Plastic/fiberglass liftgate cracked around emblem. This problem started a few years ago and has completely cracked in half. Ford explorer had the same problem and half of it flew off while driving vehicle in commute traffic....seems this would potentially open family member up to legal litigation if this part caused an accident. This is an ongoing problem with this vehicle and similar with different name plate. This is the second vehicle that this has happened to in our family. First a ford explorer xlt and now the mercury mountaineer. Ford is aware of this problem and has elected to address this issue. Body flex at the liftgate causes great stress to plastic/fiberglass liftgates. Just look around at ford and mercury and look at lift gate.....not hard to miss....
2004 Mercury Mountaineer body complaints
Page 2 of 4: complaints 11 to 40 of 79, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Rear hatch hinge broke while opening back glass of hatch, nearly fell on spouse while opening.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 mercury mountaineer. The contact stated that the latch on the hatch back fractured. The contact opened the door and the door came down and struck her head. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 211,000.
Info copied from website is what happened to me while I was unloading my car in my garage. The best we can tell is that the right strut/arm seized and the hinge pins broke, causing the hatch to fall off. We don't have it in the shop yet. It will have to be towed. ********* the federal safety agency action number : rq08003agency recall campaign number : n/a vehicle make / model: model year(s): mercury / mountaineer 2004 manufacturer(s) : ford motor company component(s) : structure:body:hatchback/liftgate:hinge and attachments structure:body:hatchback/liftgate:support device visibility:glass, side/rear summary: this investigation was opened on june 23, 2008, based on 34 complaints involving eight injuries in which the rear liftgate glass hatch on model year 2004 ford explorers or mercury mountaineers broke off and fell, usually while individuals were operating the glass hatch or loading or unloading items from the rear of the vehicle. Ford conducted recall 04v‑442 in 2004 to address similar problems on model year 2002 and certain model year 2003 ford explorers and mercury mountaineers. The information ford provided in response to odi's information request letter indicated that failures with 2004 vehicles were primarily liftgate glass hatch hinge failures related to corrosion at the hinge pin, whereas the failures that prompted the recall with the earlier models were primarily related to problems with the glass hatch's struts or fracture of a prior hinge design at the boss/bolt connection at the glass. Odi's review of ford's warranty, complaint, and injury data for the 2004 vehicles indicates that these rates are significantly lower than those for the recalled population. A potential defect trend has not been identified at this time. Odi will continue to monitor complaints and take appropriate action as necessary. This investigation is closed.
Was looking at my vehicle when I noticed the crack from the top to bottom of lift gate, next to mercury emblem. No accident or collision, it was sitting in my driveway. After reading online there are numerous reports of the same exact occurrence on the lift gates of fords, mercury and lincolns. Please issue a recall in fairness so that we may all have our vehicles repaired!
On the liftgate, cracked between bottom of glass and the edge of the window hatch. It cracked after a few years, and continues to deteriorate. Now we have constant warning beeps, this is a real problem.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 mercury mountaineer. The contact stated that the rear lift gate hinges were fractured and as a result, the lift gate fell onto the contacts right foot. The contact was not taken to the hospital. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer for inspection of the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure and current mileage was 96,000.
I actually missed two recall on my vehicle that I purchased in 2004. My dealer which is johnson brothers ford/mercury on ih 35 temple, texas 76501. My wife was unloading truck and the liftgate plunged down on her without any notice. She suffered minor injuries from incident. The year before our tailgate started cracking in 2006 . The dealer johnson brothers never notified me of the tailgate recall or the recall #rq8003 for the liftgate issue in 2008. This dealer has been the worst ive seen since buying my first new or used vehicle in america. I ,[xxx], have only received help concerning oil changes , and tire checks since 2004. Poor service center for customers. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6)*tr the consumer stated the transmission oil pan was never changed and the dealer continued to tell the consumer, all the fluids were fine. However, the vehicle would stall while in drive mode.
Rear glass tail gate hatch hinge - the hinge pin was coming out through the pot metal casting. Every time I opened it wore a bit more. Hinge was twisted - glass hung down out of position. I was afraid it would fail on the road and injure a car behind me. I bought a new dealer hinge and installed it myself. Parts and service people at dealer neglected to tell me to disconnect the gas cylinders. With tailgate closed gas cylinders are not visible. I removed the bad hinge in preparation to install new. It was a wrestling match as the cylinder was trying to force the glass out and down which twisted the other hinge. Now that other hinges pin is breaking through the pot metal. It took two of us to wrestle the cylinder and get the new hinge in place. To be safe I'm just not going to use the hatch.
Rear hatch panel cracked and large piece broke off and blew into traffic. Luckily traffic behind me was far enough back that the piece did not hit the car following. I had this panel replaced on two prior occasions due to it cracking. I believe it must be due to a defective design in the rear hatch panel that caused it to happen 3 times.
The passenger side hinge that holds the liftgate, cracked when opening it. The screws ar all still attached to the door and the glass, and the actual hinge fractured and splintered off. The glass liftgate is now inoperable and hanging by a single hinge.
I purchased a 2004 mercury mountaineer first the rear liftgate plastic broke and there's a crack by the emblem on some occasions when put in reverse it makes a loud bang noise or when starting to accelerate but the biggest problem is that on the highway up to 50mph and over there seems to be a rattle under the engine and it gets louder when MPH is higher im not sure what it is but im really worried that it maybe a transmission problem and if this problem isn't recalled me and my family plus others are in really big danger its a family car so im starting to worry for my family and there safety these vehicles need to go on inspection and soon so these doesn't lead to any accidents.
Premature rusting and paint bubbling on rear quarter panel under fueling door (continues to get worse.) I have observed several other lincoln/mercury vehicles with same problem. *tr...updated 12/09/15
The left rear hinge pin on the glass lift gate failed.
Rear lift gate is fractured from the window down around and through the emblem. There is no recall for this problem.
The hinge pin on the rear lift gate window on my 2004 mercury mountaineer snapped. Fortunately, the right side hinge held, preventing the entire window from falling to the ground. I did manage to get it closed despite the fact that the entire lift gate slipped downward from its proper position. This seems like a very dangerous defect, especially since the added stress could easily break the other hinge.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 mercury mountaineer. The contact stated that the rear lift gate was fractured around the emblem up to the middle of the rear window. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who inspected the failure. The manufacturer was notified who stated there was no recall and to contact the federal safety agency. The failure mileage was 63,725. Updated 03/01/13
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 mercury mountaineer. The contact stated that she was opening the rear door when the rear lift gate window fractured and dropped on the contact's head. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the technician advised that the hinges from the lift gate needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact that the vehicle was not included in any recalls. The vehicle was repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 25,000 and the current mileage was 120,000. Updated 05/08/13*lj the consumer stated only the lift gate hinges were repaired. The hydraulic lift would not raise fully. The crack around the mercury medallion was not repaired.
As I went to shut the back lift gate window hatch, the hinge broke leaving the window to fall. Luckily I caught it, but it came down hard. The shear pin broke straight off.
Rear hatch back glass body-side hinge broke on right side in normal opening of glass. Hinge is composed of a black plastic or nylon retaining clip with a metal pin. The plastic appears to have failed from fatigue. Recent high heat (100+ degrees for several days) may be a factor. Plastic broke through over the pin channel, allowing the pin to pop out. The glass is heavy and torqued by the remaining hinge and two hydraulic lifts. No injuries, but easily could have fallen, broke or shattered on the operator. The heavy glass is a danger especially to children or smaller adults. The operator fortunately had a wood slat in the back big enough to prop up the glass and support it until help arrived. Even with two adults it was hard to hold and control the glass to close it and take to the dealer. Retention clip really should have embedded metal reinforcement around the pin.(the larger expedition appears to have just that in the equivalent part.) reading online there are many cases of similar failure that included damage and or at least minor injuries. Repair was $270 at a ford dealer. Appears to be common enough failure to be a design flaw not to be repeated. Admittedly this appeared on a high mileage nine year-old vehicle which has otherwise provided very good service, but the weight of the falling glass and torque involved were both dangerous and could easily have resulted in serious injury. Operator felt lucky to catch and control it without breaking the glass or getting hurt.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 mercury mountaineer. The contact stated that the center piece emblem of the hatch back started to fracture. The vehicle was previously repaired with a new hatch back door approximately two years prior to the recent failure. The vehicle had not been inspected since the recurrence of the failure. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 40,000. Updated 04/26/12 *bf updated 05/10/12
Came out one morning to discover the rear hatch had a crack around the emblem of my 2004 mercury mountaineer. Car was parked in driveway and was not hit or involved in an accident. Started noticing that every mercury mountaineer of the same body type had similar cracks in the same location. Contacted ford but did not have VIN #. Eventually contacted ford again with VIN # and was told there was no recall and that ford was not accepting any responsibility . I told ford that it is an obvious defect to no avail. I will never buy another ford product if this is how they treat their customers. This should be a recall and ford should repair this defect. The value of my car has decreased because of this. I got a $500.00 estimate to repair it but was told it would probably happen again.
Being having problems with rear lift gate [ not staying close, opens anytime, it wants to by itself. My transmission problems erratic shifting, hard shifting up and down shifting and in and out shifting on reverse from park to reverse pulls very hard. When I bought the car I told them they looked at like I didn't know what I was saying they made an appointment for mechanic to check it and said it was good but it wasn't. I have 84,000 miles on it never pull a trailer with it I've made 38 payments on it. Why does ford puts a product like that and asks alot of money for the car that can't even make to 100,000 miles they should be out of act. Hope ford will take care of this cars.
Wife was closing liftgate and it broke from the hinges. The left side fell and hit her on the head. Was trying to hold lift gate so glass wouldn't fall and break. Called ford and they said it was not a recall issue. Looking online it seems this happens a lot.
2004 mercury mountaineer, rear hatch molding with mercury emblem. Two winters ago the molding cracked after a very cold freeze. Vehicle was under warranty and the entire hatch had to be replaced. Dealer had vehicle 3 or 4 days as new hatch was sent out to a local body shop to be painted, matching the vehicle color. Now, the same molding has begun de-laminating from the hatch. Dealer states hatch has to be replaced and will cost $1000.00.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 mercury mountaineer. The contact stated the lift gate glass hinge disengaged and impacted her ability to drive. The contact did not sustain any injuries. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 120,000.
I have a used 2004 mercury mountaineer I purchased in 12/2008 it had 53,000 miles. I have done all of the required maintenance oil changes,brake pads,fluid changes, and 60,000-mile service package. I have nothing but problems with the vehicle. The failures I have are as follows: 1. Front/rear brake pads,front/rear rotors,spark plugs,-defected parts 2. Battery 3. Tires-constant flats 4. Lug torque-driver front/rear 5. Hood shocks,tire pressure sensor light 6. Transmission fluid leak/ front pump seal leak 7. Noise at harmonic balancer 8. Roar noise and shakes at all speeds 9. Hub assemblies making noise front left/right side; unless replaced vehicle unsafe to drive per ford dealership 10. Brake pads- front/rear need to be replaced going bad (second time needing to be replaced) 11. Needs front alignment-pulls to the right side 12. Fuel filter 13. Needs all new tires 14. Ignition coil -defective needs to be replaced 15. Vehicle gear shifter is stuck while driving won't shift at all sometimes stays stuck at certain speed won't move 16.universal joints 17. Axle housing gasket repairs and corrections done on vehicle: 1.new brake pads on front/rear,replaced spark plugs, resurfaced front/rear rotors.- 8/2009 2.battery replaced- 4/2010 3.tires-flats repaired/patched -8/2010,11/2010,2/2011 4.have not repaired/replaced 5.have not repaired/replaced 6.replaced seal, transmission filter and fluid changed,replaced seal-oil-6/2011 7.have not repaired/replaced 8. Vehicle is shaking and loud roar noise hasn't been fixed-6/2011 9.hub assemblies front left/right side replaced -6/2011 10.have not replaced/repaired 11.have not replaced/repaired 12.fuel filter replaced-6/2011 13. Bought brand new set of tires -6/2011 14.ignition coil replaced-10/2009 15. Have not repaired/replaced 16. Have not repaired/replaced 17. Axle housing gasket replaced-04/2011.
The rear panel is cracked around the logo of my mercury mountaineer. I see this on most other mountaineers and explorers from this generation and ford has done nothing to remedy it.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 mercury mountaineer. The contact stated that the rear liftgate was fractured from the decal up to the middle of the rear glass. The vehicle was neither inspected nor repaired for the failure. The manufacturer had not been notified. The current and failure mileage was 51,029.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 mercury mountaineer. The vehicle was parked when the contact noticed that there was a large crack on the rear lift-gate door panel. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 85,000. The current mileage was 98,000. The VIN was unavailable.
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