Body problems of the 2004 Mercury Mountaineer

Rear lift gate window hinges rusted/corroded. Hinges have broken causing window to shift and move.

I took my children to daycare came home and parked in the driveway. I came back out two minutes later and there is glass all over. The back hatch window exploded, it looks like it got really hot as some of the plastic trim is melted.

Rear hatch hinge broke while opening back glass of hatch, nearly fell on spouse while opening.

The contact owns a 2004 Mercury Mountaineer. The contact stated that the rear lift gate hinges were fractured and as a result, the lift gate fell onto the contacts right foot. The contact was not taken to the hospital. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer for inspection of the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure and current mileage was 96,000.

Rear hatch panel cracked and large piece broke off and blew into traffic. Luckily traffic behind me was far enough back that the piece did not hit the car following. I had this panel replaced on two prior occasions due to it cracking. I believe it must be due to a defective design in the rear hatch panel that caused it to happen 3 times.

The left rear hinge pin on the glass lift gate failed.

Rear lift gate is fractured from the window down around and through the emblem. There is no recall for this problem.

The hinge pin on the rear lift gate window on my 2004 Mercury Mountaineer snapped. Fortunately, the right side hinge held, preventing the entire window from falling to the ground. I did manage to get it closed despite the fact that the entire lift gate slipped downward from its proper position. This seems like a very dangerous defect, especially since the added stress could easily break the other hinge.

Was looking at my vehicle when I noticed the crack from the top to bottom of lift gate, next to Mercury emblem. No accident or collision, it was sitting in my driveway. After reading online there are numerous reports of the same exact occurrence on the lift gates of fords, Mercury and lincolns. Please issue a recall in fairness so that we may all have our vehicles repaired!.

Rear hatch back glass body-side hinge broke on right side in normal opening of glass. Hinge is composed of a black plastic or nylon retaining clip with a metal pin. The plastic appears to have failed from fatigue. Recent high heat (100+ degrees for several days) may be a factor. Plastic broke through over the pin channel, allowing the pin to pop out. The glass is heavy and torqued by the remaining hinge and two hydraulic lifts. No injuries, but easily could have fallen, broke or shattered on the operator. The heavy glass is a danger especially to children or smaller adults. The operator fortunately had a wood slat in the back big enough to prop up the glass and support it until help arrived. Even with two adults it was hard to hold and control the glass to close it and take to the dealer. Retention clip really should have embedded metal reinforcement around the pin. (the larger expedition appears to have just that in the equivalent part. ) reading online there are many cases of similar failure that included damage and or at least minor injuries. Repair was $270 at a Ford dealer. Appears to be common enough failure to be a design flaw not to be repeated. Admittedly this appeared on a high mileage nine year-old vehicle which has otherwise provided very good service, but the weight of the falling glass and torque involved were both dangerous and could easily have resulted in serious injury. Operator felt lucky to catch and control it without breaking the glass or getting hurt.

Came out one morning to discover the rear hatch had a crack around the emblem of my 2004 Mercury Mountaineer. Car was parked in driveway and was not hit or involved in an accident. Started noticing that every Mercury Mountaineer of the same body type had similar cracks in the same location. Contacted Ford but did not have VIN #. Eventually contacted Ford again with VIN # and was told there was no recall and that Ford was not accepting any responsibility . I told Ford that it is an obvious defect to no avail. I will never buy another Ford product if this is how they treat their customers. This should be a recall and Ford should repair this defect. The value of my car has decreased because of this. I got a $500. 00 estimate to repair it but was told it would probbably happen again.

The contact owns a 2004 Mercury Mountaineer. The contact stated the lift gate glass hinge disengaged and impacted her ability to drive. The contact did not sustain any injuries. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 120,000.

2004 Mercury Mountaineer, rear hatch molding with Mercury emblem. Two winters ago the molding cracked after a very cold freeze. Vehicle was under warranty and the entire hatch had to be replaced. Dealer had vehicle 3 or 4 days as new hatch was sent out to a local body shop to be painted, matching the vehicle color. Now, the same molding has begun DE-laminating from the hatch. Dealer states hatch has to be replaced and will cost $1000. 00.

The contact owns a 2004 Mercury Mountaineer. The contact stated that the rear lift gate was fractured around the emblem up to the middle of the rear window. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who inspected the failure. The manufacturer was notified who stated there was no recall and to contact NHTSA. The failure mileage was 63,725. Updated 03/01/lj.

The contact owns a 2004 Mercury Mountaineer. The contact stated that the center piece emblem of the hatch back started to fracture. The vehicle was previously repaired with a new hatch back door approximately two years prior to the recent failure. The vehicle had not been inspected since the recurrence of the failure. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 40,000. Updated 04/26/12 updated 05/10/12.

The contact owns a 2004 Mercury Mountaineer. The vehicle was parked when the contact noticed that there was a large crack on the rear lift-gate door panel. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 85,000. The current mileage was 98,000. The VIN was unavailable.

The rear panel is cracked around the logo of my Mercury Mountaineer. I see this on most other Mountaineers and explorers from this generation and Ford has done nothing to remedy it.

Rear back panel cracked. Was parked in garage for 2 days, temp was -15f low/22f high. Fine one day, cracked rear panel (around the rear hatch window). Dealer states no recall, see this all the time. $500 to fix.

Rear lift gate on 2004 Mercury Mountaineer would not close. Noticed hinge attachment for glass looked as though it was falling off. Gate would not close and is damaged.

Crack appeared in body of vehicle in the back above and around the Mercury emblem. It contracts and expands depending on the temperature. There was no crash, impact or anything that caused this failure. It is a defect in the body. The consequences of this are the inability to use the hatch, the repair bill and the depreciation of the vehicle.

Crack on rear hatch from top of hatch down and around the emblem (under the rear window). Vehicle is a 2004 Mercury Mountaineer with 75k miles.

2004 Mercury Mountaineer rear window panel cracked and hinges will not stay tight. Ford dealer said this is a common problem but Ford will not repair if vehicle is not under warranty. Vehicle has 53,000 miles but I had dealer check vehicle while it was under warranty and they said all it needed was adjusting.

Crack at Mercury emblem on back panel glass section. This suddenly appeared. Was advised by local Mercury dealership, northpark Lincoln Mercury that there is no recall. Also had this examined by a bodyshop and was told it appeared to be a defect.