Bought used from a dealer 10-05 with 71328 miles. Checked out by mechanic. No problems w/ drive train, tranny, or suspension, except to change fluids in differentials (rear & front). Did this first week we owned it & water found in rear differential. 1st owner's records came with car. All services were done (no mention of problems). I serviced it every 2-3000 miles. On 4-27-06 the tranny flushed, & the rear differential & transfer case serviced. Mileage was 85857. 2 new tires put on front on 5-25-06 (flat tire). On way home (18 mi. Into 35 mi. Drive), front end started to fail. Couldn't find source of leaking fluid. Drive home. Next morning, tried to return to mechanic with car. Made it about 25 of the 35 miles to town before front end failed. Mechanic showed us the gears from the differential--the "teeth" were sheared completely off 1/3 of it--remaining teeth sheared down by at least 50%. Front differential was replaced, also 4 ball joints, seals for both shafts, brake pads (from differential fluid damage) were replaced. All 4 wheels had bearings repacked. 2 more tires bought. Within 1 week, began hearing noise again from drive train. Car back at mechanic on 6-20-06. The noise now from rear transfer case. It was flushed 2 times (fluid filled with fine metal fragments). The rear differential fluid also changed. Mechanic said 4-6 months until rear end failed. I've now lost the rear end--also have to replace all 4 sets of wheel bearings & replace all axles. Will re-assess front differential after rear is fixed. We've contacted ford, no recalls for our car. They'll not make any repairs or reimburse for faulty equipment. I'm not original owner & warranty has expired. It doesn't qualify for state lemon law (mileage). There's at least 31 problems and 18 complaints on your website that I've had in the 1 year since I bought this car. This is a ford issue. I just want to re-coup my $4000+ in repair costs & trade it off for a non-ford SUV.
2002 Mercury Mountaineer transmission complaints
Page 5 of 6: complaints 101 to 130 of 144, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Dt*: the contact stated when the vehicle was taken to the dealership to rotate the tires, the mechanic noticed oil leaking from the rear differential seals. No warning light alerted the contact of the leak. The manufacturer was contacted, and informed there was no recall for this problem.
I own a 2002 mercury mountaineer mileage 72465. At this time it started to shuddering during up shifts from 1st to 2nd gear. I took it to pitcock auto repair in richardson, tx. They did a diagnostic test and found no codes they flashed the computer to reset all settings and I drove the vehicle for about 10 days and returned it to them who then took it to a eagle transmission in plano tx. They also did a diagnostic check but the transmission had no codes! It was then removed and over hauled it was then found out that the #1,2 clutches were almost gone and the # 3 was completely worn out. The transmission was over hauled and test driven when a over drive light came"on" the transmission was again removed and all items were checked again reinstalled during the test drive again the over drive light came "on". They removed and replaced the valve body test driven and the same problem the transmission was again removed and the following items were changed(# of time changed) valve body (2),converter(2),flashed computer (2), replaced the seals/gaskets (3) and many test drives with same problem! Eagle transmission was on the net with other transmission repair people and all of them could not help them trouble shoot this problem as none of them had ever seen this happen! The vehicle was then taken to a local ford dealer who after doing a diagnostic test told eagle they would have to replace all items again! The manger of eagle had just received the gears , september 2006 and in it they had the correction for this problem with a kit from sonnax with the part number of 56947j-15k, they order the kit and it corrected the problem! All this happened just after the warranty expired. To have a ford dealer who had no idea or what to do to fix the problem was some thing that I or eagle didn't expect! I was lucky that I had taken it to eagle and pitcock as I could have paid twice what I agreed to which was $2500.00.
Powertrain issue. At 79,700 miles, my 2002 mercury mountaineer required a transmission rebuild which cost me 2500.00. Apparently there is a bad solenoid and bands that totally busted inside the transmission. After seeing other reports on this, I wanted to add mine to the list.
I had problems getting the key to turn on the steering wheel after I inserted the key into the keyhole. I hear a vibrating noise coming from the steering wheel. After a while I could not hardly get the shifter to go into reverse, neutral, or drive. I experienced the noise for a while. I was parked on a slight hill and the shifter was hard to go into any gear. I finally got the gear shifter to go to drive. The next time the steering and shifter locked up was while I was with my family at the local store. It locked up and would not go to any gear. I turned the key off and tried it again, then the shifter fell off in my hand. I had to get it towed to charlie henderson ford (the local dealer).I feel this is a problem in a lot of these models. I have another relative who had this problem too. Please check into these 2002 mercury mountaineer vehicles.
Of the many problems I've had since purchasing this vehicle, the latest takes the cake. Here's the skinny of all my problems, with the latest motivating me to report a complaint to the federal safety agency. Hopefully, something can be done. Here's a website of others with the same transmission issue: http://www.carsurvey.org/cgi-bin/fix_comment.pl where do I start. I purchased this car with 38k miles and it's been a nightmare. First thing to go was a wheel bearing at 41k, got that fixed @ $200. Next to go @ 48k was the two calipers and new rotors on the front, cost $800. Next @ 52k was the A/C needed to be recharged, $150. Next @ 58k, the two calipers in the back has to be replaced, cost $300 (I found a good mechanic/friend). For the grand finale... I need to replace the transmission @ 61k, cost range from $1,800 to $3,400. I will fix it and dump it right away and sell it. A complete lemon!!! It should be reported to the federal safety agency for an investigation.
While taking off from a complete stop after heavy or moderate braking the vehicle's engine will rev for about 2 seconds when the gas pedal is applied, then the vehicle will harshly jolt forward and start accelerating.
2002 mountaineer stalls, transmission control assembly, main control valve, and gasket had to be replaced. *ts the lift gate was sticking, and while closing it, the glass shattered, the glass was recalled, and was suppose to have been fixed. The oil light illuminated. The trim on the front door fell off while driving. There was a grinding noise coming from the rear wheels, it was determined that there was severe rust on the brake componets, the park brake shoes fell apart due to corrosion, the rear wheel bearing and knuckle assembly had excessive rust.
The rear differential bearings have gone bad. The complete differential was replaced in july, 2003, september 04, and in an attempt to do something different to fix the problem the drive shaft was replaced in october 2005. Now it is february 2006 and the bad bearing noise is back. We are taking it into the dealer yet again for the same problem. We are also going to notify ford and the california consumer protection agency and bbb.
Transmission started shifting roughly. O/d off light started flashing. Then car wouldn't shift out of 2nd gear.
2002 mercury mountaineer - march 2005 - 46,000 miles solenoid was replaced cost $600 - december 2005 - 60,000 miles - transmission light on - in shop now to replace transmission or parts - cost of $2,300. I have four personal friends who have also had trouble with the ford engine. We had received numerous forms for extended warranty. Seems that a 3 year old car bought new and still not paid for should have a good working transmission. This is a defect in mercury which should be fixed and consumers should not be forced to pay for this repair or for an extended warranty. Why is mercury so insistent on an extended warranty? Mercury must know that something is wrong with the transmission in the car.
Copy of email sent to mercury division of ford motor company: on 12/9 I had to take my 2002 mountaineer, with only 46,000 miles on it, to finnin ford in dubuque. I was told I needed a "new" transmission!! I called ford to explain the problem and this past monday (12/12) I got a call back that ford was only going to pick up $1200.00 of a $3000.00 repair bill. Last night I picked up my vehicle from the dealership, but only after paying $1800.00!! The reply from the ford customer rep was that because I did not pay for the extended warranty, I was stuck for the major portion of this bill. This is not acceptable!! Before I seek legal counsel, I would like to offer ford/mercury one last chance to do what should of been done in the first place for a very loyal customer (2 explorers & 2 mountaineers). Ford/mercury should have replaced this transmission at no charge. A transmission failure at 46,000 miles on a 2002 SUV should not have happened and because it did, the manufacture should be fixing the problem at no charge to the customer. Oh, and did I mention that according to the dealership, this was the second such problem this week. If ford motor co. Has a transmission problem, they should own up to it and fix the problem. I am also a long standing member of consumer report, and I will be advising them of this issue as well as the national safety counsel. Please respond to this email by 12/20/2005. Thank you, dave grall.
Dt: the caller said vehicle stalled without warning several times. She stated that it did start back up. She took the vehicle to the dealer three times. Dealer said they fixed it each time. She sent manufacturer a letter on the problem and other problems. Also, the caller stated that she had the ignition switch replaced, and now when she takes it out of park something pops. Dealer will not do anything else to help her with the ignition switch. *ak the day time running lights did not stay on, the consumer heard wind noise coming from the vehicle, the cigarette lighter did not work, there was a popping noise when the consumer placed the vehicle into gear.
I had no warning that the automatic transmission in my 2002 mercury mountaineer at 55,000 miles was going out. The o/d light came on flashing and the check transmission light came on flashing. The speed of the vehicle would not accelerate past 20 MPH. I immediately took it to the mercury dealership and they repaired the leaking differential seals in the rear of the vehicle and the pinion seals in the front of the vehicle. They checked the transmission fluid and it was full. After 424.00 the problem was still there. Took vehicle to transmission specialty shop and the vehicle is in the shop at this hour having the transmission yanked out and repaired. This is my first ford vehicle and my last. There seems to be a transmission issue regarding ford/mercury vehicles and there should have been something done about this long before now.
2002 2002 mercury mountaineer developed problems with the transmission.*mr the transmission did not shift smoothly, but would hang up. The transmission would not shift from 2nd to 3rd gear without the consumer taking his foot off the gas and the engine would race to high RPM's.
This is a 2002 mercury mountaineer with a v8 engine. The vehicle accelerates on its own with no driver input from a stop. It lurches both in drive and in reverse.
Dt: about two years ago owner purchased the vehicle 2002 mercury mountaineer. Right away owner complained of acceleration problem. While driving on the road vehicle felt like it was shifting when it accelerated. Vehicle usually did this about 25-30 MPH or even higher speeds. The rpms would raise and increase speed. It felt like a transmission problem because it would accelerate, and raise the rpms without warning. There were no lights to indicate a problem. The first time the vehicle was taken to the dealer they didn't know what the problem was. The dealership was cooperative. The dealer replaced about half the transmission because they were thinking that it was a transmission problem. The problem has remained about the same and was still going on. When it accelerated by itself it sped up about 5-10 MPH. The rpms went up by about 1000. Owner would like to make the office of defect investigation investigators aware that he would like to have someone come and check out the vehicle, and even take the vehicle away for further analysis if they would like to. He another vehicle to drive, and insisted about getting the problem with the accelerator repaired.
I have a 2002 mercury mountaineer that the transmission needs to be relaced. There was nothing wrong with the transmission operationaly. The dashboard light o/d check transmission. The dealer which we purchased said the trans needed to be replaceed at $3200. I sent a letter to ford motor company asking for assistance. They contacted me and sated the could not help.
Leak noticed around rear differential at 49,000 miles. Dx at 54,000 mi - leaking axle shaft seals. Replaced selas. Rear diff. Still whines under load.
Transmission shifting erratically on up-shift, 2-3 / 3-4 and 4-5. 5/16/05 mileage 55k. The vehicle was brought to the dealer, issue explained and fixed on first try. Solenoid, 1l2z-7g391-ae replaced. This is in case anyone else has similar problems. Extended warranty was purchased and used.
While reversing in low speed, the vehicle inadvertently accelerated into a pole. The dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem. *ak the consumer experienced sudden acceleration. The consumer believed that the pedal stuck. The transmission pan was removed and then re-sealed. The main control valve body was removed and repaired. *sc
Dt: the vehicle's transmission slipped, jumped and made clunking noises while in park, reverse or while the consumer was driving. The vehicle was taken to the shop several times for numerous things such as the ignition switch. She took her vehicle to the shop this time and they said it was her transmission. Her vehicle only has 41000 miles. She started smelling a burning smell and that's when she took it into the shop. She has only had the vehicle 45 days and has already had all these problems.
The gears began making a whining and clicking noise as shifting occured at slower speeds. We were on a highway for approximately 1 1/2 hours when the o/d off light started flashing and the transmission downshifted from 5 th gear to 4th the remainder of the way. The words "check transmission" came on the odometer screen.
A sudden thunk in the transmission and o/d light came on. By the next stop, it would not shift properly.
Rear lift gate panel below glass has developed a crack. This lift gate has been recalled but dealer states the cracked panel is not part of the recall. Two dealers have said this problem has occurred in other vehicles. Has not yet been repaired. Also transmission trouble. Dealer said needed to replace at cost of $3200.00. Dealer charged $80.00 to tell me it needed fixed. Took to trans. Repair shop to repair at cost of $1300.00. This month I have also had to replace the idler pulley, egr valve, and the elec rear window is not functioning.
2002 mercury mountaineer- automatic transmission needed a total rebuild at 40,000 miles.
I own a 2007 mercury mountaineer with 46,000 miles. Without warning the transmission started not shifting from gear to gear. The computer indicated "check transmission" and the overdrive off light began to flicker. I promptly stopped the vehicle and called for a roll back to have it taken to a transmissin shop.($80 tow fee) the shop diagnosed the problem as 3rd gear wrong ratio. The shop owner said that he thought it was a broken sprag. He replaced the transmission with a ford factory remanufactured unit at the cost of $2813.00. I have since heard that there is a problem with the transmissions in the 2002 ford model SUV's as well as in the mercury's. Is there anything being done to hold the manufacture liable for the expenses incurred?
2002 mercury mountaineer drive train slips, causing sudden jumps and jerks from; starts, slow down / acceleration, reverse to drive. Bought car for wife for safe awd system for snow and slick roads, wife does not feel safe as lurching from stops almost caused her to cause a rear end accident. Car has 65,000 miles had trans and front rear diff oil changed helped for about a week. Is it possible to replace 2002 trans with 2005 trans as they seem to be rated better?
Transmission: upon parking the vehicle consumer heard a noise. Vehicle vibrated, upon trying to use the vehicle again the gears would not go into reverse or drive.
The transmission slips. I was stoped at a red light, when the light turned green I put my foot on the gas but the vehicle did not move. I could hear the engine rev, but it was a few seconds before the vehicle moved. This has happened 4 times in 2 months. The prior owner traded the vehicle in due to this problem, she informed the dealership of the problem and requested that they fix it before selling the vehicle.
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