1999 Ford Crown Victoria Engine Problems

Which parts fail

• Engine › Gasoline
  7
• Cooling system
  5
• Exhaust system › Manifold/header/muffler/tail pipe
  4
• Engine
  3

Components named in complaints (engine, cooling system, oil leaks, timing chain, exhaust).

Mileage when the problem started

• Under 25k
  16%
• 25k–50k
  213%
• 50k–75k
  213%
• 75k–100k
  531%
• 100k–150k
  319%
• 150k+
  319%

Owner reports

Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 1999 Ford Crown Victoria owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).

My parents picked my daughter up from the school bus and proceeded down my driveway slowly. The vehicle suddenly accelerated even as my father had both feet on the brake. There were visible signs of the front wheels dragging up debris as the front wheels were locking up. He attempted to shift into neutral and turn the key but was unable to do so as the vehicle must have reached a speed in excess of 50 MPH before he slammed it into park and then ran head on into a tree. Both parent were injured severely even with the air bags deploying. The car was destroyed.

Tl contact owns a 1999 Ford Crown Victoria. The contact stated while driving approximately 25 MPH he smelled anti freeze. He took the vehicle to the dealer and was advised that there were no recalls on the vehicl. He had previously received a recall letter for the intake manifold but the dealer did not perform the recall repair. The vehicle had three transmission replacements for this failure, two by the dealer and one the contact . He stated that there was anti freeze all over his engine. He stated he has taken the vehicle to the dealer three times and they advised him that he has to pay for the repairs. The dealer stated the failure was due to the intake manifold. The vehicle had not been repaired at the time of the complaint. The approximate failure mileage was 90,000 and the current mileage was 142,000.

My car has 98501 miles on it and the plastic intake manifold is cracked with coolant seeping into the spark plug chamber, per ted britt Ford in va. I believe that the cause of the crack is a latent defect in the plastic manifold. I would like to have Ford replace it free of charge since it was a latent defect of the manufacturer. I also believe that this condition was there since I purchased the car (original owner), because during the early part of my ownership of the vehicle, there was always a faint odor of coolant in the passenger cab. This was also reported and documented with the service adviser early in my ownership of this vehicle.

I own a 1999 Ford Crown Victoria police package with 160,000 miles on it now,I bought it in 2003 with 145,000 miles on it, on October,10,2005 the plastic intake manifold starting leaking water from the back of the manifold from a crack in it,I have talked to numerous Ford dealers about this,and they give me the run around saying it is out of warranty,and I was told a new one would cost 800.00 dollars,that is a real rip off, a intake manifold should last the life of the engine,I will never buy a Ford vehicle again.

The car leaks anti-freeze throught the plastic manifold. Who ever heard of a plastic manifold. The original part is a defective part-made of the wrong material.Ford needs to recall this part, it causes havic constantly needs to add coolant. The thermostat cannot be changed because the plastic housing is one piece with the manifold.

Engine on my car just stopped working and when towed to facility the mechanic informed me the engine was gone. Warranty people came to look at the vehicle and stated I used bad gasbecause carbon had built up on the rings and would not honor warranty. All fluids were clear and car has been properly maintained.

I have 2 Crown Victoria sedans and both have "spit" spark plugs out of their respective cylinder heads. I am neither amused by these occurrences nor satisfied when I spoke with Ford customer service. Listed below is the last time this incident occurred - the 4th blown plug.

While parked for two days the engine compartment caught on fire. Fire marshall determined it was a defect in the engine compartment. Manufacturer contacted. Please provdie further information.

(1) driving on interstate highway car engine suddenly lost power while changing lane. Was almost hit from behind but luckily the other car was able to stop. (2) the engine in my car, '99 Ford Crown Victoria, had blown a spark plug. (3) repair involved changing the cylinder head in the engine or replace the whole engine that I opted to do. At first I thought this is just a single incident but I later learned that there are a lot of people who have experienced the same mainly on Ford pick-up trucks but also on other vehicles with the same engine / cylinder head design. A Ford dealer who did the work for replacing the engine said they have not heard about this before. I have later also learned that a lot of people experience the same with Ford, I.e. They claim not knowing about the issue but they must as so many people have complained about this. …

I began noticing problems with my 1999 Crown Victoria in early 2005. My check engine light kept coming on and it kept using a lot of coolant. A Ford technician told me during a recent repair that it needed another "intake manifold" and that it would cost me $800 to fix it at the dealership. I asked him if it was covered under any warranty and I was told no. The other night I was driving down I-35 headed towards dallas when the high temperature gauge started going off. I slowed down and pulled over and when I opened the hood, there was coolant spraying from the front of the intake manifold (near the thermostat). I was able to cool the car down by putting water in the radiator. However, I had to do this every couple of miles because the water kept shooting out of the top of the engine. I finally got to a well lit area and was able to isolate the leak. …

NHTSA investigations

Engine complaints in other Crown Victoria years