Front Suspension Wheel Bearing problems of the 2003 Mercury Mountaineer

The contact owns a 2003 Mercury Mountaineer. The contact stated that the rear driver's side wheel bearing was replaced 3 times within 16 months. On October 1, 2008, while driving out of the driveway at an unknown speed, she heard a loud noise. The vehicle was towed to the repair shop and the mechanic stated that the rear driver's side wheel bearing failed. The contact stated that the vehicle was not driven on dirt roads, only in the city. She feels that either the wheel bearing is defective or the Ford dealer did not properly correct the previous failures. The Ford dealer stated that the vehicle is out of warranty and the wheel bearing is only good for 12,000 miles. The manufacturer took a report and stated that they will forward her information to the dealer. From there, the dealer will determine if the vehicle will be repaired. The failure mileage was 74,494 and current mileage was 104,000. Updated 11/14/08 the driver side visor was hanging down, the vehicle stalled on several occasions. The lower ball joints and outer tie rod ends were replaced. The rear hatch window cracked. The vehicle would crank, but it would not start. Updated 11/18/08.

2003 Mercury Mountaineer awd 4. 0l. We purchased our Mountaineer in June of 2004, with 22,000 miles on the odometer. Approximately 300 miles into our ownership, we experienced a front bearing wine. Dealership covered defect under 3 year / 36,000 mile warranty. Other defects covered. . . Replacement of the rear speed sensor at 23,454 miles. A 2nd abs problem required a new actuator speed control switch assembly at 28,419 miles. Transmission shift solenoid replaced at 32,075 miles. Driver side passenger window motor replaced at 33,443 miles. Recall on rear glass hatch lift struts at 27,379 miles. January 23, 2006 our Mountaineer now has 42,777 miles on the odometer. We noticed a low pitch noise starting at 25-30 mph and becoming higher in pitch at higher speeds. Our local Lincoln / Mercury dealership service advisor determined we had a faulty rear axle ring & pinion gear set. They rebuilt our rear axle using the VIN # to determine actual bill of sales date, which was June of 2003. This gave us a warranty until June of 2006 thus nearing the end of our 36 months warranty. We regretfully admit paying a $200. 00 deductible the dealership asked for. We drove off with our newly rebuilt axle in our Mountaineer. Our noisy axle never went away. The dealership blamed this due to worn and noisy tires. We replaced these tires at 47,500 miles or 4,500 miles after the original axle noise complaint with no real apparent change to our noisy problem. Our Mercury Mountaineer went back into the shop at 48,300 miles with a noise still distinctive from the rear. Again our local Mercury dealership took a look at the SUV with the service manager riding in the vehicle. His comment. . . Sounds like an on-going rear axle issue. He would check with his district manager about replacing the entire axle assembly this time around. They contacted us by phone the next day. They didn't believe it was the axle, but one of the rear outer hub wheel bearing assemblies. It would cost us $270. 00.