2008 Mercury Mariner Hybrid

WE BOUGHT VEHICLE IN JAN, 2018 FROM A PRIVATE PARTY, AS A WORK VEHICLE FOR MY HUSBAND, WHO IS A USPS RURAL ROUTE CARRIER. TWO WEEKS AFTER PURCHASE, THE ANTI-LOCK BRAKE LIGHT WENT ON, AND THE CAR WOULD NOT STOP WHEN IT WAS SUPPOSED TO, WHICH WAS VERY DANGEROUS IN WINTER. WE BELIEVE THE PRIOR OWNER KNEW ABOUT THIS. THE LIGHT WOULD JUST GO ON & OFF WITH NO PATTERN. ABOUT 1 1/2 MONTHS LATER, HE WAS DRIVING ON A 2 LANE HGWY (55 MPH) DELIVERING MAIL. HE WENT TO PULL FORWARD BUT THE CAR MADE A BRIEF NOISE AND THEN EVERYTHING JUST STOPPED WORKING. THE CAR WOULDN'T START, NO ELECTRICAL OR LIGHTS, HE COULD NOT EVEN ROLL THE VEHICLE BY HIMSELF TO A SAFE PLACE W/OUT HELP. THE ELECTRICAL AND PROPULSION SIMPLY STOPPED WORKING; PERIOD. WE ENDED UP DRAGGING IT HOME. DEALERSHIP GAVE EST. AMT OF REPAIRS AROUND $18K. I FOUND THE RECALL IN 2014 (14S19) FOR THE SAME THING. THE MEC PUMP WAS REPLACED IN 2014, WITH A "SUPPLEMENTAL" FIX IN 2015 SAME ISSUE. THIS IS THE EXACT SAME ISSUE AS THE PREVIOUS RECALL, WHICH NEITHER MERCURY OR ANY DEALERSHIP WANTS TO HONOR. I'M GUESSING THERE ARE MORE HYBRID MARINERS W/ SIMILAR ISSUES, BUT NOT ENOUGH TO ISSUE A FOLLOW-UP RECALL. SO HERE WE ARE STUCK IN CAR REPAIR PURGATORY. I DO BELIEVE THEY SHOULD HONOR THE RECALL NOW AND FIX THE PUMP AND REPLACE THE HYBRID BATTERY. NOT SURE ABOUT THE BRAKES, BUT I HAVE SEEN A LOT OF COMPLAINTS ABOUT THEM AS WELL - AGAIN, NOT ENOUGH FOR A RECALL, WHICH AGAIN. PURGATORY. MY HUSBAND WAS VERY LUCKY. HAD IT BEEN A DIFF TIME OF DAY THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN MUCH MORE CAR & SEMI-TRUCK TRAFFIC ON THE HWY (SPEED LIMIT IS 55) AND WITH HIM LITERALLY JUST STOPPED DEAD IN HIS TRACKS, THERE SURELY WOULD HAVE AN IMMINENT RISK OF A SERIOUS REAR-END COLLISON, WITH POTENTIALLY DEADLY INJURIES. I AM LOOKING FOR HELP, ASSISTANCE, GUIDANCE AND ANYTHING ELSE FROM ANY SOURCE POSSIBLE TO RESOLVE THIS ISSUE. WE ARE AT OUR WITTS END!!

STOP SAFELY NOW CHIMES AND DISPLAYED ON DASH FOLLOWED BY NO ACCELERATION UNTIL VEHICLE STALLS AND STOPS.STARTS RIGHT BACK UP BUT CONTINUES TO HAPPEN ESPECIALLY IN LA RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC. VERY DANGEROUS! HAD RECALL WORK DONE ON THE MECS 3YRS AGO BUT PROBLEM HAS CONTINUED. THIS HAPPENS WHILE IN MOTION ON THE 110 FREEWAY IN DOWNTOWN LOS ANGLELES, CA. COULD BE THE ELECTRIC THROTTLE BODY OR REAR ACTUATOR. OR ANY OTHER COMPONENT THAT WORKS WITH THE ELECTRIC MOTOR AND BATTERY.

CAR HAS BEEN ROCK SOLID RELIABLE UP UNTIL 3 WEEKS AGO. DRIVING NORMALLY ON CITY STREETS THE CAR ABRUPTLY SHUT DOWN THE HYBRID AND ICE PROPULSION UNITS. STEERING FROZE UP AND IT WAS LIKE PUTTING THE BRAKES ON IT STRANDED ME IN THE MIDDLE OF TRAFFIC CAUSING DELAYS FOR OTHER DRIVERS AND A DANGEROUS OBSTRUCTION. THE CAR HAS NO LIMP MODE TO ALLOW FOR SAFELY GETTING OUT OF TRAFFIC. IT HAD TO BE TOWED. FORD DEALER HAS HAD CAR FOR 3 WEEKS AND ARE STILL UNCERTAIN AS TO WHAT CAUSED THE UNSAFE SHUTDOWN.

THE POWER TORQUE SENSOR FOR THE POWER STEERING WAS ALREADY RECALLED AND HAD THE SYSTEM UPDATED BEFORE I GOT THE CAR IN 2014. THE CARS STEERING WHEEL STARTS SHAKING A LITTLE THEN ALL OF A SUDDLE THE STEERING WHEEL LOCKS UP AND THE POWER STEERING STOPS WORKING, SO YOU CAN'T HARDLY TURN IT. I CAME INCHES FROM GETTING IN A WRECK. YOU CAN UPDATE THE SYSTEM BUT IT WILL ONLY WORK FOR ABOUT 1 OR 2 YEARS.

2008 MERCURY MARINER HYBRID WAS GOING 20MPH ON ELECTRIC MOTOR IN TRAFFIC WHEN TRIANGLE WARNING LIGHT CAME ON AND THE STOP SAFELY NOW SIGN DISPLAYED. THE VEHICLE GAS ENGINE DID NOT COME ON AND I HAD TO PULL OVER TO THE SIDE. I PLACE THE CAR IN PARK AND TURN OFF THE ENGINE. I RESTARTED THE ENGINE AND THE WARNING LIGHT DISAPPEARED. I TOOK IT TO THE FORD DEALERSHIP AND THEY RAN A DIAGNOSTIC ON IT. THEY INDICATED IT WAS THE THROTTLE BODY ON THE CAR THAT NEEDS TO BE CLEAN OR REPLACED, AND THE PCM NEEDS TO BE REPROGRAMMED. I REPLACED IT. THIS IS AFTER I TOOK IT TO THE FORD DEALERSHIP TO FIX THE TWO RECALLS FOR THIS VEHICLE - ELECTRIC STEERING CONTROL AND ELECTRIC COOLANT PUMP FOR THE HYBRID BATTERY. I DON'T KNOW IF THIS WILL FIXED THE STALLING ISSUE SINCE OTHER VEHICLE OWNERS INDICATED THIS PROBLEM PERSISTS, ONLY TIME WILL TELL. IF THIS IS A PERSISTENT PROBLEM PLEASE ISSUE A RECALL SINCE LOSING PROPULSION IN TRAFFIC IS NOT SAFE. *TR

EXPERIENCED THE SECOND OF TWO IN-TRAFFIC DRIVE-TRAIN SHUT-DOWNS AS DANGEROUS AS THE G.M. IGNITION SWITCH MALFUNCTIONS (SEE ODI#: 10683675) OUR INITIAL STOPPING PLACE - IN A "REVERSE GORE-POINT" BETWEEN THE N/B FREEWAY LANES OF THE I-405 FREEWAY IN SANTA ANA, CA AND AN OUTSIDE TRANSITION ROAD WAS UNSAFE IN THE FULL-DARKNESS OF A NON-ILLUMINATED HIGH-SPEED INTERSECTION; WITH TRAFFIC ZOOMING BY ON BOTH SIDES, WITH THE FLASHERS STILL ACTIVE, I RES-STARTED THE ENGINE -- ALL DASH WARNINGS CYCLED ON THEN OFF NORMALLY; ON A DISTINCT UP-GRADE, I REVV'D THE ENGINE AGAINST THE SERVICE BRAKES, AND WATCHED FOR A SUITABLE GAP IN TRAFFIC OVER-TAKING US ON OUR RIGHT SIDE. SEEING SUCH A GAP, I RELEASED THE SERVICE BRAKES AND ACCELERATED TO 30 MPH TOWARDS THE OUTER SHOULDER...BUT ONLY MADE IT PART-WAY ACROSS THE 2 LANES WHEN THE SECOND SHUT-DOWN OCCURRED...THE SAME "CHECK ENGINE" LIGHT...THE SAME SQUEALING ENUNCIATOR TONE... THE SAME WORTHLESS "STOP SAFELY NOW" MESSAGE AND AGAIN, THANKS TO COURTEOUS AND ALERT OVER-TAKING DRIVERS, I WAS ABLE TO COAST TO A RELATIVELY BROAD SHOULDER SECTION BESIDE A `DISAPPEARING' RIGHT TRAVEL LANE. IT WAS NOW 7:55PM. WE WERE ON OUR CELL PHONE TO THE AAA WHEN A HIGHWAY PATROL OFFICER STOPPED BEHIND US TO CHECK OUR SITUATION, AND PROVIDE ADDITIONAL PROTECTION UNTIL A TOW-TRUCK COULD ARRIVE ON-SCENE. THIS IS THE SECOND OF OUR FAMILY'S FOMOCO HYBRIDS TO EXPERIENCE SUCH IN-USE DRIVE-TRAIN SHUT-DOWNS THAT PROVIDE THE DRIVER WITH NO USABLE WARNINGS OF IMPENDING DOOM - NOT EVEN "LIMP-AWAY POWER" ... THE "AFTER-IT'S-TOO-LATE" MESSAGE-PANEL MIGHT AS WELL DISPLAY "KISS YOUR A$$ GOODBYE". THE IDIOT FOMOCO ENGINEERS WHO DECIDED TO "PROTECT" THE HYBRID BATTERY BY "STALLING" THE VEHICLE ON THE FREEWAY OBVIOUSLY NEVER CONSIDERED WHAT A FREEWAY-SPEED REAR-END IMPACT WOULD DO TO THEIR PRECIOUS BATTERY...OR TO THE "REPLACEABLE" LIVING OCCUPANTS OF THE VEHICLE. *TR

EXPERIENCED TWO IN-TRAFFIC DRIVE-TRAIN SHUT-DOWNS AS DANGEROUS AS THE G.M. IGNITION SWITCH MALFUNCTIONS... TRAVELING IN 60MPH-70MPH NIGHT-TIME VALENTINE'S NIGHT FREEWAY TRAFFIC ON THE I-405 IN SANTA ANA, CA. IN THE #3 LANE OF 5 LANES, THE CHECK ENGINE WARNING LIGHT SUDDENLY FLASHED ON - ACCOMPANIED BY THE `SCREECH' OF THE `CHECK GAUGES' TONE - AND THE DRIVE-TRAIN LOST ALL POWER -- ALONG WITH THE ABSOLUTELY WORTHLESS TEXT "STOP SAFELY NOW". WITH NO POWER STEERING, AND LIMITED BRAKE BOOSTER RESERVES, I ACTIVATED THE HAZARD FLASHERS - AND THANKS TO ALERT AND COURTEOUS TRAFFIC, WAS ABLE TO STOP IN A "REVERSE GORE-POINT" BETWEEN THE FREEWAY LANES AND AN OUTSIDE TRANSITION ROAD. THINGS COULD HAVE COME OUT FAR-WORSE IF OVERTAKING DRIVERS HAD BEEN INATTENTIVE - OR WE HAD TO CROSS THE PATH OF A BIG-RIG WITH LIMITED BRAKING- OR STEERING CAPABILITIES. AS AN ACCIDENT RECONSTRUCTIONIST, THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE. THIS IS THE SECOND OF OUR FAMILY'S FOMOCO HYBRIDS TO EXPERIENCE SUCH IN-USE DRIVE-TRAIN SHUT-DOWNS THAT PROVIDE THE DRIVER WITH NO USABLE WARNINGS OF IMPENDING DOOM - NOT EVEN "LIMP-AWAY POWER" ... THE "AFTER-IT'S-TOO-LATE" MESSAGE-PANEL MIGHT AS WELL DISPLAY "KISS YOUR A$$ GOODBYE". THE IDIOT FOMOCO ENGINEERS WHO DECIDED TO "PROTECT" THE HYBRID BATTERY BY "STALLING" THE VEHICLE ON THE FREEWAY OBVIOUSLY NEVER CONSIDERED WHAT A FREEWAY-SPEED REAR-END IMPACT WOULD DO TO THEIR PRECIOUS BATTERY...OR TO THE "REPLACEABLE" LIVING OCCUPANTS OF THE VEHICLE. *TR

JUST AFTER STARTING MY CAR AND DRIVING DOWN MY STREET AT ~5MPH, THERE WAS A WARNING SYMBOL (RED TRIANGLE) AND THEN MESSAGE SAYING "STOP SAFELY NOW." THE VEHICLE THEN LOST POWER STEERING, AND POWER TO THE ENGINE. I RESTARTED THE CAR AND MADE IT ~100FT AND THE SAME THING HAPPENED AGAIN. THIS ALSO HAPPENED SEVERAL TIMES PREVIOUSLY ON THE HIGHWAY TRAVELING ~65MPH AND WITH THE SAME MESSAGE "STOP SAFELY NOW" MESSAGE APPEARED AND IMMEDIATELY LOST ALL POWER TO STEERING AND THE ENGINE. I WENT TO THE FORD DEALERSHIP AND WAS TOLD TO REPLACE THE HYBRID COOLANT PUMP AND BLEND DOORS AND THIS FIXED THE PROBLEM FOR SEVERAL MONTHS UNTIL TODAY. I HAD ALSO JUST TAKEN THE VEHICLE INTO THE DEALERSHIP FOR A RECALL ON THE POWER STEERING. THIS LOSS OF POWER AND ABILITY TO STEER IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS! THIS NEEDS TO BE RECALLED! *TR