Four problems related to speed control cable have been reported for the 2008 Mercury Mariner. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2008 Mercury Mariner based on all problems reported for the 2008 Mariner.
The throttle/gas pedal in my 2008 Mercury Mariner kept sticking and eventually breaking. I had the car towed and taken to a repair shop where they inspected the cable unhooked from the pedal when the technician hooked the cable throttle to the pedal it would not move when pressing down on the pedal, the throttle plate stuck. The technician removed and replace the throttle body assembly. I researched online and found that my issue is the same issue that was a Ford escape recall back in July 2012. Is this something I can contact Ford about to see if this should also be part of their throttle cable recall.
On may 15, 2010, I was accelerating onto a freeway in roseville, mn. The accelerator cable snapped completely disabling the gas pedal. The car immediately slowed down, and we were nearly rearended at 55 miles an hour as I frantically tried to control my vehicle, steer it to safety and put the hazard flashers on. The vehicle has 50, 980 miles so it no longer has bumper to bumper warranty on it and this piece is not considered part of the powertrain and will not be covered under the warranty. This was a dangerous situation and I feel that Ford motor company needs to address this issue. The service manager at my dealership feels this is a defect in the manufacturing of this vehicle.
The contact owns a 2008 Mercury Mariner. The contact started the ignition and observed that the accelerator pedal had detached from the cable without prior warning. The accelerator pedal was attached back to the cable; and functioned normal. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where the technician replaced the accelerator cable clip. The contact had concern of the safety issue. The failure mileage was 28,600.
On 09-24-2009 while traveling on I-95 towards maine near portsmouth, new hampshire, our vehicle a 2008 Mercury Mariner, with 15,682 miles on the odometer, lost all braking capability at 65 mph. Being a retired police officer I was able to talk my wife, who was driving, over into a breakdown lane in an effort to avoid collision with tractor trailers, motor vehicles and fixed objects. Ultimately the vehicle was turned onto an off ramp and onto a sidewalk and grass area to increase friction to reduce speed. This was several miles in the making and when the vehicle slowed to under 40 mph we placed it in neutral and were able to stop the car. We noted that the rpms were in the 4,000 to 5,000 range as the throttle appeared stuck. After towing to portsmouth Ford, in portsmouth, new hampshire; technicians there determined that the problem was a stretched throttle control & cable assembly (part #7l8z*9!758*c cable ass-throttle contro and part # z*9725*a shaft mt79758a-accelerator cable). Techicians stated that the stretch accelerator cable (which they said was poorly designed) caused the throttle and cruise control to lock, which over rode the braking system. Warranty repairs were made invoice 497086 tag customer #8023451243. We narrowly avoided what could have been a catastrophic accident and feel this should be brought to your attention as a defect may exist in other simllar 2008 Mercury Mariners.