Automatic Transmission Torque Converter problems of the 2004 Mercury Monterey - part 2

The van is a 2004 Mercury Monterey. I was driving home from dropping a friend off to get his SUV from the shop. I was driving home, and had to slow down to make a left turn at the light. I turned and went to step on the gas and there was nothing. I thought at first I had somehow bumped it into neutral. When I looked down it was in drive. I just made it over the train tracks when it came to a stop. I tried everything I could think of. I turned the van off then on went through all of the gears, and nothing happened. My wife called aaa, and had the van towed to a repair shop where we were told it would cost between $2,500 to $3,000 to replace the transmission because the torque converter sent metal shavings through the transmission. The most frustrating thing is we don't have the money to have it fixed, and with a family of 5 it is really hard to get around.

2004 Mercury Monterey 59,700 miles and the torque converter went out. Thankfully the vehicle broke down in front of the house. After reviewing a bunch of websites, there should be a recall on this vehicle for this problem. This is a family vehicle sold to the consumers as safe. Hardly, the case!.

Transmission failure - caused by faulty torque converter.

On sept 27, 2010 I was driving home from my job and my 2004 Mercury Monterey just stopped accelerating. There were not sounds, light or warnings on the dash and there had never been any. I was able to coast up onto the grass area on the side of the 2 lane road and out of traffic before the car came to a complete stop. My car would not restart. My car had 50180 miles on it at the time this happened. I had my car towed to a repair shop where a repair was made. I have all the papers regarding the repairs which included a rebuilt torque converter, the removal metal contamination throughout the unit, and the removal and replacement of the transaxle assembly.

2004 Mercury Monterey - wife driving down the highway (with one child as a passenger) at 65 mph. Vehicle lost all ability to accelerate. No gear. Had to coast to the side of the highway (during rush hour) where there was little to no room to even exit the vehicle safely. She was stuck in the vehicle while cars and trucks sped by rapidly often coming close to hitting her. Police were called and also a tow truck. The van had no movement in any gear. Only had park and neutral. Van was towed and the problem was determined to be a failed torque converter. Specifically the splines inside the converter where the shaft coming out of the transmission engages. Repair cost plus tow is $2000. Luckily no one was hurt but it was a very dangerous situation. After some research there is apparently a class action suit against Ford on this issue and a NHTSA investigation underway (ea09016).

2004 Mercury Monterey lost power while driving 65mph on freeway. I was able to coast to the next exit ramp and called a tow truck. Van is at mechanic, but I suspect it is a bad torque converter.

2004 Mercury Monterey with 120,000, wouldn't move in the middle of long trip. Torque converter stripped out. Started jumping in and out overdrive when finally did move, but blew out seal.

Traveling along rt. 270 towards st. Louis regional airport at 60 mpr lost go power. Luckily engine continued to run so was able to move out of traffic and pull over on shoulder. Having being pulled to nearest Mercury dealer they found the torque converter had gone out worth over $1500.

We bought a 2004 Mercury Monterey with 97k miles on it in June 24, 2010. . . Everything was fine until August 11, 2010. I was driving and all of a sudden the car will not accelerate. . . So I drift to the side of the road and try to get the van to accelerate but nothing happened. I had to get it towed and the transmission guy took it apart and said the torque converter needs replaced it went out. . . We are still waiting to see if our extended warranty covers it if not it will be 1400-1600 bucks to get it fixed. I mean we had not even had it for two months yet. I started researching and found alot of complaints on it and still nothing has been done. Thanks goodness no one in my family got hurt, what will it take to get them to recall this problem and to keep people safe?.

The contact owns a 2004 Mercury Monterey. The contact stated while driving at an unknown speed, the torque converter failed and caused the contact to momentarily lose control of the vehicle. The contact was able to stop the vehicle without incident. The dealer advised that the torque converter would need to be replaced at the contacts expense. There was not a recall for the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileages were 75,000.

Our 2004 Mercury Monterey has approx. 64,000. On July 7,2010 the torque converter output shaft failed. The vehicle is now having to have the transmission rebuilt. Approximate cost $3,000.

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 addhesive on the bands to deteriorate and break apart.

Vehicle suddenly and unexpectedly lost power while wife was driving on level terrain with two passengers at constant speed of approx. 65 mph in right lane of an interstate. Engine rpm increased but vehicle speed decreased. Power loss was complete. Fortunately a rest area was within coasting distance and vehicle was able to come to a safe stop there. Engine would crank and run but vehicle would not move in any gear, forward or reverse. Vehicle was towed to a Ford dealer, who diagnosed transmission failure. Vehicle was repaired at a cost of approx. $3,300 by replacing transmission and torque converter with Ford remanufactured parts. I personally reviewed the failed transmission and torque converter when I picked up the repaired vehicle. Due to the substantial core charge (approx. $600) I allowed the dealer to keep the parts for return to Ford. While reviewing the parts, I was able to identify and photograph what appeared to be the root cause of the failure. All teeth of the pump drive spline (a female spline inside the torque converter) were sheared off so that the spline bore was completely smooth. (I also observed and photographed an undamaged converter for comparison. ) there was no damage to the mating male pump drive spline on the transmission. The nature of this failure clearly points to a design or manufacturing defect. The failed spline teeth must have been soft or they would have damaged the mating teeth on the male spline. The failed spline component appeared to be a stamped 1/8" thick steel washer which was welded to the inside of the torque converter case. Failure of this component suggests that its design thickness and strength were grossly inadequate to support the pump drive load for the service life of the vehicle. It is extremely dismaying to have the failure of a less than $2 component result in a potentially life-threatening situation and a very expensive repair bill. Of particular concern is that there was absolutely no warning of impending failure!.

2004 Mercury Monterey vehicle turns on but does not reverse or drive will not move in any direction. Possible diagnose is transmission torque converter. Vehicle was driving fine and all of a sudden this happened.

We were traveling down the road at about 50 mph when all forward momentum was lost. We coasted to the side of the road where we attempted to put the vehicle into gear. The vehicle would not go into any gear. Transmission specialist suspects torque converter failure possibly transmission damage. This is extremely concerning since this vehicle is low mileage (59,129) and has a perfect maintenance history.

2004 Mercury Monterey had torque converter/transmission failure during acceleration on the highway. There are reports of over 3,000 on the nhtsb website and only 32,000 vehicles were produced, so this is occurring in over 10% of these vehicles. I don't understand why these vehicles are still on the road and not being recalled by your agency.

The contact owns a 2004 Mercury Monterey which was purchased in 2008. While driving at speeds of 50 mph merging onto the highway, the vehicle stalled without warning. She was able to restart the vehicle and utilize the heating system; however, the vehicle would not shift into any gears. The vehicle was towed to her independent mechanic who stated that the transmission torque converter failed. There were no related recalls. The vehicle was being repaired. The failure and current mileages were under 115,000.

2004 Mercury Monterey Mini van. Torque converter has failed and rendered the Mini van inoperative. Fortunately, my son and brother in law were not in highway traffic. I see there is some research on this. Has there been any updates on this research to qualify as a recall from Ford? thank you. Sean assam.

While traveling on I 75s in our 2004 Mercury Monterey our vehicle suddenly seemed to have lost it's transmission. After getting us across two lanes over to the side by the guard rail we sat 2 hours in the ice and snow at a dangerous place along the road side, according to the police who waited with us with lights on. After getting towed into a Ford dealer we found out our torque converter went out causing us to rent a vehicle to be able to continue onto our family vacation. How fun to vacation not knowing how much the repairs would cost and also having to add on the cost of a rental vehicle for the week. If there is anymore we can find out on a possible recall, we heard from the dealership this has been a common problem, we would really appreciate it.

I was driving down the road when suddenly I lost power. I had to coast to the side of the road. There were no previous indications that my minivan had any problems. I had to have my vehicle towed in. It was discovered that the torque converter needed to be replaced.

Our transmission/torque converter went out on our 2004 Mercury Monterey. It left my 4 year old and my husband stranded on 95 (highway) for hours. It just stopped moving.

My wife was backing out of her parking spot, put the van in forward, and discovered that it would not move. There were no indications that this event was going to happen. Our repair technician had to replace our planetary gearset, because they were destroyed, the torque converter was replaced as a precaution, and the neutral switch was replaced because it was thought to be the root cause. However a broken "cam switch" wire was preventing the car from operating normally. When that was finally discovered, we were able to get our van back.

My wife was driving at night on a busy two lane road when the vehicle suddenly lost acceleration, as if it had been shifted into neutral. She was able to coast into a left turn lane for a subdivision where she had to wait in the vehicle for over an hour for help to arrive. The vehicle was taken to a Ford dealer where they "replaced the torque converter due to failed pump shaft spline". The repair cost us $1475. 46.

The contact owns a 2004 Mercury Monterey. While driving 30 mph the vehicle down-shifted. She stopped the engine and had the vehicle towed to the dealer. The technician concluded that the torque converter possibly caused the transmission to fail. He added that since there were no recalls, and the warranty expired he would have to pay $3000. 00 for the repair. The failure mileage was 102,000.

Transmission failure: upon entering interstate 64 outside lexington, ky my 2004 Mercury Monterey Mini-van lost forward acceleration. The tach revved high but no forward motion. Came very close to being struck by a tractor trailer rig but managed to steer the vehicle off the interstate. Tried placing the car in any gear but had no drive power. The only thing that worked on the transmission was park, all other gears were inoperative. Monterey had to be towed to a Ford dealership. Investigation has indicated that the torque converter has failed. There was no warning of any problems with the transmission on this vehicle, no noises or slippage. It has approx. 82000 miles on it. I purchased this vehicle new and never had a problem before this with the engine or transmission. I feel that only my skills as a driver prevented a major accident from happening. Had I not taken immediate action to change the direction of the vehicle when forward drive epower was lost I would have been struck by another vehicle.

I have brought my vehicle into southgate Lincoln Mercury in southgate mi several times prior to the torque converter repair. Since the repair I have continued to experience problems with drivability. Gas mileage has reduced greatly (was around 17-19) down to 13. 8. The vehicle drives at high rpm's and I still experience where the rpm will kick up briefly then will go back down. My complaint to the dealer was submitted again just prior to warranty expiring and now I am stuck with a vehicle that they can't seem to repair. I continue to get that they can't identify a problem.

I was driving my 2004 Mercury Monterey van on a residential street when I lost all power. The engine revved up but there was no power. I coasted to the curb and had the van towed. It was in the shop for ten days. The torque converter had to be replaced.

Vehicle was in several time for repairs on the shifting of the vehicle. Nothing found until the vehicle suddenly would no long drive in gear. Vehicle was towed to dealer and repaired with a new torque converter around August 2004. The shifting of the vehicle is still a problem and on top of that the gas mileage and decreased significantly. The shifting problems is just a continuation of my original complaint.

2004 Mercury Monterey 4. 2 liter engine, on government business trip to boston and on return trip to virginia, check transmission light came on. Stopped in CT at transmission shop and they read the code for torque converter problem. I contacted Ford hq and provided the information and they were not aware of any problem like this on the 4. 2 liter Mini van. . . . However, there are many posting on the internet that dispute that claim. I feel that it is in the best interest of the van owners that an investigation takes place before someone is killed.

Our 2004 Mercury Monterey with 40000 thousand miles the torque converter went out on rt 25 near louisvlle ms. We were very lucky that traffic was light on the 4 lane highway at the time.

Lost of power while under way(engine was running). The vehicle will not engage into gear. No codes. Dealer replaced torque converter fixed problem. Part # 685fpls. Recall # 12v0060000 Ford recall # 11s25. Notified dealer will be submitting reimbursement in the second quarter of 2012 .

While traveling back to connecticut from our winter home in florida, our 2004 Mercury Monterey Mini van's torque converter and pump shaft broke and left us on the side of the road in north carolina. Luckily our grandchildren live close to where we broke down, however we are now stranded in nc for several days while the local Ford dealership (crossroads Ford cary, nc) waits on parts and fixes the problem. My wife and I have medical conditions that require us to see specific medical doctors, which we have to make appointments for months in advance, and we are now in danger of missing our much needed check ups. We have done some research on the issue and it appears that this has been a recurring issue with the Ford/Mercury Mini-vans, however Ford has not done anything to help the consumer. As a loyal Ford customer in the my late 70's, I purchased this vehicle hoping it would last a long time and possibly be the last vehicle my wife and I purchased. Ford has told us our vehicle is out of warranty and therefore not their problems, but we only have 25,000 miles on the vehicle, so there is no reason this was caused by normal wear and tear. The fact that this same failure has occurred in so many of this model vehicles indicates a design flaw, and Ford needs to be held responsible for this.

2004 Mercury Monterey van with sudden failure of (?) transmission without warning. Van went dead in the road in traffic and did not respond to acceleration/changing gears. Dealer said there was a need to replace torque converter and pump. Internet search revealed that this is an almost unheard of repair, but frequent with this model and make.

I was backing out of my driveway, put my car into drive to go forward, and the transmission failed. It would not go forward and backward. My car never showed any signs of transmission failure. I had it towed to the dealership and the took it apart. They stated that it was the torque converter.

Driving car at 65 mph down highway and transmission lost all power. Coasted to a stop on busy highway while on vacation with entire family and dog in vehicle 200 miles from home. Engine was still running fine but car would not move when shifting transmission through all gears including reverse. Vehicle was towed to a Ford dealership and they diagnosed problem as a failed transmission torque converter. There was absolutely no indication prior to the failure that there was any problem with the transmission.