2004 MERCURY MONTEREY Complaints

AFTER A RAINSTORM I OPENED THE TAILGATE OF MY VEHICLE AND WAS SURPRISED TO FIND THAT THE REAR WHEEL WELL WAS WET. I VACUUMED THE WATER OUT AND BROUGHT IT TO THE DEALER ALMOST 2 MONTHS LATER AFTER FINDING MOISTURE SEVERAL OTHER TIMES. THE DEALER HAD A SERVICE TECH TRY TO RECREATE HOW THE WATER GOT IN AND "DETERMINED" THAT I HAD CRACKED A PANEL. THE ONLY CRACK VISIBLE TO ME WAS IN A TRIM PIECE AROUND THE LICENSE PLATE. THEY TOLD ME IT WOULD COST OVER $600 TO REPAIR. I TOLD THEM NEVERMIND. THAT MUCH WATER COULD NOT COME FROM THAT CRACK. FAST FORWARD TO A TIME NEAR THE PRESENT. MOST RECENTLY, THE "PULL", A PLASTIC AND NYLON PIECE ON THE BACK OF THE SEAT FAILED. SOON THERE AFTER, ONE OF THE NYLON STRAPS USED TO RETRACT THE SEAT FAILED. I CANNOT GET MY SEAT BACK IN TO THE "STOWED" POSITION. AFTER REMOVING THE TRIM FROM THE BACK OF THE SEAT I FOUND ALL SORTS OF RUST AND CORROSION TO THE SEAT BASE. I WOULDN'T FEEL COMFORTABLE DRIVING WITH A PASSENGER IN MY 3RD ROW SEATING ANYMORE. I UNDERSTAND THERE MAY ALSO BE A RECALL ON THIS CAR FOR SOME SORT OF LEAK IN THE WHEEL WELLS. I'VE BEEN DRIVING AROUND WITH DAMPNESS IN THE BACK OF MY VAN FOR TWO PLUS YEARS NOW AND I FEEL LIKE FORD MOTOR CO. IS PASSING THE BUCK ON TO THE CONSUMER TO SAVE SOME MONEY. I HAVE NO FAITH IN AMERICAN MADE VEHICLES BETWEEN THIS AND A SEPARATE TRANSMISSION INCIDENT. I DON'T EVEN WANT TO GET ON THE STEREO. *TR

ON 2/24/2012 I WAS MERGING INTO HIGHWAY TRAFFIC. THE TRANSAXLES LIGHT CAME ON AND THE VAN HAD DIFFICULTY SHIFTING FROM WHAT I THOUGHT WAS 2ND GEAR IN TO 3RD, JUST BELOW 60 MPH AND AT ABOUT 5500 RPM. I FOUND THIS ODD, SO I EASED OFF OF THE GAS. TRIED TO ACCELERATE AGAIN WHILE THE LIGHT WAS FLASHING AND IT WOULD STILL NOT SHIFT. AFTER PULLING OFF THE HIGHWAY AT AN EXIT. I TURNED OFF THE CAR AND RESTARTED IT. THE LIGHT DISAPPEARED. I DROVE AWAY WITH OUT INCIDENT. I PROCEEDED TO PICK UP MY CHILD AND THEN WENT TO FILL MY GAS TANK ABOUT 2 MILES AWAY. WHEN I HIT JUST OVER 40MPH THE LIGHT CAME ON AGAIN. WHILE FILLING UP ON GAS I READ ABOUT A POTENTIAL RECALL ON THIS PARTICULAR MODEL'S TORQUE CONVERTER, SO I WENT IMMEDIATELY TO MY LOCAL FORD DEALER. HE WAS AWARE OF THE POTENTIAL RECALL (EVEN THOUGH CONSUMERS WEREN'T INFORMED), AND REITERATED SOMETHING I HAD READ ABOUT THE PART NOT BEING AVAILABLE UNTIL THE 2ND QUARTER. WE AGREED THAT I WOULD HAVE MY CAR THERE ON MONDAY MORNING FOR A CLOSER LOOK. MONDAY CAME AND THE SERVICE ASSOCIATE CALLED. HE EXPLAINED THAT THEY COULD NOT RECREATE MY PROBLEM IN A ROAD TEST. HE SAID THERE WAS AN ERROR CODE IN THE COMPUTER'S MEMORY, BUT THE CODE WAS NOT RELATED TO THE TORQUE CONVERTER. FROM HERE, I GUESS THEY DRAINED THE TRANSMISSION FLUID AND SAID THAT THERE WAS WATER IN IT. HE TOLD ME THAT THEY WOULD HAVE TO EITHER REPAIR MY TRANSMISSION (@$4000) OR REPLACE MINE WITH A WITH A REBUILT ONE (@$3200). MIND YOU, THE VAN ONLY HAS LESS THAN 43,000 MILES ON IT. I WAS TOLD BY AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC THAT THE $4000 PRICE IS TO SCARE YOU INTO BEING MORE COMFORTABLE WITH THE $3200 PRICE., BUT THAT BOTH PRICES SOUNDED STEEP. IN THE END, I BOUGHT THE REBUILT TRANSMISSION ANYWAY, BECAUSE IT HAD A 3 YEAR UNLIMITED MILEAGE WARRANTY THAT THE INDEPENDENT MECHANIC COULD NOT PROVIDE. SINCE THEN I'VE READ ABOUT A WATER /TRANSMISSION ISSUE THAT NHTSA IS INVESTIGATION. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 MERCURY MONTEREY. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE STEERING FAILED. THE VEHICLE WAS THEN TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC AND THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT THE STEERING PUMP WAS LEAKING FLUID. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE AND THE CURRENT MILEAGES WERE 100,000. THE VIN INFORMATION WAS NOT AVAILABLE.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 MERCURY MONTEREY. THE CONTACT STATED THAT BOTH REAR WHEEL WELLS WERE SEVERELY RUSTED AS WELL AS PARTS OF THE VEHICLE. THE CONTACT SPOKE WITH THE MANUFACTURER AND WAS TOLD THAT THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT BE REPAIRED BECAUSE THERE WERE TOO MANY ACCUMULATED MILES ON THE VEHICLE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 184,000 AND THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS UNKNOWN.

SPLINES RELATED TO THE TORQUE CONVERTER LOCATED IN THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION SHEARED OFF UNEXPECTEDLY WHILE DRIVING. TRANSMISSION HAD TO BE COMPLETELY REBUILT DUE TO DEBRIS THAT CIRCULATED THROUGHOUT THE SYSTEM. IN ADDITION TO THAT, WHILE THE TRANSMISSION WAS BEING REBUILT IT WAS DETERMINED THAT WATER HAD ALSO BEEN ENTERING THE TRANSMISSION AND CONTAMINATING THE FLUID WHICH IS BELIEVED TO HAVE CAUSED THE ADHESIVE ON THE BANDS TO DETERIORATE AND BREAK APART. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 MERCURY MONTEREY. THE CONTACT STATED THAT AFTER ENTERING A HIGHWAY DRIVING 70 MPH, THE VEHICLE STALLED WITHOUT WARNING. THE VEHICLE WAS ABLE TO BE RESTARTED AFTER A FEW MOMENTS AND WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHERE THEY ADVISED THAT THE ENGINE CONTROL MODULE FAILED AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS CONTACTED AND THEY OFFERED NO ASSISTANCE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 105,300.

WHILE DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD, THE ENGINE DIED WITHOUT WARNING, NO POWER. IT HAD NO POWER STEERING, IT HAD SHUT OFF COMPLETELY. IT WAS HARD TO RESTART AND THEN AFTER GOING AGAIN IT DIED AGAIN AS I WAS TRYING TO PULL OVER. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 MERCURY MONTEREY. THE CONTACT WAS DRIVING 65 MPH WHEN THE RPMS INCREASED AND THE VEHICLE BEGAN TO DECELERATE INDEPENDENTLY WITHOUT WARNING. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO AN AUTO SHOP WHERE THE MECHANIC INSPECTED THE VEHICLE AND INFORMED THE CONTACT THAT THE TRANSMISSION FAILED AND WOULD NEED REPLACING. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 90,000.

(2008)DRIVING OUR 2004 MRCURY MONTEREY, I TRIED TO ACCELERATE FROM A STOP LIGHT AND GOT JUST ENOUGH TO PUSH US INTO THE INTERSECTION AND DRIFT ACROSS; AFTER THAT THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT MOVE. WE WERE TOLD THE TORQUE CONVERTER HAD BEEN STRIPPED AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. IT IS NOW 2011, WHILE DRIVING ON A FREEWAY MY WIFE STARTED SEEING SMOKE AND PULLED OVER. NOW WE ARE TOLD THE TORQUE CONVERTER OVERHEATED AND BLEW THE SEALS AND HAS TO BE REBUILT. SOMETHING IN THIS MODEL SEEMS TO BE DESTROYING TRANSMISSIONS AND THIS IN NOT AN INEXPENSIVE PAST TIME. *TT

ACCELERATING AWAY FROM TRAFFIC SIGNAL, VEHICLE ACCELERATED NORMALLY UP TO 20-25MPH AND THEN TRANSMISSION TOTALLY FAILED. NO WARNING, NO SYMPTOMS. *KB