Six problems related to engine have been reported for the 1998 Mercury Mountaineer. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
The contact owns a 1998 Mercury Mountaineer. Early in the morning, the contact smelled something burning and noticed that her vehicle was on fire. As a result, the garage and part of the house were burned. The fire department extinguished the fire and stated that it originated from the engine of the vehicle. The contact feels that this is a safety issue because severe injuries could have occurred. The mileages were unknown.
Timing chains/timing chain guides failure.
: the contact stated a fire erupted from the vehicle. It was parked for over thirty minutes. No previous problems were reported with the vehicle. The fire department was called to the scene to extinguish the fire. The fire investigator's written report stated the fire started in the engine compartment. There was additional property damage to surrounding vehicles. The insurance company inspected the vehicle and deemed it totaled.
When the 1998 Mercury Mountaineer was running on hwy 121 south merging into hwy 114 west in grapevine, TX, the 1998 Mercury suddenly became out of control at a speed less than speed limit. The car was being accelerated even if the accelerator pedal was off. The driver applied break to stop the car but the break did not work. Then the driver had to steer the car into the bush off road to avoid collision to other cars. The driver changed the at to p (parking) to stop the car. The engine surged and started fire underneath of the car. Then the driver removed the key and evacuated from the car. The fire was extinguished by the fireman.
Ford refuses to honor extended warrenty, program # 01m01 on 1998 Mountaineer; VIN 4m2zu54e3wuj15928, " any other engine damage clearly resulting from a worn or broken front cam chain guide is also covered"! rear cassette bad, engine needed to be replaced at my cost.
Mercury claims a recall was mailed on two occasions, a year apart. Other recalls were received and work completed. Other Mercury owners reporting same problem and they have never received this recall. Nhtsa website has no information about such a recall or warranty on the timing chain of this vehicle.