Nissan Quest/Mercury Villager problems

tanman2

Robin,
I have been going through the same problem over the last few weeks with my 99 villager. We just discovered the other day that the front motor mount needs to be replaced. I had someone step on the brake and slightly press down on the gas while I watched the engine. There was quite a bit of movement as the engine lifted up due to the extra play in the motor mount. I am guessing replacing the motor mount is going to correct the shaking problem. You might want to have someone inspect your motor mounts as well.
John

ering

I tried to look through the posts to see if any matched my problem, but 89 pages is ALOT to go through...anyway, here is my problem, hopefully it's not a duplicate...

I have a 95 Nissan Quest with 170,000+ miles. When we are at a stop, the engine shudders really bad and the RPMs go down to 500...Then when you take off from the stop it is REALLY sluggish until about 25-30 mph, then its fine. It also shudders (though not as much) in Neutral. I'm hoping this isn't a transmission problem...could it maybe be the pistons misfiring? I have no clue about cars so any help you could provide would be appreciated!!

stever

You can use the Search This Discussion tool to look for specific problems, although this one doesn't ring any bells to me.

Anyone?

Steve, Host

runforever

Maybe a fouled plug.

Based on other messages in the forum, it probably needs a new distributor/rotor.

I saw this message while I was trying to figure out why my 93 villager was doing almost the same thing. It was stalling at random for my wife. I took it and found it was shaking all over the place, especially on acceleration, and had a decrease in power. Every once in a while, though, it would run just as smooth as glass for a minute or 2. Being a dinosaur myself, I thought back to a simpler time and figured it was a fouled plug. I found one plug totally covered in carbon and changed the plugs. It missed a little, but ran smooth for a half a day. Then it deteriorated back to what it was. Now I'm going to try replacing the rotor and distributor cap.

runforever

Does anyone know how you test to see if the A/C low pressure switch is bad?

runforever

Yep. Had the same thing on my 93 Villager (same car, different skin).
Probably either the rear controller or the front controller box. First you have to check to see if there is power coming to the rear box. If there is, you need to replace the rear controller. If there isn't, you have to replace the front controller. The controllers are expensive (hundreds), but you can get them really cheaply over the web from "auto parts recyclers" (junk yards). I paid $45 used instead of $450 new. If you need the front one, you have to be sure that you tell them that you have the rear controller in your car. There are 2 versions of the front controller, one with rear controls and one with just front controls. Make sure you get the one with rear controls. On www.car-part.com they call it "w/rear AC" or "w/o rear AC". I see, also, that for your year, you have to know when the car was built.

holloween59

Rear blower doesn't work?
My 1996 Quest had the same problem and it is very common. Found the solution on the internet. The front slider has a cold solder joint. You need to disassemble the slider and find a dull looking solder joint. On mines I couldn't really tell so I resoldered all the major joints and when I put it all together, the back blower started working.
Let us know how it goes for you.

mevande

Dave,
I would love to have the instructions on how to "fix" the gas pedal sticking problem that happens about every 8,000 (our car) miles as you shared. The dealer wants 110.00 to fix it! The first time it happened it was covered under warranty. The 2nd time it happened it was just out of warranty and they wanted to charge me. I told them if they did, it would be the last Nissan product I would buy for it was a design defect. I can't believe how "stupid" some dealers are re: this known problem and not getting Nissan to pay for the fixes. I hope you can find it for the pedal on our 1999 Quest is getting worse. Many thanks!

Mike

mevande

Hello,
An educated (or not:)) guess may be that your motor mounts are bad. The symptoms you describe "When we are at a stop, the engine shudders really bad and the RPMs go down to 500...Then when you take off from the stop it is REALLY sluggish ..." can be from the mounts, however it could be the linkage to the tranny. I don't think it's the transmission itself (symptoms don't seem to match). Let me know what you find out. My wife drives a Nissan GLE Quest with 39,000 miles and I hope it makes it to 170,000!. Mike

stever

Here's one of Dave's posts about fixing the throttle body:

dhoff, "Nissan Quest/Mercury Villager problems" #592, 24 Jan 2001 4:54 pm

Steve, Host

dhoff

Repost from long ago...

What you will need is a phillips head screwdriver, a pair of pliers, an old toothbrush and a can of spray throttle body/air intake cleaner. Make sure it is sensor safe. It will say on the can if it is.

Start by removing the air filter. This is a good time to change it if it is dirty. Then remove the black rubber hose leading from the air filter to the throttle body by loosening the clamp at the end. You may also have to disconnect a couple of other lines that lead into this using the pliers.

Then (with the engine off) spray the cleaner into the throttle body while holding the throttle plate open. (It's a good idea to wear eye protection while doing this - is smells vicious! I also wear latex gloves to keep it off my skin.) Take the old toothbrush and scrub inside the TB and both sides of the plate, and wipe out the inside as well as possible with a clean rag.

Once it's cleaned up, button everything back up (make sure everything is connected) and start the engine. It will crank for a while, and run rough for a little while, that's normal.

Dave

stever

Good advice about the eye protection. I got some new safety glasses (some comfortable ones, finally) and used them changing out that axle a couple of weeks ago. Nice to keep the dirt and crud away while crawling under the front end. And the rebuilt axle box included some latex gloves; a nice touch.

Steve, Host

mevande

Dave,
How long does it take you to complete this task? Whatever time is takes you, I will most likely have to double it for I am not mechanically inclined re: Cars (I am not totally lame:)). I can use some of my skills re: taking apart (down to the bare bones) and fixing/re-building my friends PC's:) Thanks a million.

Mike

dhoff

The first time I think it took me about 30-45 minutes. I've done it a few times since then and it takes me about 20 minutes now.

I try to take my time and be sure I have everything put back together correctly. Last fall I added some oil to my other car and went off across town. When I stopped I smelled oil. I had forgotten to put the filler cap back on. There was oil all over under the hood but luckily the cap was still sitting right on the valve cover. Lesson learned!

Dave

wtd44

I guess this is my last update on my 2000 base model Villager. At just short of 27K, I moved it along to a new owner. My Haynes manual (1993 through 2001 model coverage) will now get dusty on my shelf!

toomanyfumes

With my 2001 base Villager. It was hit hard on the driver side by a kid in a Grand Am that ran a stop sign. The van took the hit good(broke the side impact beam in the door, needed new doors, door post, fender, etc...) The Grand Am was crumpled to the firewall. Noone was hurt, $7000 in damage and I just got it back after 6 weeks. It looks-drives great, no rattles or anything, so it's nice to have it back. I treated it to an oil change and coolant flush and fill, still needs tires, otherwise almost like new.

arleen

Hi! I'm just wondering what that sound was like? I have a 95 villager, that they have the same motor, and I have a loud thumping sound, everytime I step on the brakes. Did you resolve your problem? If so and that wasn't the issue with your van, what part was wrong?

bishayy

My experience is:
{loose spark plug will send RPM wild)
Check that all spark plugs are tight. You can even do it yourself if have the right wrench and socket.
Good luck

vanubb

Hi! Does anyone have experience or familiar with the dangers of breaking studs when removing an intake manifold? I was told by local & trustworthy dealership: "To replace the leaking coolant hoses the intake manifold needs to come off - $500. However, it is common that in the process the intake studs break off, putting the bill up around $2,000."

My question is: How real is the danger of snapping off these posts?

Unfortunately, this is the second time I’m down this road. The first time around, the van was 4 years old and one of the myriad hoses had a 45 day lead time. We had to leave the existing hose which now has deteriorated to the point it needs replacing. I’m debating if I should bail out now or risk the repair.

Thanks!
Keith

dhoff

I have been reading this and another Quest forum for a few years now and I've never heard of an intake manifold stud breaking off. Exhaust studs, yes. But you have heard the saying, there is a first time for everything.

Just depends on whether you think it's worth putting the money into it. If you do have it done, it might be worthwhile to replace all the hoses "while you are in there",.

Dave

timberguy

Hi, I have a '94 Quest with 178K miles on it. I bought it in 11/93, and it's been solid as a rock all these years and still hums along. A week ago, I was pulling into a parking space, cutting the wheel all the way to the left. I missed the space when the power steering abruptly failed. I had to back up and wrestle it into the spot. When I came out of the store, it was fine. I took it straightaway to my mechanic the next morning, but after examining and test-driving it he could find nothing wrong. The fluid is fine; no leaks. It's been fine since then. Any suggestions? thanks

shift

I just had my 95 Nissan Quest with 133450 miles on it cooling system pressure checked by a dealership at no charge because I noticed a very slow coolant leak. They told me that the coolant by pass hose under the intake manifold is slightly leaking. They told me it would cost me $221 + tax to replaced this by pass hose. Is this really hard to replace and where is this exactly located at?
Thanks.

orozco1

I was merrily picking up chinese food for the family, when I tried to turn the van on. The key went in like normal, but refuses to turn. The van is in park and the wheels are straight. I locked and unlocked the doors in case the security system was somehow activated in the two minutes to get the food.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

wtd44

Try moving the steering wheel from side to side as you simultaneously attempt to turn the key.

cheruka

hey, send it along, I 'll pay postage. I hve a 97 quest, might come in handy.

fifteenee

Last month, my wife and I got a '93 Villager, leather-bound owner's manual and all, 207K+ miles, still running well... except for:
1) the shoulder-belt tracks in the front doors; a loud rattling noise as they retract w/opening & closing doors. To lube or not to lube? Can't compromise safety.
2) rusty clamps on center bench seat, not locked into mounts; adult passengers play 'urban cowboy' on short stops. Swap seat, or can they be repaired/replaced?
3) factory cassette radio (mid-line) won't eject completely. Radio plays OK, but if I gotta hear Kool & the Gang one more time... ! (of course, it's one of my wife's faves, so the tape must be extracted without harm.)

wtd44

207,000 miles already on it?

yespads1

I am facing a weired problem on my 2000 villager sports model van. It has around 50k miles on it. The problem is some times on the road ( not happening at begining ) gas pedal get stucks all of sudden. I need to push so hard to make it move and get back to normal. I shown the van to several auto body and dealers. Unfortunately it is not happenning all the time. I should say at least one time in a week that too on the road.

How to resolve this problem? It is very annoying and frustating problem.

toomanyfumes

Sounds like your throttle body needs cleaning. Look back to posts #1784 and #1785 for information on how to clean it.

toomanyfumes

Maintenance and repair forum, but i've yet to receive a reply. Maybe someone here with knowledge of these vehicles can help me out. I recently had my 2001 Villager in for a coolant flush and fill. The tech replaced the OEM green coolant with orange extended life (not Dexcool) coolant. I looked in the owner's manual later and it said specifically not to use extended life orange coolant. Will this stuff cause any harm? Should I have them change it out with the green stuff?

khendrick

I have a 2000 Villager and the low washer fluid light came on and will not turn off - can you tell me where the sensor is, and whether disconnecting the sensor will shut off the light? Thank you - khendrick

wtd44

My Haynes manual for this vehicle provided all the help that I needed to do the job you are facing on your same-year Villager. The switch is underneath the window washer fluid tank. You get there by going through the shrouding in the fender well. I wrecked some of the fasteners on mine, but found good substitutes in my assortment of "junk". You disconnect the switch and you can remove it from the vehicle. I taped up the plug fitting, thinking that someone might want to restore the indicator function some time in the future. Once the switch is out of the circuit, the light goes off and stays off.

khendrick

Thanks for the information - hopefully this will save some cash on this problem

carzzz

1997 Villager-> Driver seat-belt warning light was dead recently, even the car is ignited without seatbelt buckled... is this a sensor problem or burned light-blub on the dash, any idea?

ren7000

I have a 99 SE Quest with 130,000+ miles on it and so far i get the peddle stick problem. It can be a nuisance on take offs, spinning the tires rapidly in rain and screeching off on dry pavement. My tachometer gets stuck and my stereo lights come on when it wants to. Besides those few minor problems it has been a trouble free experience. Anyone knows how much a timing belt job is from the dealer? I have not replaced the timing belts yet. I know im waiting a little to long

sjs1949

Hi,

I have a 2002 mercury villager and am having problems that the turn signal flasher (on the dashboard) seems to be intermittently flashhing very rapidly. It seems to start off at the normal speed and then quickly seems to go into "super-speed". My local gas station attendent looked at the signals and said they were "normal".

any ideas?

Thanks

wgs

I have a 98 and was quoted 600+ because they want to replace the waterpump, lower hoses, belts, tensioner and anything else that moves.

wgs

Does anyone have a problem with crap getting into a crevice near the lower front door hinge (98 Quest)? Shouldn't there be a hole to drain the water?

ppfriar

I have a 99 Villager with an engine light on and rough idling (steering wheel shakes). I've had it into a local shop which read both an O2 and knock sensor fault codes. They said that the problem is most likely not the sensors. They did a tune up and replaced the spark plugs and wires. After resetting the codes, the engine light came back on with the same codes. They say the next step is to replace the distributor and rotor cap. Two questions - 1) is replacing the distributor and rotor cap something that an amateur like myself can do and 2) is this the right path to being going down? I cleaned out my sticking throttle body about 6 months ago with an sensor-safe cleaner, but now I'm worried that I might have created a new problem with the engine light on? Could cleaning out the throttle body have caused problems somewhere else?

Thanks, Pat

marku1

my 95 villager has begun to feel sluggish when the ac is on. It runs normally with the ac off. When I push the gas it takes a second (or 2) to respond and then will not accelerate as it should. It did not have this problem last summer. Got any advice? It has also dev. a clicking noise that changes with rpms, kind of sounds like it needs a valve adjustment?!

janthony

Thanks in advance for any and all help..
I have a 1996 Mercury Villager with 170K miles that the timing belt just broke. It was running when it stopped running. I was exiting the interstate, and at the end of the ramp the motor stopped. Any-how a long story short, I'd like to know if the motor was running when the belt went-out and it being a 1996, forgive the way I'm asking but... I was told that it could have possibly messed up the top-end, and have to replace the head and valves and..... Another mechanic said I may be lucky and with it being a 96 or newer, there may be clearence to prevent ruining the motor when the timing belt goes with it running. I hope someone understands what I'm trying to ask...
Thanks again..

steine13

Yeah I understand alright... I'm not sure I know the answer, but I'm fairly confident that you're fine. The way I've read it, the Nissan engine the Villager is based on is an interference engine -- read: significant likelihood of damage when the belt breaks -- but that Ford had the engine modified. According to their corporate philosophy, they don't want any Ford products out there with interference design, so they "modified the engine" to make it non-interference. Presumably, they just lowered the lift on the cam, and sure enough, the numbers show low horsepower (170 in 99) and fairly high torque (200 or 210 ft-lbs), which is what one would expect. The Gates list (root around on www . gates . com) also shows this engine as non-interference.

While I'm spending YOUR money, I'd suggest having a new belt put on ($2/3/400 ?) and good luck. If the engine is toast, junk the vehicle. I think it'll be just fine.

The price of the advice is that you have to let us know how it turns out...
Good luck,
-Mathias

janthony

Thank you Mathias...
I will let you know the out-come. I am having the belt replaced along with the water pump for $415.00. I went with your info as well as calling some dealers, both Nissan and Mercury, and was told that there is a tiny possibility that the valves are bent, but in all the ones I called (6), said they have yet to see it happen. So....
With a prayer and fingers crossed, I'll let you know. Thanks again, Jim

stever

I hope. I took my balky driver's side power window switch apart on my '99 Quest last week (we're talking busted plastic and broken glue bonds). I didn't totally destroy it and found a lot of carbon on one of the contacts inside the guts. I cleaned and scraped as much of it away as I could and kludged it back together, and it's been working fine for a week now. I'll try to borrow a camera and do a blow by blow using the broken spare switch I have lying around. The hard part is popping the black switch cap off since it's glued to the underlying switch innards.

Steve, Host

mimsduo

I see that the most people have the problem of the rear blower no longer working. My problem is that the stupid thing comes on when the car is off! I have to pull the fuses in order to ensure that my car will crank. When I want to use the rear AC, I put the fuses back in and everything works. Can you help me pinpoint this, so I can stop this crazy routine. Thanks!

stever

To follow up, you might be able to pop the switch cap off - my first attempt broke the glue bond and the switch cap was damaged but usable. The second attempt I somehow managed to pop the cap and underlying white plastic part off as one unit.

Then I cut part of the black plastic away and popped another white plastic section off the switch (shown in the lower part of photo), and that gave me access to a little metal rocker and the dirty contact.

Ideally you'll try to keep the black plastic tab intact (the tall part standing in the photo next to the cutout) so the switch won't be too loose when you glue and snap everything back together. But the switch seems pretty snug even with the black plastic cut away on the first switch I butchered.

Or just pay the ~$80 and swap it out for a new one.

Steve, Host

studeous

I have a low milage 2000 model quest engine. Will that engine work in a 97 or 98 Quest or Villager? Which years will the 2000 model engine work in?
Thanks!

foot4speed

Intermittent situation happens both 1) upon startup and also 2) during the course of driving. After-market audio deck installed at electronics store doesn't want to play a CD or radio. It however, will power the clock. When the audio failure is detected, the front wipers, cig lighter, power mirrors do not work either. Recently, everything was working fine but I hit a bad pothole and all the above systems lost power. In the past, I could reliably pull off the road, stop the engine, restart and all systems would function again. But that "fix" has not worked reliably lately. Dealership can't detect problem. Specialized mechanic thought it might be related to a faulty relay, so he switched the one powering the rear defroster for the one that powers all the stuff I've mentioned. But that "fix" has failed too. Getting desperate as spring/summer rainstorms encroach. Have to find the fix. Thanks.

dmoniz

Hello,

Thanks to all who write into this forum on Quests and Villagers. I used it last week to replace the front blower sensor board for speeds 1,2 and 3. I then replaced my driver's window switch. Both fixes were as easy as everyone wrote so thanks again.

Now for the radio display...which is out completely. My Nissan dealer in Mass never heard of the problem which I find difficult to believe and just said any radio problems get sent out to an independant shop. He had no idea how much it would cost. So, I went to my local Ford dealer and explained the problem. Much more helpful and said it would cost about $375. That's $300 for a refurbed radio and $75 for removal and re-install.

Has anyone had this job done cheaper? I don't want to spend that much on a 6 yr old van with 104,000...but I like to know the time!

Thanks everyone.

izaclown1

This is a known problem with customers, but probably denided by Ford/Mercury. There are several sites that will tell you how to fix it your self for under $100.

Sites:
http://www.shareamemory.com/radio/

Currently on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7973589440&category=386- 40&sspagename=WD4V

There are also some other messages in this forum on some other links for information. ( I am too lazy to find them).