As my wife was coming to a stop at a traffic light at a very busy intersection in knoxville, she realized that she had lost some type of power and the tachometer registered a minimal RPM reading. At this point, the vehicle would not respond to any pressure on the accelerator. She was blocking two lanes of traffic and could move neither forward nor backwards. Luckily, she was able to obtain assistance quickly from the attendants at a nearby service station. The next day we had the van towed to a mercury dealer. They pinpointed the problem as a cracked crankshaft. Through my own research and contacts with local mechanics, I have discovered that this failure was due to a defective part, that there was no reason for a crankshaft to fail on a 5-year-old van with 75,000 miles. Another mercury service manager indicated to me that the villager van had a history of crankshaft problems. This was confirmed when I consulted your service bulletins database. There were several service bulletins regarding crankshaft failures in the 93-95 villagers. The bulletins summarized this failure as a "driveability concern." I believe this drastically understates the problem. If my wife had been on one of our local highways, traveling at a higher rate of speed , I believe the consequences of this failure would have been much harsher, possibly even deadly. I would urge you to further investigate this problem with the '94 villager and its repercussions on passenger safety.
1994 Mercury Villager engine complaints
Page 4 of 4: complaints 71 to 90 of 90, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Crankshaft broke causing damage to engine and engine components
Crankshaft broke causing damage to engine components.
Oil leaks from oil pan gasket.
Vehicle would run rough and loud ( valves/pistons) in cold weather only. Vehicle in/out of dealer shop, and dealer informed consumer that nothing could be found. Dealer/manufacturer notified.
Oil leaking from crankshaft. Vehicle was repaired on three occasions and condition reoccurs. Dealer informed consumer that problem could not be duplicated.
Consumer has experienced engine failure due to crankshaft snapping at the balancer. Consumer believed this cannot be considered a normal wear for vehicle with 67000 miles. Dealer notified and will not repair unless cost goes to the consumer.
When traveling between 15 to 20 MPH the vehicle cut off without prior warning due to broken crankshaft. Consumer has contacted the dealer, parts have yet to be replaced. Please provide any further details.
Head gasket blew due to overheating causing damage to engine.
Engine crankshaft failed.
Fuel favors entered engine compartment. Dealer originally thought that it happened after refueling, and resealed fuel filler neck at exterior body penetration. However vapors reappeared. There seems to be no correlation between vapors and fuel. They seem to come from exhaust system.
The engine shut completely off and the brakes and steering went out. Dealer says engine needs to be replaced.
A bolt had broken off in the engine head cylinder, allowing exhaust manifold to leak.
When driving usually at low speeds the vehicle stalls intermittently which almost caused an accident. Dealer cannot determine problem.
Defective crankshaft.
Front and back manifold bolts failed, causing manifold to warp.
Catalytic converter replaced.
The car has a smell coming out of exhaust. Tt
Consumer was driving from vacation the crankshaft has snapped. Tt
While driving engine caused a severe burning smell and covered windshield with smoke. Tt
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