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1999 Mercury Mountaineer V8 5.0l -- Great Shape That Needs Transmission Work on 2040-cars

Year:1999 Mileage:227758 Color: handle
Location:

Belmont, North Carolina, United States

Belmont, North Carolina, United States

This is a fantastic car. I hate to sell it, but economic realities force it.

Here's the second line that will make most people stop reading: The transmission is toast. It will need rebuilding or replacing.

If you're still reading, stay with me.
Yes, it would make a good parts car, or the good ol' Ford V8 could be repurposed for just about anything. But it's really better than that. It's a straight, solid, rust-free, Southern car, and the engine is still good and strong after 200K+ miles. The only high-dollar problem is the transmission -- every other problem the car has, (and they're not many) is nickel-and-dime stuff that is easily tackled bit by bit as you go. If you're looking for a good starter project for a father/son restoration, or have a 2WD ExploRangIneer transmission that needs a home, (Explorer/Ranger/Mountaineer -- they all have the same driveline,) or know just how good these cars are when they're sorted, this is the car for you -- you'll be getting a lot of hardware for a very good price.

You may be asking why don't I fix it myself, and that's a very good question. The truth is, the economy has hit my family very hard, and I just don't have the money it takes to repair the transmission. It makes more economic sense for me to sell it as-is, and re-invest in a smaller car. My loss, your gain.

It will need to be towed to haul it -- she won't move under her own power yet.

There are 45 pictures at my Photobucket link, click here to go to it, so you can get a good look at things, and they're annotated as to just what needs to be fixed.

There's nothing expensive or insurmountable for the shade-tree mechanic: gas struts for the hatch, a power-locking solenoid, a tensioning spring for an exterior handle; stuff like that. If you're slightly more advanced, mechanical items like axle bearings and ball joints are a piece of inexpensive cake. The A/C clutch is broken and the compressor has been bypassed, but the system is still airtight and in place. An A/C tech should replace the compressor and receiver-drier, but on this car it's an easy (read: inexpensive) fix. I have the compressor, receiver-drier, and o-rings for the job: if you want them, I can add my cost for them to the final price.

The reserve? I know that a transmission is a pricey item, so it's low enough that the reserve plus the price of a transmission rebuild is still comfortably below the market value of a '99 Mountaineer. Not as easy as just buying one that's all sorted to begin with, but a considerably better value if you can turn a wrench!

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Fitting Retirement: Grand Marquis last Mercury off the line

Wed, 05 Jan 2011

The signs have come down and retail production ended back in October of 2010. Now, the very last Mercury model has rolled off the assembly line. This last Mercury somewhat fittingly takes the form of a Grand Marquis reporting for fleet duty. It was built at the St. Thomas plant in Ontario, Canada, which is the same facility that continues to produce the Ford Crown Victoria and Lincoln Town Car for fleet and livery duty.
St. Thomas' days are numbered, however, as the factory is slated to close on August 31. When it goes, the Panther platform is likely to follow. So long, and thanks for all the fish memories.
[Source: Autoweek]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

NHTSA upgrades Ford floor mat unintended acceleration probe

Mon, 17 Dec 2012

According to a Bloomberg report, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has upgraded an investigation into complaints of unintended acceleration lodged against Ford vehicles. The investigation began in June of 2010 when just three complaints had been received and it only concerned the Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan, but this was at a time when the phrase "unintended acceleration" made grown men go pale. With 49 additional complaints received since then, the investigation has been reclassified as an engineering analysis - the last phase before a recall - and it has been expanded to include the Lincoln MKZ, making for a total of "around 480,000" units affected between the three sedans from the 2008 to 2010 model years.
The ostensible cause is that floor mats are trapping the accelerator pedal, but according to a Ford statement at the time, the entrapment is due to owners placing the optional all-weather floor mats, or aftermarket floor mats, on top of the car's standard floor mats. NHTSA has backed up that assessment, pinning the blame on "unsecured or double stacked floor mats."
On the face of it, it would appear that NHTSA has upgraded the status not because of Ford's error, but owner error, and Ford has stated publicly that it is "disappointed" in NHTSA's move. On top of NHTSA still being skittish after that other unintended acceleration debacle, it could be seen to be taking its time investigating all of the variables: it's reported that Ford changed its accelerator pedal design in 2010, a "heel blocker" in the floorpan has been considered a potential culprit in how the floor mats could be trapping the pedal, some drivers have said the floor mats weren't anywhere near the pedal, and according to a report in the LA Times, in "a letter sent by Ford to NHTSA in August 2010, the automaker said it found three injuries and one fatality that 'may have resulted from the alleged defect.'"

Preposed class-action lawsuit targets 'defective' MyFord Touch

Tue, 16 Jul 2013

A national law firm, Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, has filed a proposed class action lawsuit whose presupposition is that MyFord Touch is defective. Specifically, the complaint states that the system - as well as the MyLincoln Touch and MyMercury Touch clones - often freeze, fail to respond to voice or touch commands and have issues connecting to mobile phones.
According to Hagens Berman managing partner Steve Berman, MyFord Touch is a theoretically "brilliant idea" that falls short in actual execution. Said Berman in a press release, "In reality, the system is fundamentally flawed, failing to reliably provide functionality, amounting to an inconvenience at best, and a serious safety issue at worst."
Other MFT issues enumerated within the 41-page filing include problems controlling the window defroster, rear-view camera and navigation system. The suit maintains that Ford is aware of the problem but has yet to submit a workable and acceptable solution to MFT customers. Scroll down if you'd like to read the full press release.