general problems of the 2003 Mercury Mountaineer

2003 Mercury Mountaineer recalls I have had to change the intake manifold, ignition coils, I'm having a gas smells now, transmission thumps hard when going into first gear, sounds like my rear end is about to fall out, my front seat is electric and doesn't move, the o/d light comes on, check engine light on, brake light on, I keep trying to fix everything the more I fix the more problems that come up, I have check the recall list for 2003 Mercury Mountaineer recall on transmission and also called the Ford CO they said there is nothing. The problem is getting worst and afraid I will be on the highway with my grandchildren when it breaks. I've had transmission level checked said it was fine. Getting ready to do a complete tune-up on it to see if that will help with the smell of gas and make it run better. It idles high. It's worst when I'm on the highway.

On the baltimore-washington parkway (295 n ) northbound, changed lanes to the left and accelerated. The gas peddle was pushed to the floor, stayed there and would not release. I stood on the brakes, but only somewhat slowied the acceleration. The vehicle continued until we reached about 80mph and coming close to rear ending the vehicle in front of me. I went off on the shoulder and turned off the ignition key to get the vehicle stopped. The brake overheated brakes. I could not see a problem. This was not caused by a floor mat. The pedal was stuck to the floor. I wiggled and pulled and it come back up with a pop. In daylight the next day, I inspected the pedal and pushed it down. It again went to the floor and stayed there. I slid under the dash and found that the horizontal pin that holds the pedal to the floor bracket had backed out sideways from right to left, allowing the pedal to go somewhat sideways and the motor for the adjustable pedal assembly had caught on a metal bracket keeping the pedal from returning to the up position. I removed the pedal assembly and inspected the problem. This is poor engineering and there should be a recall. . There are no clips or pins to hold the pedal pin in place ! ! ! the assembly relies on slight interference between splines on the pin and splines inside where it goes through the pedal. What happened was, that over a period of time, from the pedal wiggling, the pin backed out. From use, on its own. Again, this not sufficient to keep the pedal assembled. It need clips on both ends or cotter pins on both ends of the pin assembly. A concern is the use of plastic bracket to mount the pedal to the floor. In my past experience, the mounting brackets had been made of metal. Plastic fatigues faster than metal and is prone to cracking and breaking.

Purchased the 2003 Mercury Mountaineer in 2007. We only drive the car locally for school and work and within 30 days of purchase, the car would not go into reverse. Was told the transmission was slipping and made the dealership/warranty pay for $1600 repair. Since then the check engine light comes on every 3 months. We get check fuel cap message, replaced that twice (last one from actual Ford dealership) because they told us it wasn't the original from the car. Car leaks water through the rear window/roof seal and now my light stays on when I lock the car and it tells me every time we get in the car that there is a door ajar no matter if we get out and reclose all 4 doors and back door. R&r wheel speed sensor and ball joints had to be replaced 8/29/08 for $555. Just recently had my transmission go out again (12/8/09) and had to have complete rebuild of a Mercury transmission which cost us another $4000. It still slightly vibrates going between 30 and 40 miles per hour. Also the back hatch has cracked completely down through the logo. Our Ford dealer charges $200 just to look at the vehicle!.