Ten problems related to manifold/header/muffler/tail pipe have been reported for the 1998 Mercury Grand Marquis. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
The contact owns a 1998 Mercury Grand Marquis. While driving various speeds, the engine misfired and hesitated to respond. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the plastic intake manifold was cracked, which caused anti freeze to leak out and damage the engine coils. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 80,000.
Vehicle started to buck and when I pulled my vehicle over I lifted the hood. I found anti-freeze flowing on the top of my engine. I had it towed to my local garage & they told me that the intake manifold is cracked. I did some research and found out there's a recall on this part. When I called my local Ford dealer, they told me there is a recall on this part, but it's only for police and fleet vehicles only. Now that this was said to me, I was told by my garage it would cost me $1000 to fix. Something I don't have. Ford was not very cooperative about my situation and I'm very disappointed.
I observed a coolant leak around the thermostat. I found the plastic intake manifold to be cracked around the thermostat and leaking coolant. I made contact with Mercury and found that there had been a recall on the plastic intake manifold in which they would have replaced the part at no charge during the safety recall campaign. I was not made aware of the safety recall and have owned the vehicle since 04/17/02 when I purchased the vehicle used from a Mercury dealership. The dealership would no longer honor this recall although there are still thousands upon thousands of these engines still on the road. The all plastic manifold was replaced with an intake manifold with an aluminum crossover channel for the coolant. I was forced to replace this defective part out-of-pocket at a cost of $800. It would have been more had I not been friends with the mechanic. The vehicle had 102,281 miles at the time of the failure.
The contact owns a 1998 Mercury Grand Marquis. After driving 65 mph, the contact noticed fuel leaking from the vehicle. She stated that the intake manifold cracked and she took the vehicle to the Ford dealer. The dealer informed her that there was a recall on her vehicle, but they would not honor it because it was only good for seven years. She took the vehicle to an independent dealer and paid $850 for the repair. The VIN and engine size were unknown. The current and failure mileages were 113,000. Updated 12/12/2007 the consumer stated the intake manifold was a defect that Ford refused to pay for the repairs. The consumer stated would like to be reimbursed for repairs. Updated 12/12/07.
1998 Grand Marquis overheated and manifold was leaking.
1) normal driving usage; 2) plastic intake manifold cracked, overheating car; 3) part will have to be replaced $590 from Ford motor company.
Faliure has not happened yet but has the potential with all of the other 1998 Mercury Grand Marquis. Plastic intake manifolds are defective from Ford and cause coolant loss. This can cause engine damage and possible engine failure. Recall applying to fleet vehicles should apply to private use vehicles as well. Average repair costs between 700-1000 dollars.
Problems with intake manifold being cracked. The consumer felt that the same recalls for the crown victoria's and thunderbird's should also apply to the Mercury Grand Marquis because they were manufactured by the same company. The intake manifold cracked and was replaced. The consumer requested reimbursement for the monies spent for repair.
1. Check engine light came on and remained on constantly. 2. Light began to blink for a while then remain on again. The car suddenly killed in a very dangerous situation (while in the middle lane of interstate traffic with no shoulder) 3. Problem was determined to be the intake manifold. We were advised that this part breaks often and in fact a recall was issued but only on police cars! the average consumer is left to fend for themselves for this expensive part. A piece of plastic costing upwards of $500 only for the part. Upon replacement we were told by our mechanic that this has been a problem part in these vehicles; and when the part was received it was discovered that Ford had changed the construction to include metal( in the area that usually breaks) in what was previously an all plastic part. We do not have the old part, and I don't suspect that the mechanic kept it either.
Consumer was experiencing problems with the cooling system but wasn't included in the recall. The consumer had to anti-freeze to the vehicle on a continuous basis. The consumer was then informed there was a defect with the 4. 6l v8 engines. The manufacturer used carbon fiber intake manifolds on the engines. Due to the heat, the carbon fiber intake would crack which caused a lost of coolant. The consumer told there was a recall, but on;y for police vehicle's.