Front Suspension Coil Spring problems of the 2003 Mercury Sable

Originally, 2 days prior, car felt like I was dragging something underneath. Got out and looked around car, didn't see anything. Left car for 2 days, then started to head to work. Was going only about 20mph when smoke poured out from under my car. A moment later my front passanger side tire blew. Had a friend come to help me change to the spare. He drove the car about 2 minutes back to my house and as soon as he parked it, he took the spare off because we heard a weird popping noise when he was jacking the car back up. Looked and the coil spring on the passanger side had broken and rubbed so violently against the tire that it had torn a 10-14" long hole in the tire and had burnt a ring around the inside of the tire. Thankfully I had 2 friends to replace the whole unit. I also was able to take my goodyear tire back to sam's and they prorated my tire (had less than 6,000 miles on them!!) and replaced it. Time will tell if the other one will go out but NHTSA needs to look at this problem. If I had been going faster, I most certainly would have been in a very bad accident. I am very thankful I had friends who were able to change the whole coil spring for me. But if this were to happen while traveling at a high rate of speed, the end result could be catastrophic.

The contact owns a 2003 Mercury Sable. The contact stated that after shifting into drive, a loud noise emitted outside of the vehicle. The contact inspected the vehicle and noticed that the front passenger's side tire exploded due to the fractured coil spring. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer where both front coil springs were replaced. Also, the front passenger's side tire was replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 72,000.

The contact owns a 2003 Mercury Sable. The contact stated that while traveling approximately 10 mph, the passenger side front coil spring failed and punctured the tire, causing a blow out. The vehicle was taken to a private dealer where it was determined that the coil spring had failed. The vehicle was repaired. The contact also stated that the failure occurred on the front driver's side several months later. The manufacturer was not contacted about the failure. The failure mileage was 154,000. The current mileage was 156,000. The VIN was not available.

Front coil spring failed while vehicle was parked in the driveway, coil spring broke in two places and punctured the front tire (spring went through the tire sidewall). If this happened while vehicle was in motion, the car would have steered sharply to the right and gone off the road. Our 2000 Sable had a recall for this problem but the 2003 Sable did not. Searching the web, spring failure and puncture of a front tire has occurred numerous times.

Left front coil spring broke, cutting and ruining tire.

The contact owns a 2003 Mercury Sable. The contact stated that while driving 5 mph in reverse, the left front coil spring broke and punctured the sidewall of the left front tire. The vehicle was taken to a local repair shop where the coil spring was replaced. The contact called the manufacturer who offered no assistance. The current and failure mileages were 109,950.

The contact owns a 2003 Mercury Sable. The contact stated that the front driver side coil spring fractured and punctured the front tire. The dealer stated that there were no related recalls to the failure. The vehicle was taken to a local independent repair shop where the coil spring failure was repaired. The contact called the manufacturer who filed a complaint but offered no further assistance. The current and failure mileage was approximately 70,000.

2003 Sable wagon was driven home and parked in driveway. When we went to move it again a horrible grinding sound was coming from the front end, sounded like something scraping on the driveway or caught in wheel well. Car was subsequently parked. When it was light and upon further investigation, a piece of the front end coil spring was found lying under the car, approximately 1 foot long that is sheared off from the rest of the spring. No visible rust on the part, just apparently a defective part that broke. Now the car has to be towed to fix the problem. However the rest of the spring is embedded in the tire, wedged between it and the wheel well. It is impossible to move the car even to allow for a tow truck to get under it. The tires were also just purchased approximately one month ago and this certainly has ruined at least one of them.

The contact owns a 2003 Mercury Sable. While driving in reverse 1 mph, the contact heard a loud noise from the front passenger side tire. The contact then noticed that the coil spring punctured the tire causing it to burst. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer who replaced the coil spring. The failure mileage was approximately 54,000.

The contact owns a 2003 Mercury Sable. The contact stated that while driving 40 mph, the front driver side coil spring broke which caused the tire to become flat. The contact had the vehicle towed to a local mechanic who replaced the front coil springs. The contact called the manufacturer who offered no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 79,000.

The contact owns a 2003 Mercury Sable. The contact stated that while driving 40 mph, the contact heard a bang and the front of the vehicle lowered suddenly. The contact attempted to drive to the dealer but the front driver side tire blew. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer where the front coil spring was being replaced. The failure mileage was approximately 78,000. Updated 01/18/11 updated 01/31/11.

Complaint or inquiry received via email, internet by the wisconsin department of agriculture, trade and consumer protection 2003 Mercury Sable. The front coil springs failed.

The contact owns a 2003 Mercury Sable. The contact stated that while backing out of driveway at 5 mph, the driver side tire suddenly exploded. When the vehicle was put on a jack, a piece of the front coil spring was on the ground, and the tire was cut all the way around. The contact had not taken the vehicle to the dealership; she called the manufacturer and was told that they could offer no assistance. The vehicle had not been repaired at the time of the complaint. The current and failure mileages were approximately 165,000. Updated 4/23/10 the spring did not have any visible corrosion, it just broke in half. Updated 06/04/10.

2003 Mercury Sable LS 4 door sedan front coil spring snapped and punctured front winter tread tire while setting in my driveway. Location pennsylvania during winter.

2003 Mercury Sable with the first 5 years of service in the northeast. The car is now in tampa florida. At thanksgiving one of the front coil springs snapped, puncturing a tire. . . Fortunately the car was parked at the time. As a result both front coils and suspension had to be replaced along with a tire. We were told that the previous 2 years were recalled for this same problem in the northern states(winter salt leads to this problem).

The contact owns a 2003 Mercury Sable. While driving in reverse, the coil spring broke and punctured the tire. He heard a noise as if something was splitting on the front left side of the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to a local dealer who confirmed that the front coil spring was broken. The vehicle was repaired at the owners expense. The failure mileage was 86,000 and the current mileage was 89,000.

On January 17 while backing out of my garage, my 2003 Mercury Sable was making a horrendous noise. Upon investigating, I discovered what I thought was a flat tire. My husband removed the tire to take it for repair and discovered a major problem. The inside of the tire looked like it was opened with a can opener. We bought a new tire, put it on the car but it was still making that awful noise. The tire was rubbing the wheel well. At that time, we knew that there was a bigger problem. After removing the tire again, my husband discovered that the right front coil spring was broken! it happened while sitting in the garage. I called Ford motor company after researching this online. This is a big problem with the Ford taurus as well as the Mercury Sable. To my dismay, they will do nothing about it. I am only glad that this did not happen while traveling at a high rate of speed. My only hope is that there will be some recall on this problem so that other car owners do not have to go through all of this inconvenience.

2003 Mercury Sable suspension-front:springs:coil spring NHTSA action # pe04044 campaign id #04v332000 this is a old problem that is still here and alive. My 2003 Mercury Sable has broken a spring and destroyed the driver side front tire. I call the local Ford dealer service department and was told there are no recalls for this problem. I had my car towed to a repair shop and they said this is a normal problem with Ford & Mercury. They replaced both struts and coils and tire and alignment for $1366. 00. The car had just arrived home and was in the garage when the tire blow. This could have happened while driving and caused injury. I think the recall should be extended to include all Ford & Mercury cars until this problem goes away. I have cut off about one foot of the old coil to prove a faulty coil before the car was towed to the repair shop and took pictures of the tire and coil spring while still on the car.

My wife asked me to check the strange noise in her car when she started to back out of our driveway on the morning of December 8, 2008. I removed the right front wheel expecting to see worn out brake pads. Instead, the wheel started to move toward me when I began removing the lug nuts. The coil spring was broken into two parts. Fortunately, it broke overnight and doesn't appear to have damaged the tire. Time will tell whether or not it weakened the inner sidewall of the right front tire. Failure analysis of the 28 cm length of spring broken off from the lower end of the spring is as follows: the broken cross-section of the spring has a dark rust section, about 15 mm circumferentially and 2 mm radial from the exterior surface. The exterior surface of the spring is rusted where there is no longer any protective black coating near the defective cross section. This surface area is about 25 mm circumferentially and 15 mm long from the fractured cross section. There are about 4 radial fracture lines emanating from the bottom side of the spring starting at the 15 mm x 2mm rusted area. There appears to be pinpoint rust areas throughout about 70 per cent of the remaining cross section, by my naked eye. I will be replacing the coil spring today or tomorrow, either myself or at a garage. This appears to be the same type of failure as recall number 04n-332. This defect is one of the reasons why I am laid off. I have been a friction material engineer for over 25 years. No wonder americans have stopped buying american automobiles. This Mercury vehicle has been much better than my Dodge vehicles up until now.

Putting car into reverse, I felt the air go ut of the passenger front tire. Upon further investigation it was the coil spring that broke and punctured the tire.

The contact owns a 2003 Mercury Sable. While driving 20 mph, the contact heard a loud popping sound coming from the front passenger wheel. She exited the vehicle and noticed that the front passenger side tire was blown. The vehicle was towed to a local repair shop and inspected by a technician, who determined that the front passenger side coil spring failed. As a result, the driver's side coil spring also failed; however, the tire was not punctured. The driver and passenger side coils springs and two front tires were replaced at the cost of $720. The contact is in the process of notifying the manufacturer. The failure mileage was 49,400 and current mileage was 57,000.

Drivers side coil spring broke and collapsed when car was placed in gear. Protruding edge of spring punctured and deflated tire. Spring and tire were replaced by mechanic at substantial expense. Old tire and spring were discarded.

The front left coil spring on our 2003 Mercury Sable broke and shredded the tire. Luckily this happened at 0-30 mph, or it could have been catastrophic. The 2003 Mercury Sable has 72,000 miles.

My wife was backing out of our driveway when there was a popping noise and then a blowout on the left front tire. I was standing next to the mv at the time. The coil spring broke/shattered and a piece of it went thru the side wall of the tire putting a 6-8" gash in the tire. We have the pieces of the spring. Ford refused to reimburse us for the repair which was made at a Ford dealer(northampton Ford ). The vehicle had 50577 miles. In researching this on the internet I find that since 1999 they have had recalls and repair programs for this problem on various models but apparently they do not acknowledge it in the 2003 Sable. Fortunatley she was not driving down the highway when this happened. I found two sites on the internet that had many reports/complaints of this in various Ford vehicles. The following week my 82 yoa mother who drives a 2003 Ford focus thought she had a soft tire, went to her local dealership and was told both front coil springs were broken. These repairs were covered and reimbursed by Ford. I spoke with several mechanics and was advised that this is a common problem in Ford vehicles. I was advised by a mechanic that the aftermarket manufacturers do not make replacement struts for the 2003 Sable. All of this indicates to me that Ford has a problem with the design and or manufacture of their coil springs which covers several years of vehicles. Had my wife been on the highway she probably would likely have lost control and had a very serious accident. Finding a broken coil spring after an accident like that you would probably not be able to prove that it (the broken spring which caused the blowout) was not caused by the accident. I am not aware of any other manufacturer having similar problems. I believe that the safety of the public is in jeopardy. Our vehicle is used exclusively by my wife a school administrator- no teen agers driving it who would be emulating the dukes of hazhard.

I recently had a tire blow out on my vehicle. Upon removing the tire it was discovered that the right front spring snapped, which had ruptured the tire. I was able to get the car to a local shop to replace the spring and tire at my expense, with a used spring to keep the cost down. I contacted Ford ,and Ford advised they would not cover any expenses related to this. The carwas a 2003 Mercury Sable with low miles on it. Also , contacted my dealer , and the dealer agreed that this type of damage should not have occurred , yet could not rectify the problem since Ford has not recalled it for springs. I believe there was a fault in the springs ,and was fearful this may happen to the remaining springs on this car. Ford's advice to me was to have the remaining springs examined, at my own expense, as they reminded me that therewas no recall for faulty springs. I have retained the damaged spring as I was convinced there was an issue that was not being addressed. In my opinion, it was a matter of safety. A car's springs should not break, especially when it wa sa relatively new vehicle. This has been the second costly repair I have made to this vehicle, I previously had to replace the right front sway bar . Also, should not have broken and again not a covered expense.

: the contact stated while approaching the vehicle in the driveway, the front left tire was noticed to be flat. The vehicle was taken to the tire dealer where it was determined the left front coil spring fractured which punctured the tire. There is a NHTSA recall, # 04v332000, regarding the front coil springs. The VIN was not included in the recall. The dealer and manufacturer have been alerted.

Springs in front end shocks broke. One at a time.

Mercury Sable 2003 front coil spring broke. Will have repaired at Mercury dealer and will keep failed part. This is the same recall we had on our 1999 Mercury Sable 2 years after we paid to have its coil springs fixed. This seems to be an on going problem with Mercury Sables as well as the Ford taurus.