Tl*the contact owns a 1995 mercury tracer. While driving approximately 30 mph, the vehicle suddenly hesitated and lost engine power without warning. The driver pulled over at a service station and inspected underneath the hood. He detected that the timing belt failed. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing and they replaced the water pump and serpentine belt. In addition, the number four piston exploded within the engine compartment. The vehicle is currently inoperable and has not been repaired. The vin was unknown. The failure mileage was 61,607 and current mileage was 135,722.
Engine & cooling
Mercury Tracer Engine problems by year
78 complaints filed with NHTSA about the Mercury Tracer's engine & cooling. Stalling, loss of power, oil consumption, overheating, head gaskets, timing chains and engine failure.
Engine complaints by model year
Latest Tracer engine complaints
Tl*the contact owns a 1997 mercury tracer. While driving 70 mph, the vehicle lost power and the contact pulled to the side of the road. He lifted the hood and noticed flames coming from the engine. He extinguished the fire and had the vehicle towed to a junkyard. The contact later sold the vehicle to the junkyard for $100. The dealer stated that because he no longer owned the vehicle, they could not investigate the failure. The failure and current mileages were 78,000. Updated 04/16/08 *bf updated 04/16/08 *tr
Tl*the contact owns a 1997 mercury tracer. The contact stated while driving 45 mph, she lost control of the vehicle and drove into the median to avoid oncoming traffic. The engine shut off and the cylinder head was blown. The dealer was unable to diagnose the failure; however, they stated that the engine needed to be rebuilt. . The contact stated that the cylinder head in the engine failed and caused her to lose control of the vehicle. The vehicle has not been repaired. The dealer and the warranty company stated...
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that they were unable to honor the warranty to repair the vehicle. The warranty information is available if needed. The failure also caused damage to the front driver and passenger side tires. There were no injuries. On october 8, 2007, the contact drove to the dealer because the vehicle was leaking coolant. After three hours of inspecting the vehicle, the cause of the failure was still undetermined. The dealer advised her to bring the vehicle back in a few days. A couple of days later, while driving 45 mph, the vehicle began losing speed and the engine failed. The vehicle was towed back to the dealer and they stated that the engine failed. The vehicle has an extended warranty through another company. The vehicle was inspected by the warranty company, but they refused to pay for the repair work. The dealer refused to perform the repair. The contact believed that this was because she reported the dealer to the better business bureau. The current and failure mileages were 91,698. The fuel gauge was inoperative. The ac did not blow out cold air, the front brakes were replaced. Updated 12/12/07
Dt*: the contact stated while attempting to start the vehicle, the engine made a loud knocking noise. The contact immediately turned off the engine and the noise stopped. The vehicle was towed to an independent repair shop for inspection. The mechanic replaced the engine seat, cylinder head, and head gasket which corrected the problem. Updated 3/28/2006 - *nm
After only owning my vehicle for 8 months, and being told it was in perfect condition, in a matter of 3 days, many problems occurred. My 4wd lights began flashing, along with the check engine light. When accelerating uphill, the temperature gauge raises to high in a matter of seconds and the check gauge light comes on. The car began dying, the idle dropping at slow speeds, and even died in mid driving down the highway, leaving me to veer towards the edge of the road with no power steering. I took the car to a...
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dealership, that was supposed to honor my extended warranty, I paid $1200 for. My estimate came up to almost $3000 with the warranty only opting to cover $ 300. The problems as described by the mechanic were: throttle position sensor: $680, slack in both lower ball joints (need replacing): $625, electrical and related repairs: $ 215, sensor for front and rear internal failure $ 700, t/case motor $725. I come to find out that the 4wd on my vehicle purchased only for that reason with winter coming doesn't even work, the whole thing needs rebuilt. I've never even used it. I paid all I could $900, and got the car back just to have it responding the same way, virtually un-drivable. After viewing several websites, the ford/mercury website listed no recalls and complaints for my vehicle, but alldata.Com listed the throttle position, and the same 4wd problems I'm having; plus minor ones I failed to mention to the mechanic, such as the rear seat positioning will not recline, whistling from the wheel well etc... I am very disappointed in my findings, and find my self in question as to keep the piece of junk, or buy a new car. Did I get screwed by the dealer who sold it to me, along with my "fake" extended warranty? Is there any possibility the manufacturer can partake in the repairs? I already know similar problems are happening to other owners of the 1998 mercury mountaineer. *Jb
Mercury sable wagon 1994; 6-cylinder 3.8 L engine head gasket failure @ 149,161 miles- ford will not warranty engine beyond 100,000 miles even though it is a known defect with the 3.8 L 6 cylinder engines-- nhtsa should have required ford to warranty for at least 150,000 miles. Please require ford to replace engine!!!! Car is not fixed- I can't afford to fix this costly problem-- if I had adequate disclosure of the problem with 3.8L head gasket failures I would not have purchased this car....
Rpm's lower and stall car-took to shop in 2004 told plug/wire misfire and vacuum leak. Paid almost $200. One week later started again. Car vibrates badly when brake applied, both back springs have given out, crankshaft/pulley wobbles badly, has snapped serpentine belt, replaced belt tensioner and belt, snapped again one month later, replaced belt again, but has only been two months. Car sways in lane due to bad back springs. Car makes vibrating noise under hood when parked at an idle. Tie rod replaced two times....
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This car has less than 70,000 miles on it and all problems, including a blown radiator, and unexplained wear on brakes all started at about 40,000 miles. This car has been one problem after another. I also have a problem with the seatbelts locking too tightly for no reason. I would also like to add that I am the 2nd owner of this car; however, the 1st owner was an older family member that drove to and from work.*Ak
This is a common problem with the 1.9L engine. The #4 intake valve seat drops, resulting in the need to completely replace the cylinder head and all associated parts. Ie... Valve seats, piston, piston rings, rod bearings as well as having to conduct pressure tests, hone the cylinders & a variety of other time & money consuming items. *Ak
Vehicle would not start. Vehicle was towed to the dealer, who determined that the engine failed due to a mechanical failure, and engine must be replaced. *Ak
The rear coil springs broke on my 1998 mercury tracer. When seeking a repair, I understand that this is a well documented problem with ford/mercury models of this size (escort/tracer/tempo). With rear springs broken, one can observe the rear tires of a car with these springs broken come off the road. With ford well aware of this design flaw in these autos, there ought to be a recall of these vehicles. I have only 47,700 miles on this car; I have now replaced a busted crankshaft pulley and the resistor associated with circulation system which could have started a fire. All of these problems are well documented and ford should address these flaws.
I have a 1.8 Engine and I needed it to be rebuilt. I did not put any miles on the engine when the transmission decided to die. This car is an impossible car to get parts for. If I can get the parts, the book or the computer gives me the wrong part and cannot find a replacement part. I need a parts book and whatever to rebuilt the transmission and it can not be found. Where can I find parts that do not cost me three times the amount than other cars. This car has been nothing but a pain for me.
My girlfriend owns a 1997 mercury tracer. At the time of the incident the car had been driven for approximately 110,000 miles. Here engine light came on and we had a diagnostic analysis conducted on the car. The analysis said there was a misfire in the 4th cylinder and before we could change the spark plugs the car was no longer driveable. It turns out that mercury makes a piece of junk car and that the valve seats were manufactured with a powdered metal. It appears that the valve seat cracked and dropped into the...
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cylinder resulting in the piston hammering down into that cylinder and destroying the engine. This car was only six years old and was kept in excellent condition but thanks to the incompetent craftmanship of the people at mercury my girlfriend was extremely inconvenienced (temporally and most of all financially) due to the cheapness of the engine. It is safe to say that we will never purchase another car manufactured by the ford company. Foreign all the way. Thank you. Salmaan toor
Heat shield attatchment is cracked, resulting in gasoline leak. *Ak
While driving the engine light illuminated and there was a sudden clunky noise. It was later determined that the engine burned out. *Nlm
I began having engine trouble last july. Whjen I turned the ingnition the engine began to buckle and make a loud noise. I would have to attempt starting it a few times to get a clean start. Then the engine would make a tapping noise and the engine light would come on. I took it to the dealer - they said it was a dirty cylinder and that it needed to be cleaned. They cleaned it but a few months later the same string of events occurred -- but the engine light went off before I could get it to the dealer. The...
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dealer took the car anyway -- they kept it for almost 3 weeks and the car would not "act up" for them. They re-sealed some wires and gave it back to me because they couldn't find anything wrong with the engine. Well, needless to say the car kept having trouble starting and the engine light kept coming on and and going off by itself. I became fed up -- so I took it to precision tune instead of the dealer. They told me the wires that were sealed actually needed to be replaced and that's what the problem was. I paid them $318 to do it. I picked up my car -- and drove to work -- and what do you know -- the engine light came back on again and I had trouble starting it. I took it back to the shop -- I turned the car off and turned it back on for the mechanic and the car made a hidious sound and died right there in front of us. Apparently one of the cylinders stopped working and something was loose in the engine is what I was told. Now I have another car -- it wasn't worth fixing. I also had a coolant issue with the car -- I had to replace the radiator. That wasn't fun either.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) complaints and recalls, checked daily. Complaints are owners' own reports and are not verified. How we use the data