Rear Suspension Coil Springs Problems of 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.

See all problems of the 2003 Mercury Mountaineer 🔎.

Rear coil spring failure - completely broken in two poses a major safety problem.

See all problems of the 2002 Mercury Mountaineer 🔎.

On cold mornings, the front windshield fogs/frosts up. Turning heat on and selecting defrost provides little to no air to windshield. Dealership identified it as a broken vent select door, requiring dashboard to be removed and part replaced, $1100 fix. In doing research on the vent select door - cars are designed that if the selector breaks that the air should default to the front defrost so that windshield would not fog/frost and cause a life threatening situation. Multiple times this has occurred while driving, all along believing that the fogging up was due to snow build up on outside vents. The fact that the vent broke and did not push air to the windshield is why I'm logging this complaint as it could have resulted in a life threatening situation. In reading the other entries, noting that I've had to have the rear coil springs replaced and had back liftgate replaced after cracking.

The contact owns a 2002 Mercury Mountaineer. The contact stated that during routine inspection, a technician concluded that the two rear coil springs have fractured without any prior warnings. He then added that the failure was common for this model type. He is in the process of having the vehicle repaired at an expense of $600. 00. The manufacturer was notified, but no assistance was provided. The failure and current mileages were 80,000. Updated 10/26/09. Updated 10/26/jb.

Failure of rear coil spring on 2002 Mercury Mountaineer.

Both rear coil springs were broken. Both had been weakened due to corrosion before they broke. This is a widely-known issue with this vehicle and I had been checking for this problem every couple months. I last checked in December of 2008 and neither spring was broken through and neither showed external corrosion at the time, but they must have been very deteriorated even then. My point is that a visual inspection with the wheels off did not reveal the problem before the springs broke. One of the broken springs has a split along the length of the spring wire several inches long and a complete failure roughly perpendicular to the wire. The other does not have the split; it is just broken in shear perpendicular to the wire.

While driving my 2002 Mercury Mountaineer I hit a bump on a small bridge and my rear drivers side coilspring snapped in half. Oddly about ten days later I was following a Mountaineer that hit a dip in the road and the same coilspring broke. I do not know the year of that Mountaineer though. To repair the coilspring is extremely expensive because it is dealer only 300. 00 for the part and 135. 00 to install it.

When replacing wheel bearings (another infamous Ford defect on these vehicles), noticed both rear coil springs broken in multiple places at top of spring, where coils dug into each other and created a stress riser. This can eventually cause a loss of vehicle control.

Rear coil springs on Mercury Mountaineer, 2003 just broke in to two pieces.

Both rear coil springs have broken in two places for no apparent reason which over time ruined my rear wheel bearings my wife drives this vehicle daily and has never towed a trailer or hauled heavy loads.

Noticed slight roaring noise in rear suspension. Figured it was a wheel bearing that was worn, which is what it was, but in looking at that issue saw that rear passenger coil spring was broken. Vehicle stance did not indicate a broken spring. Checked the driver side to be safe and noted that rear spring was broken in two places and looked as if it was to come off the bottom spring/strut cushion. As a result of this mechanic indicated broken springs had created premature wear of rear toe links. I am currently looking for replacement parts. This vehicle has seen no off-road use or been used to carry heavy cargo loads. Lady driven only.

The passenger rear side coil spring was cracked and broken almost cut down a tire said the dealer.

While driving on a highway at about 65mph a loud bang was heard and my 2002 Mercury Mountaineer swerved to the right almost hitting another car. I thought I hit something on the road, but inspection revealed the right rear coil spring had snapped. Further inspection revealed the left side had also broken at some point. I researched the internet and found this to be a common problem. Here are two of the many links with owners expressing the same concerns. . Read more...

While putting new brakes pads on the rear of my vehicle mechanic found that the coils around shocks were rusty, corroded, and crumbly. The coils fell apart in large chunk's in the mechanic's hands.