1997 Mercury Sable: fire, smoke or burning smell

Filed Jan 15, 2004 · Brakes, Engine · 70,000 miles · MO

I should have learned that sable was a bad car after the engine of my mother's '87 sable exploded, caught fire and busted through the floor of the car beside the gas pedal and brake (1993). Luckily she was not in the car. The engine had been off and sitting in park for five minutes when this happened. I bought my 97 sable in 2001. I have never had a car with so many constant problems. I spend about $1200 a year fixing it continually. I'm currently having electrical problems with the radio going out while in reverse or when I press the brake. The window on the passenger side won't move up or down unless the driver and the passenger press the buttons at the same time. The interior light stays on, so we have to unplug the fuse to get it to go off. The seat belt safety light and the window button lights keep clicking on and off. Once again, the steering wheel is hard to turn even though the power steering fluid is at the right level. I have to get the wheels aligned several times a year. The car always makes a humming noise and does not block out the sound of wind. The shoulder straps of seat belts alway lock into place too tight. Name the problem... I've probably been through it. I will never buy another ford/ mercury again even if it is the #1 selling car.

Filed Jan 21, 2003 · Electrical, Engine · 80,000 miles · NY

The most recent problems are electrical in nature. First, all of the passenger power windows have failed. They can only be controlled by the driver side panel. Second, even though all of the doors are securely closed, the interior dome light will remain on between 20 seconds and several hours. There were occasions when the light would come on by itself while I was driving down the highway to work. An audible clicking noise could be heard from under the dash. The click is similar to the sound made when manually operating the switch. Third, this started on sunday, 01/19/03, the headlights will turn on and off by themselves while the vehicle is off and the headlight switch is off. Additionally, with the car running and the daytime lights only, the highbeam indicator came on. When I turned the headlights on, the indicator went off. When I turned the headlights off, the highbeam indicator came back on. The highbeam indicator eventually turned off on its own within 5 or 10 minutes. Previous problems have included front end suspension related failures and an oil pan that sprung a leak in december 2001 at around 78k miles. The oil pan sprung another leak in december 2002. The service dealer attributed the leak to the same problem and another failure with the oil pressure switch. I agreed to the oil pressure switch repair and told them that if the oil pan gasket failed a 2nd time (original cause of leak in 2001), that it was due to poor repair work. They tightened the bolts to the oil pan. The winter weather has hampered my efforts to check for the leak. Although I no longer smell burning oil.

Filed Jul 27, 2000 · Engine, Transmission · CT · fire

While driving at normal highway speed all of a sudden vehicle cut off. Driver was able to pull to the side of the road safely, turned off the ignition, and got out of vehicle. This was when driver and family noticed vehicle was on fire. Vehcle was towed to the dealership. Cv boot exploded and threw grease onto the catalytic converter, which started the fire. Vehicle was being repaired. Please provide any further information.

Filed Dec 16, 1999 · Electrical, Engine · NC

While driving transmission completely malfunctioned, cause unknown. Also tachometer needle registering too high, smoke coming from under the hood, and oil smell.

Filed Jan 7, 1999 · Visibility · IN · fire

Consumer was warming vehicle up and got out, went inside and the house and the vehicle caught on fire. Fire department came and they noticed that fire started from the right hand side of vent and iginition. Vehicle burned down completely. *ak