11 problems related to cruise control have been reported for the 1998 Mercury Mountaineer. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
Under my hood started smoking, I popped my hood to find flames under it. I had to get my kids out the truck and put the flames out with and extinguisher. That's when I noticed that my brake fluid reservoir was melted and so were the wires that connect to the cruise control switch. Not I am without a vehicle to get to work and get my children to school.
Consumer complaint concerning vehicle catching on fire . The vehicle caught on fire on 8/25/06. The recall repair for the cruise control deactivation switch was scheduled for 8/28/06. The consumer feels that the switch was the cause of the fire. The consumer is requesting the blue book value from the manufacturer.
: the contact stated while the vehicle was being inspected by an independent repair shop it caught on fire. A report was filed by the fire department. The mechanic determined the fire was caused by the cruise control switch over heating. The vehicle is currently awaiting the replacement parts for the cruise control and surrounding damaged parts. There is a NHTSA recall, # 99v062001, regarding the cruise control. The VIN was not included in the recall.
: the contact stated the vehicle erupted in flames, an hour and a half after it had been parked in the carport. The contacts house became engulfed in flames and was a total loss. The fire department responded and there was a police report taken. The insurance company and manufacturer inspected the vehicle. The insurance company was unable to come to a final determination about the fire, but stated it looks as though the fire started in the vehicle speed control area. The vehicle was deemed a total loss by the insurance company. There is a NHTSA recall, # 05v388000, regarding the vehicle speed control. The vehicle has the same problems as indicated in the recall; however, it is not included in the recall due to the VIN.
: the contact stated the vehicle caught fire and burned. The vehicle was parked 4 hours prior to the fire. The fire and police department stated in written reports the fire started in the engine compartment on the driver's side. Additional property damage was sustained to one other vehicle. The insurance company investigated and deemed the vehicle a total loss.
Drove about 30 minutes, parked vehicle, and about 45 minutes later vehicle was on fire. Flames were coming from driver's side fender well. Prior to fire, no problems reported. Vehicle had cruise control which was not used in the last year, and did not know if it worked. Vehicle was insured by farmers insurance. They had a fire investigation done. The report stated that fire was caused by vehicle speed control deactivation switch. Policy #0040483408, claim #1005487896. Has pictures and them will e-mail to bruce york.
Electronic controls operated by the generic control module (wipers, rear defroster, power windows etc. ) have locked up. Throttle sticks after full stop and use of cruise control and needs excessive force to move forward. Existing recalls should cover these repairs, as well as two other recalls for the corrosive hood latch, and speed control where the throttle could ice up in prolonged cold weather. I went in armed with documentation and the recall information from the website but the sayville Ford dealership in sayville, NY, refused to service them, stating they were "campaigns" not actual recalls. If your vehicle doesn't come up for service on their computer, they do not acknowledge the legal recalls and won't do the repairs. Recall #'s: 00v072000, 99v062001, 99v164000, 97v074000.
While turning right through a cloverleaf interstate entrance ramp at approximately 35-40 mph I attempted to accelerate and merge with on-coming traffic. The accelerator pedal popped and went under the brake pedal. I was able to pull to the side of the road and visually verified that the accelerator pedal bracket had broken. This is the metal bracket that was spot welded to the cowl panel/("firewall"). This left 3 holes in the cowl panel, each being approximately 7/32" in diameter. I was able to drive the vehicle home by pulling the accelerator pedal towards me until I was above 30 mph, then I controlled the speed using the cruise control. I was out of my home state when this occured, and because of my location at the time of failure I was forced to drive the vehicle in this condition for 3 hours. Both my wife and I had extreme headaches the remainder of the night and my 2 yr old daughter screamed most of the trip after that occurence. This possibly could have been caused by carbon monoxide poisoning due to the 3 holes left in the cowl panel which are directly next to the lh cylinder head of the engine. We all felt fine this morning. I am an ase certified master technician so I will likely repair this myself using screws and loctite.
While driving on highway with cruise control on, had to slow down, applied brakes, but it didn't turn off the cruise control. Kept applying brakes, and cruise control finally turned off. Had vehicle serviced for hood latch recall, and let them know about cruise control problem. However, was not able to fix it because they had to order a carburetor kit.
Car began accelerating without driver input when cruising at highway speeds. Cruise control was not on. Braking would stop unplanned acceleration.
While at a stop light vehicle idles to hight rpm. Dealer has been contacted, can not duplicate problem. Please provide further informaton.