Differential Unit problems of the 2002 Mercury Mountaineer

2002 Mercury Mountaineer awd v8 - approximately January and may 2009 both rear hub bearings went bad at 87,000 and 90,000 miles , both sets of emergency brake shoes were disintegrated when taken off . Rear coil springs are broken . Front differential box has leaked for some time now . Rear end axle seal has been leaking for some time now . Going on 4th set of brakes on front . June 2010 at 109,000 miles transmission finally went out - after acting up from time of purchase at 37,000 miles - it would slip when put in drive at first morning startup and would jerk erratically at low speeds - we have never pulled anything with vehicle .

The contact owns a 2002 Mercury Mountaineer. While driving approximately 50 mph, the contact applied pressure to the brakes and heard a grinding sound. He then began to smell something burning and noticed smoke underneath the vehicle. He inspected the vehicle and did not notice any leaking. The following day he noticed an extensive amount of oil on the ground and the vehicle was pulling. The vehicle was inspected by a mechanic and the contact was informed that oil was coming from three different places and traveling to the rear differential. The dealer and the manufacturer have not been notified. The current mileage was 118,169 and failure mileage was 118,000.

I bought this Mountaineer in early 2007 with 62,000 miles on it. From the start it shifted very rough. It has progressively worsened until this week when my wife was driving it would not shift out of second gear at all and was nearly broadsided with four children in the vehicle because she could not move. Took it to a repair shop and was informed that I needed to have the transmission fixed. From other comments I have read this seems to be a fairly common problem with this vehicle. Also had to have the rear differential replaced at around 75,000 miles which seems fairly ridiculous, and a bearing has gone out twice on the same wheel. This vehicle doesn't seem to be built to last.

I recently bought a 02 Mercury Mountaineer with 58k miles. A few days after I bought it, I noticed a "groan" from the rear end of the vehicle. I have worked on many vehicles before and it was obvious it was the differential. I planned to have the bearings in the rear end replaced, but after doing some investigation on the internet, I have realized that there are a lot of people that have had this problem and spent a lot of money to get it fixed with no good results. Even with a used car purchase, I think Ford should be embarassed at the fact that I am embarassed for making the purchase of the vehicle. I wish Ford would do the right thing and re-gain our trust in them and fix our vehicles the right way. They have knows since day one that they were not right and have done nothing to fix them. I won't buy another Ford until they do something about this. I know they don't care, but right now I own three fords and they will be the last if this is not rectified. Thanks for listening!!!.

: the contact stated when the vehicle was taken to the dealership to rotate the tires, the mechanic noticed oil leaking from the rear differential seals. No warning light alerted the contact of the leak. The manufacturer was contacted, and informed there was no recall for this problem.

I had no warning that the automatic transmission in my 2002 Mercury Mountaineer at 55,000 miles was going out. The o/d light came on flashing and the check transmission light came on flashing. The speed of the vehicle would not accelerate past 20 mph. I immediately took it to the Mercury dealership and they repaired the leaking differential seals in the rear of the vehicle and the pinion seals in the front of the vehicle. They checked the transmission fluid and it was full. After 424. 00 the problem was still there. Took vehicle to transmission specialty shop and the vehicle is in the shop at this hour having the transmission yanked out and repaired. This is my first Ford vehicle and my last. There seems to be a transmission issue regarding Ford/Mercury vehicles and there should have been something done about this long before now.

Our 2003 Mercury Mountaineer rear differential needed rebuilding in may 2003 at 35,500 miles. Now it needs to be rebuilt again at 55,000 miles. All bearings and cones were replaced both times.

The rear differential bearings have gone bad. The complete differential was replaced in July, 2003, September 04, and in an attempt to do something different to fix the problem the drive shaft was replaced in October 2005. Now it is February 2006 and the bad bearing noise is back. We are taking it into the dealer yet again for the same problem. We are also going to notify Ford and the California consumer protection agency and bbb.

At 34,365 miles we had to replace the rear end. It was covered by warranty. Now at 58,472 miles we are having to replace it again. This time it will cost approximately $1400.