicle. We have owned several ford's and have never seen anything like this. It is a true lemon>>>>

Filed Mar 21, 2007 · Engine · 74,506 miles · NJ

I was driving home in my 2002 mercury mountaineer on monday evening in lyndhurst, nj around the time of 7 pm. I heard a very loud bang, followed by some rattling which scared me half to death. I had no idea what has occurred. I was very nervous because I was unable to apply pressure to my break to stop without the truck idling very rough like it wanted to stall. The truck lost all power. I carefully proceeded to a local gas station in rutherford and dropped my car off for the machining to look at in the morning. I received a call the following morning from (the mechanic) who stated the #5 spark plug ripped out of my aluminum engine head. For a cost of $366.00 he re-threaded the spark plug, installed a new coil and did a tune-up. He told me this is a very common problem with certain v8 and v10 ford engines. It can occur again, or the same plug may rip out again. This is a very dangerous situation especially when I have to go on two highways to get to work everyday. The sound was like I was being fired on by nato. Imagine losing power on the highway with people behind you at 65 MPH. I looked on the internet and found many compliants by ford customers who had the same thing happen several times, causing them to replace the engine. Ford does not want to take responsibilty, someone needs to make them replace these dangerous engines. Spark plugs just fire the engine, they are not supposed to shoot out of the engine like small rockets. What if my hood was open and this happened? Someone could have goten killed. If this were a baby seat, crib or child toy it would be recalled. We can't wait till there is a death from this problem.

Filed Dec 5, 2005 · Engine · 86,000 miles · NY

I had a spark plug blow out of my 2002 mercury mountaineer 4.6l engine. The car has 86,000 miles on it but this is the second engine. The original engine was replaced in dec 2003 when it had 49,000 miles on it. The original engine seized up after an oil pump failure.

Filed Nov 5, 2001 · Engine · PA

While going up a hill at 30 MPH consumer noticed dash lights flickering on and off. A while later engine shut down, vehicle had to be towed to dealer. On november 1st, while traveling at about 60 MPH, engine died. Consumer tried to restart while car was coasting to avoid a rear end collision, luckily vehicle restarted. Consumer felt very lucky. Please provide any further inforamtion.