Manifold/header/muffler/tail Pipe Problems of Mercury Cougar

My vehicles became totally disabled on a very busy highway with heavy after hours rush hour traffic. The manifold which is made of plastic broke were the coolant temperature sensor was built in, I also noticed that a few sparkplugs were flooded with coolant. I found out that there was a lawsuit on these vehicles but no one knew about it and only fleet vehicles were covered and not civilian vehicles. I wonder if there is any chance for me to seek a dealership and get reimbursed for these damages.

See all problems of the 1997 Mercury Cougar 🔎.

Tl * the contact owns a 1996 Mercury Cougar. The contact stated that the vehicle was leaking anti freeze abnormally. The vehicle was taken to a local repair shop where the contact was advised that the plastic intake manifold was fractured and would need to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted to report the failure. The failure and current mileage was 140,000.

See all problems of the 1996 Mercury Cougar 🔎.

Intake manifold crack and anti-freeze spilling out and a lot of steam smoke while I was driving,car in shop now a it will cost me $600. 00 to fix.

While driving my 1996 Cougar this past September, which has only 40,360 miles on it and is stored most of the year for the purposes of collecting and preserving the vehicle indefinitely, at low speeds I noticed the obvious sign of coolant and the smell of coolant coming from up under the hood. I then shut the vehicle down right away and discovered coolant running onto the ground below. Now, being of an experienced nature with automobiles and using close observation of the problem it appeared to be emanating from the front of the intake manifold. I then discovered after the fact that these 4. 6 liter engines are notorious for this intake cracking problem, so now I will be purchasing an upgraded and improved intake for around $223. 00 that is designed as a replacement for this defective manifold. I then had my vehicle towed to my place of residence at the cost of around $100. 00 question is? why then am I one of those owners that were not given the opportunity to get a covered replacement when it is very apparent that my year 1996 Mercury Cougar should have been included in the 4. 6 engines recall. This could have been a disastrous situation damaging or shortening the life of a well cared for engine. The intake manifold is simply not a component that should fail, I realize that this doesn't apply to every component on a vehicles engine but it does and should apply to this component because of the importance of this part, since the potential cost incurred to an owner if it overheats the engine could be quite high and this is completely solvable by proper component design as is well proven with good designs in the many automobles produced in past years.

I have a 1997 Mercury Cougar xr7 that has 42,000 miles on it. The intake manifold cracked in my garage and liquids leaked all over garage. My car was one of the excluded vehicles in fords class action and recall of cracked manifolds.

1 . Heavy loss of coolant,spraying all over engine area continuously and would not maintain proper levels. 2. Car overheating and risk of burning up the engine. 3. Replaced "plastic" manifold,coolant,thermostat and gasket. This manifold was a class action lawsuit against Ford motor company that I contacted after the incident and was told my VIN did not fall into the category. I now looked it up and it certainly does. The outcome of the lawsuit had dates involved and my incident happened seven months after the judges decision of seven years after the warranty. After calling Ford and speaking with 3 "customer service" people their script was the legal decision and they (Ford) was not going to do a thing for me. How many people are out there that had this happen and have no idea of this "plastic manifold" that should have never been in the car and paid good money for something that Ford caused and now will not stand by their product.

Consumer's request for reimbursement but was denied reimbursement for the plastic manifold replacement in his 1997 Mercury Cougar . ** answer required***. The consuemr was not reimbursed for the repairs because the repairs were not made at a Ford/Mercury dealer.

The intake manifold cracked, causing the coolant to leak out. Could cause the engine to overheat. Consumer will contact the manufacturer.

While driving 55 mph driver heard a loud knocking noise coming from the front. Driver noticed fluid leaking from underneath the vehicle. Driver took vehicle to a garage for inspection, and mechanic determined that intake manifold needed to be replaced.

See all problems of the 2000 Mercury Cougar 🔎.

I purchased my Cougar in 1996 brand new. I have been it soul owner since the date of purchase. On November 23, 2004 I was driving to work and about half way there my low coolant light came on. There was no other signs that my car was in trouble, no overheating on my temperature gauge, so I continued to work, parked the car. Before I started the car I added a gallon of antifreeze and it seemed to drain out so I added another gallon, it did the same. I immediate called my mechanic before starting the car. He told me to start the car and when I did I looked under the car and all the antifreeze was pouring out fast. I shut off the car and had it towed directly to my mechanic. He has informed me that the manifold has cracked. I have had this item periodically checked since I received the recall information in 1998. Each check has assured me that this manifold was in good shape. Now I find out that the recall will not cover the replacement of the manifold. This is going to cost me $1100. 00 to fix. I think it is very unfair that Ford will not continue to honor the recall since they know that this plastic manifold will not hold up for the life of the car. This is my first major issue and I am very disappointed in fords policy. I bought my Cougar in good faith and I love my car very much. Because I take care of my vehicle I missed the cutoff time by four months and now it will cost me dearly. Why weren't vehicle owners informed of the cutoff times? I was given the impression this recall would be honored in good faith for the life of the vehicle.

Intake manifold has developed a crack. As a result, water leaked out, and the engine overheated.

The manifold cracked in the same location, overheating the car for the second time. The intake manifold was made of plastic and was recalled. The new manifold was also made of plastic and over time it also failed. The consumer feels the dealer should have installed the new re-designed two piece, half plastic half metal manifold.

Problems with plastic intake manifold. The manifold which was replaced under recall cracked in the same location as the previous faulty manifold which caused the vehicle to overheat.

Consumer complained about a defective part in the intake manifold, which at one time was on recall. No notification was ever received. Manufacturer was contacted, and stated that the warranty expired, and they did not have to honor the recall.

The plastic intake manifold on my 1997 Mercury Cougar failed on 7/13/2004. The coolant leaked into the spark plug socket and grounded the number 2 spark plug, leaked coolant over engine. Left my wife stranded with undriveable car. Subsequent examination of the engine by an ase mechanic revealed a fatigue crack in the intake manifold near the cross-over tube. This is clearly a design flaw. It will cost over $900 to remove and replace the faulty intake manifold. The old part will be available after repairs are affected.

Had catastrophic intake manifold failure while on vacation. Fomoco has a recall on this component (97m91) but refused to provide relief. As I understand the recall of this known problem, Ford will only replace when it fails, but it must fail in a specific time frame. This was a silent recall as Ford never publicized it. I had attempted a preventative replacement as I was aware of the inherent problem -- again my local Mercury dealer (king - gaithersburg, MD) would only replace when the manifold failed. Well it did while I was on vacation hundreds of miles from home. As this was a known manufactor's problem from the date of installation, replace must be done when the problem first comes to Ford's knowledge. Instead, when issuing the recall (March 1999) Ford chose to ignore the problem until the consumer brings it to the dealership's attention. Only then would the dealer acknowledge the recall existed.

Recall regarding problems with plastic intake manifold. The original intake manifold was cracked at the front motor. Ford replaced the defective plastic manifold with another defective plastic manifold. The consumer requested reimbursement.

I have a 1997 Mercury Cougar. After seeing a low coolant light, and stopping the car, I opened the hood and had coolant everywhere! the car was towed to a repair shop and I was told it was a cracked intake manifold. After further research I have found this is a continual problem with Ford produced automobiles.

On 5/19/2004 I had to have towed and replace defective cracked plastic intake manifold on a 1997 Mercury xr7 Cougar and hadn't been previously informed of any recalls then recently I had to replace yet another defective manifold (2nd car ) this shop informed me of a class action that I should have been informed of previously that should have taken care of the auto above however as the notification program never notified me on either car.

Make: Mercury model: Cougar year: 1997 type: passenger car service bulletin number: 05n04 NHTSA item number: 10018959 summary description: extended coverage program 05n04 - extended coverage for composite intake manifold. This program is being provided as a settlement to a class action lawsuit. The terms of the settlement extend the coverage of the all-composite intake manifold to 7 years from the original warranty start date of the vehicle, with no limit on the number of miles that the vehicle has been driven. On March 2, 2004, I sent a letter to Ford motor company describing how the intake manifold on my 1997 Mercury Cougar had ruptured on Feb. 28, 2004. After waiting a month and receiving no reply, I called their customer complaint line and described the problem. They told me that my vehicle did not qualify for a recall reimbursement, but gave no reason why. Since my daughter also owns a 1997 Mercury Cougar, I told her to have a mechanic check her intake manifold. The mechanic replaced her intake manifold at no charge since it had been recalled as per the above quoted statement. I called Ford back with this information and they gave me the same reply. I wrote them a letter and they did not reply. I visited my local Mercury dealer, from whom I had recently purchased a new vehicle and again was told that my vehicle does not qualify for the recall. I understand that this case went to court and the ruling was that Ford had to pay every owner of vehicles with this defect a sum of $750. I have not been paid anything and Ford refuses to give me any answer other than what they have already given. I still have the defective intake manifold in my possession and the repair bill for $1455. 28.

The contact stated the coolant light illuminated on dashboard . The vehicle was taken to a dealership. The plastic intake manifold cracked causing the loss of antifreeze. No repairs were made. Updated 12/27/2005 - the consumer did some research and found that the manufacturer had recall this part but not for civilian vehicles.

1997 Cougar xr7, 4. 6liter engine. Cracked intake manifod allows cooling fluid to escape. Problem has been present for over three years but has never been located until lately when fluid loss increased significantly/.

While driving, the consumer smelled anti freeze fumes inside the vehicle. Antifreeze fumes were affecting the consumer's breathing. A cracked intake manifold, plug wires and a bad exhaust hose had to be replaced. The maf sensor was cleaned and the was antifreeze replaced.

Intake manifold cracked. Made of a plastic material. Is there any recalls out there for this? if not, why not? why would you put plastic material in the engine?.

Intake manifold is made of plastic. There was a failure in the plastic material on the water cross-over jacket (portion of the manifold). This caused all the coolant to flood out. I found Ford had issued a TSB (97m91) throgh its owners notification program (onp) identifying fatigue and failure of this part. A new part had been designed by Ford engineers that used an aluminum coolant cross-over jacket rather than the plastic. The onp TSB was released in 1999. I called the support phone number, 1-800-392-3673. Is now the claims number. However, he indicated the VIN number still showed the previous owner. This was promptly changed. It turns out the 7 year extended warranty issued by Ford (to all new and subsequent owners) had expired in may of this year. Hear is my problem: 1. I bought the car(used) from a major dealer in March of 2002. Why did Ford not have my owners information? what good is the onp if it is inaccurate? 2. I had to do an extensive search to find this TSB 97m91. Had I known about this, I would of had it replaced before it failed, or had it periodically inspected. . I was never given the opportunity to make that descision. 3. It seems the owners notification program only benefits those who are "in the computer system". 4. I feel I have no recourse to negotiate with Ford. The claims phone number offered no assistance to this inquiry. 5. This is a poorly designed part. So poor, Ford issed a 7 year extended warranty. What makes them feel they have no obligation to its consumers even after 7 years? this is a major system component. It should have a reasonable life expectancy. It would not be considered acceptable to crack an engine block, head, transmission bellhousing. So why is it accepted that 7 years is acceptable for an intake manifold? it is not normal to have a 3 inch fatigue crack in an intake manifold. I feel Ford should include my vehicle in a mandatory recall of this part.

While driving at 35mph the vehicle intake plastic manifold over heated with no warning and the consumer was forced to pull over.

Imrc (intake manifold runner control) unit seems to have used insufficient cable strength. Faulty design caused the cable to fray inside the unit eventually breaking.

See all problems of the 1999 Mercury Cougar 🔎.

No warning, driving to work under normal conditions when steam and coolant (which could be smelled) came out from under hood, limiting my vision. I had to stop and low coolant level light came on. I had to have car towed home. Took car to a corner mechanic who informed us the intake manifold had cracked and it would cost us $1,200. We were skeptical because on other vehicles we have, this part is cast so it doesn't break. We then had the car towed again to a reputable mechanic that we have used before and he also said the intake manifold was broken. He then had to order a new Ford part that cost us $589. 17 plus labor of $249. 60 and wrecker run of $38. 40, for a grand total of $923. 12. Upon checking with Ford. Com, we found out that this has happened to several others and upon speaking with someone over the phone we were informed that there was a "customer satisfaction program, service bulletin 97m91" that would have replaced this defective part at no cost to us, if the part would have broken in the month of may, instead of June 19, when it occurred. We were never aware of such a program and are extremely distressed that such a reputable company as Ford would not make this an unlimited warranty knowing that the part will fail and that the replacement part is made of aluminum which is dependable. Why was this not used during manufacturing of the automobile? surely, the cost then would have been minimal to Ford. Could this possibly be reason why it was not made a voluntary recall? we want to be reimbursed for this part, considering we were only 3 weeks out of "97m91. ".

Tear along front face of upper intake manifold. Called several salvage yards to find replacement and was told by all that they can't keep these in stock. When I did locate one the manager at the salvage yard asked what happened to my intake. I showed him where the intake split open and he informed me that they're seeing a lot of these with the same problem and I was lucky to find the one he had. This plastic (composite) component probably doesn't fair well in arizona. Dt.

Check for coolant leak at intake manifold. Replaced intake manifold. There were regular oil changes and tire rotation. The engine light had come on, and the coolant light would come on and off. The dealer had to replace the engine sensor light and added a cup of water. The consumer's son in law was driving the vehicle and white smoke coming from under the vehicle, the rubber strip on the inside of the vehicle was coming off, the right rear trim panel coming loose, the brakes made rubbing noise intermittently, glove box door won't shut, the air bag would rattle, the right front door rattled while the vehicle was in motion, and the door switch trim panel was discolored.

We have numerous complaints with this vehicle. One of which is the brakes. Another is the cooling system. There is a recall on the manifold but our local Ford dealer wlll not replace even though we have asked them to do so. In addition the engine had a problem which no one could figure out.

Intake manifold is made of a composite material the heat of motor must have cracked it, the crack is right behind where the alternator sits. So, it is on the front of the intake. Why is an intake made of plastic anyway?.

The consumer examined the engine and noticed coolant had leaked due to a cracked intake manifold.