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Mercury Mountaineer Start Stall Idle Problems
Hi all...Frustrated Mountaineer owner here--My 2002 Mountaineer has been stalling at 70 MPH on the freeway. It staills at slow speeds, at stop signs etc. Dealer CANNOT get it to fail of course. It appears to be fuel related. I have seen "Fuel error" message on the display. It will restart immediately. It can run fine for a couple of trips, then it will fail. I put a can of Gummout cleaner in the fuel and it's working through that now. Any ideas?
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Comments
Why not try this......
Use gas until nearly empty and fill-up at a brandname station like chevron/texaco
Take it to a different dealership and perform - throttle service (combustion camber) change fuel filter etc.
Using gumout might not be good for a classy SUV like Mountaineer. Instead try Techron system cleaner
Just my 2 cent
Well I wanted to update everyone on my vehicle status. I have been out of town for the last couple of weeks since adding the "Gumout Regane Complete Fuel System Cleaner" (purchased at Target. I did some drving yesterday for the first time in 2 weeks and the vehicle stalled twice on the freeway. On my return trip (about 20 miles) and today with a 40 mile or so trip--NO stalling occured. Of course I am not 100% convinced this issue is resolved, but it's good new nontheless. The symptoms keeps pointing to a fuel issue and something being clogged. The stalling became worse when the Gumout was hitting the engine, but it appears that it has passed it (like Draino) and hopefully has cleared the issue. I am going to try to drive the vehicle as much as I can this weekend, as I have an appt at the Ford Dealership on Monday am and of course I would LOVE to cancel it.
I will update everyone on my progress the rest of the weekend.
Caution---
Just be advised if you do have the same issue as I indicate above (frequent stalling at high speeds) becareful when/where you add the Gumout. The instructions say to get to a really low gas tank, add the Gumout and fill it up with fresh gas. I did this and once the Gumout hit the engine & fuel system it stalled many times. Stay on local streets unitl it works it through. The Saturday I added the Gumout, was the worst ever, it must have stalled at least 6 times in a couple mile radius before I parked it for a couple of weeks.
Good Luck
I'd love to hear other stories relating to this issue.
Good luck
Paul
Did you ever get a resolution? My issues are back after a sucessful 4-5 full tanks of gas and now the stalling started this past weekend. I put a bottle of Heet in the gas tank and had less stalls (1 at 50 mph in a 200 mile trip home yesterday)
Any updates would be appreciated. I am thinkiing about changing the Air Control Valve (from a previous poster), but I am not sure if that's my exact problem, since its stallling at high speed (not just at idle)
Paul
The stalling came back this winter. I then decided to add a bottle of HEET to each gas tank when I fill up (live in MN) and it solved the problem. The car is stored in a warm garage, is not run often (live in the city)...so I am thinking that it is some type of condensation build up that that HEET resolves.
I will continue to add HEET to every fill up regardless of the outside temp. It appears to fix whatever is causing this annoying & unsafe problem.
Good luck!
Paul
the problem stated April 07 thru June 07, my wife would take short trips maybe 10 to 20 miles, on a hot or warmer than normal day time temp in Minnesota during the time shown. The car would run fine, she would turn it off do whatever errand she was doing and then car would not start. we tried several remidities including user a higher octane gas and even replacing the battery ( first thought the battery was at a minimum 5 years old). Of course when the car was at the dealer they could not get the problem to repeat.
We took the Mountaineer to another dealer and they replaced the DPFE sensor in July of 07. Until then to now the problem went away.
Now to today ( April 21 08) and once again Minneapolis had the warm est day of the year so far a whopping 76 degrees. the morning stated out cool not cold so when my wife went to work the car ran fine when she went to start the car in the afternoon after having sat out all day it did not want to start. after several attempts she decided to let it sit. We waited to approx 8 PM to try and start the car and of course it started.
My question is are we expierencing a vapor lock issue or is there something else at hand?
I live in MN as well and had no problems until it started warming up outisde.
Thanks
Try HEET and see what happens.
The post last week is interesting, as it all seeem to be related to condensation in the fuel line...
Let us know...
Paul
It is very important to keep your air filter clean, once carbon builds up in the intake manifold, your vehicle will begin to stall. The codes may not always point to the exact problem.
I recommend a BG Induction service if you have never had this done and your vehilce is over 65,000 miles.
Bought this used with 40k miles on it.
The engine dies (dead) when using the cruise control.
Example, you are driving down the road at 40 mph and set the cruise
control, several minutes pass by and suddenly the engine is dead.
Most of the warning lights in the instrument cluster come on.
Naturally you have to slip it into neutral or struggle to the side of the road, without
power steering, put it in park and restart. It restarts everytime.
This problem happens randomly however only when using the cruise control.
It does not appear to be mileage or time related, in other words the engine can die
after 5 miles of 10 miles of cruising, or it can die after 1 minute or 10 minutes of cruising. Outside temperature does not seem to matter, it could be cold or hot outside and it could die.
I've tried adding "gumout" and "fuel injector" fuel and tank cleaners. I don't sense
the problem is fuel related but rather a gremlin in the engine management system that involves the cruise control.
I stopped at a local autoparts store that offers a free service where they will scan your OBII or whatever port that is with their scanner. NO codes showed up.
I thought about borrowing or buying something I could hook up to the port to try to catch a code but don't know what to buy or borrow or whether the cars computer will be savvy enough to catch or remember the fault.
I have seen the same problem posted on the NHTSA website however can't find any recommendations.
Anybody else out there having an engine dies with cruise control problem?
Nope. The engine still dies with cruise at slow speeds. I've never resolved the problem. However, I have been able to make it happen more often:
Simply put it in cruise.
Then go down a hill.
As the engine rpms drop they keep dropping until somewhere under 500 rpms the engine will die, not all the time but very often.
I read a post where someone suggesting having the computer reflashed may fix the problem but my local Ford dealer closed up shop and I'd have to drive a distance,
I think the other dealer quoted something under $100.00 to reflash the computer but would not guarantee a fix.
This is my very first time encountered such odd problem with my Mountaineer. I bought this SUV used at 25K 3 years ago and now I have 83K on the odometer. I've been very pleased with the vehicle so far, well, besides the gas sipping happy.
I called the dealership and told them about the issue and they told me that they never heard of this symptom before. Of course, they suggested that I bring my vehicle in for inspection (-:
I will head down to my local Autozone to have them pull the code of the vehicle and see what type of codes they can pull from the vehicle. By the way, this is a free service provided by Autozone.
The other tging I can think of is, when did I replaced my fuel filter??? Not exactly sure, but I am going to have it replaced this Saturday for sure.
I really like the vehicle and I am not ready for any car payments at this time yet. So, I am going to find out what I can do before trading it in for some else.
Thanks for reading my post.
Have an awesome New Year everyone!!
Quincy
I have had this issue for about 3 months now. I have put enough Gumout and tektron in the tank to build a refinery.
I brought it to my mechanic today and he says it is my "MASS FLOW" sensor on the air intake/filter gizmo. He says its 250 or so. Last year I paid about 600 for him to clear the error light messages so I could pass inspection. $600 because he changed all air sensors one at a time!
Okay back to symptoms: The stalling comes and goes. Some times I am ready to have the SUV towed and then it may disappear for weeks.
Always happens when you hold a steady pedal. That is why it dies when using Cruise Control.
Anyone else add to this?
Gary
We finally figured out why my 2004 Mercury Mountaineer was stalling. This was happening when I slowed down, it would just shut off and say low oil pressure. sometimes it would go into engine fail safe mode. My husband found a posting online. We brought it into Ford last fall 08 and they did 1500 worth of work but it started doing it again.
We brought it again with the bulletin he found online and they replaced the THROTTLE POSITION SENSOR. It has NOT happened in two months!!!! IF YOU ARE HAVING THESE ISSUES-get this checked! IT was $200 with parts and labor!!!
Wow, isn't the internet great!
Gary
My guess is there is something flaky with the pump or sending unit with these cars and Ford doesn't want to fix it with a recall. A fuel pump shouldn't go out at 30K miles, much less die on the interstate at 60 - 70 MPH when you happen to be going down a long incline.
The plug on the driver's side closest to the firewall fouled. When I remove the coil and spark plug boot there was lots of water and rust inside and around the boot. I had to replace the coil and plug. Just plain water, no antifreeze. Anyone else have this problem? Is there a problem with the way water (rain or car wash) spills across the top of the engine?
good luck
Tom
That's because I have not used the cruise control in several months.
This evening I was cruisin on a road and set the cruise control.
When I started to go down a hill naturally the cruise control should
back off the throttle and it did. However when the rpm's dropped below
500 the engine died and it was just as i was going around a corner.
Do you know what it feels like to lose your power assist going around
a corner, its like suddenly trying to steer an 18 wheeler if you are not prepared for it.
So I have been reading all the posts here about my stalling issuing and many of you have a different problem than I. It seems your cars die randomly. Either they don't start or they simply die whenever. That is not my problem.
If you can imagine the engine management system (ECU or whatever we call it today), trying to keep the engine at giving running condition. This may include adjust the timing, injecting more or less fuel depending if its trying to create power or keep the emissions in the happy range. I was thinking what engine computer code might say something like "if the cruise control is on and the poor son of b is suddenly driving down a hill, then don't let the rpms drop below 'idle". You know what I'm saying. I can't think of any engine component other than the computer that would monitor such a situation.
So engine guru's do you think this is a code problem or component problem?
1) The cruise control....failed before the warranty was up. Would do what everyone else is saying....shut the engine down & have to pull over to the side of the road to restart. It would always restart just fine. Took it in to Ford/Mercury dealer & they claimed to have fixed it...the next time I used it, it did the exact same thing. This was happening back when the Ford trucks were mysteriously starting on fire while parked in the garage. Some theories out there were the electrical system or cruise control...so I figured I'm just better off not using the cruise control. No big deal.
2) The past 6 months it has randomly been stalling or wanting to stall while idle in traffic or at very slow speeds. Doesn't happen all the time, sometimes I can go a week or so with no problem & then it just shows up again. Restarts just fine, no real issues than the nervousness of stalling on a busy street. Check engine light had been on prior to this ever happening & I took it to my mechanic back when the light came on. He said it was just a faulty sensor & it would be approx $300 to replace. He assured me nothing was wrong, so I opted not to have it fixed at that time.
Since it's been stalling a little more frequently (but luckily not at high speeds), I took it to my mechanic yesterday. I'm not really sure what the deal is, he said he had to order some parts. He fixed my SUV & I picked it up today, but he's behind on his paperwork so I'll go in on Monday to settle up the bill & see what he replaced. I drove it around a little bit tonight and it was fine. Seemed to have more power than ever, but we'll see how it handles over the weekend .
Anyway, I just started having this really bizarre problem that three mechanics have looked at and nobody can answer. There is some little cap on the back of the engine that keeps blowing off and anti-freeze pours out everywhere. The man who owns the garage that is working on my car has know it since it was a baby, so obviously, he has done gone by my car, and me. But this one is kind of a stumper. I'm hoping to get another 100,000 out of it since I have childen in college, so if anyone has any suggestions, please let me know! I don't know if this is just some oddity...or if it could indicate a problem that can possibly be fixed before it is a disaster!
thank you so much!
Has anyone found the reason for this? I have a 2004 Mercury Mountaineer SUV and it is going dead when I slow down to about 30 or stop at lights. Very bad when on a busy street for this to happen. Was hoping to keep it for a while longer because wife is having lots of health problems and doctor bills.
Hoping this is of help to some folks. I had very similiar issues to what is mentioned in this thread. I had a Mazda MPV with a Ford Duratec V6 (2004). The issue turned out to be related to a few things. 1) I changed out my ignition coil packs. This engine gets water on the coil pack which causes a misfire due to the short circuit intermittently when the spark plugs fire and the moisture accumulate under the boot. 2) I also had the throttle body cleaned for carbon from the misfires I just mentioned. The 3rd and most important thing I believe is I replaced the Idle Air control valve. This adjusts the air for the engine at idle and can stick when there is carbon buildup in the intake manifold giving your engine too much or too little air at idle and when accelerating and cause a stall. This thing was like $50 or less at Autozone and super easy to change just 1 nut and 15 minutes. About the same work/complexity as changing a air filter.
I think I may have solved it with worldwide help.
1. Weekend one - Replaced Crankshaft Position Sensor & Serpentine Belt (No change with problem)
2. Weekend two - Throttle Position Sensor & Mass Air Flow Sensor (No change with problem)
3. Weekend three - Idle Air Control Valve with Gasket ( Major IMPROVEMENT!!!!!)
I think weekend 3 did the trick. And it was the easy one to replace. $75.00 from Autozone with a lifetime warranty. Easy removal and install. Remove Negative battery terminal. Carefully remove IAC Valve electrical connector. Remove 2 8mm bolts. Remove old gasket. Install by reverse order these instructions.
Now after racing the engine to 2500 RPM while in park then letting off the gas pedal. The computer auto revs when the RPMs hit 600.
I hope this helps someone.
Good Luck
Here's a video that helped me do this:
(It's so easy that I am someone who NEVER works on cars and could do it).
Of course, remember I have an old car with not so many computerized equipment that gets in the way of fixing things. So if you are in doubt yourself, have your mechanic check this first.