general problems of the 2002 Mercury Grand Marquis

?yrs. Ago while backing out of parking space at calaveras lumber, after shifting into reverse, & removing my foot from the brake; the engine appeared to receive a huge burst of fuel which shot me backward like a rocket slamming my vehicle into and wedging it under the frame of a pickup truck parked in the same lot. I am glad I was parked and had my foot on the brake prior to this unit or system malfunction otherwise the injuries could easily have been fatal on the highway. I think this defect may be a contributing factor to the car dying recently while on my way to a wedding reception in roseville, which left me stranded after dark for 41/2hrs and 71/2hrs. 2days later. I have not been able to start vehicle since and mechanics unable to diagnose why the engine is fuel starved when system parts tested appear to be in good working order. Something seems to be shutting off power or preventing power to the fuel pump and it is not the inertia switch, relays, fuses etc. . Components have been previously inspected by numerous others including dealer. No recognizable alert/warning prior to incidents!.

For sometime now the headlights on my 2002 Mercury Grand Marquis appear to fade or dim soon after turning them on; giving the impression they are losing power and about to fail. I live in the mountains and am very familiar with each and every turn I see on the roads I travel. You see that is the matter of fact- if my headlights failed; I would not see the turn possibly a fatal fact.

After driving to mall my daughter realized that my head lights were not on. Checked all fuse (under dash and under hood). None were blown. Realized that had no dome light but did have map/reading lights. No tail lights or brake lights except third brake lights. Had brights if I held high beam lever. Had car towed to shop. Was told that it was the light control module (lcm). Was told that Ford had and extended warranty on this part. Took it to Ford dealer. They said that it was only for the 2003-2005 models and that my car was not covered. I think they should extend this warranty to the the 2002 models seeing that this is a common problem with earlier models and not just the 2003-2005 models. It is probably the same part.

Slight white smoke appearing through vents in auto. Then when we parked it extreme smoke came into vents filling passanger compartment. Also extreme white smoke mixed with black came through vents between hood and windshield. I opened hood and it was apparently between firewall & dash. Had terrible smell like rotted tuna. Wife still having breating problems from inhalation. Had car towed to dealership.

Shortly after purchase we went back to dealer to complain about bouncy suspension that made the car go sideways on the highway when going over bumps while in mild turns (just highway direction changes not getting off/on, etc. ). Dealer looked into problem via fmc and said the 02 suspension had been changed to improve its ride (ha). The changes were too great to be able to change components to get the ride back to what it was in earlier years. Only changes we could do to improve it were to get 4 new high pressure (fast responding) kb shocks and goodyear assurance touring (more flex in sidewall) tires to reduce the impact. Now the car does not laterally jump feet but rather inches during highway driving as described above. Also: starting relay was replaced twice and harness contacts in lower steering column developed poor connections and had to be sprayed with high cost caig contact improver to get car to start consistently. Also: brake pedal raise/lower motor burned out due to gear seizing up in that area and had to be replaced with great difficulty finding a replacement across country since fmc doesn't make parts anymore (> 7 yrs I guess). Also: all 8 individual cylinder spark coils were replaced with high performance aftermarket ones after two of fords coils failed, one at a time. All in all not a great car.