Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2011 Mercury Mariner owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
Last year, driving on state highway and vehicle loses power. Wrench light comes on, engine is running, no gas, etc. Shut off, wait, and start again. Light is off and runs OK. This happened several more times. Contacted Ford customer assistance and showed there was a customer experience recall on throttle body. Took it to a dealer and they found nothing wrong. I got it back, and problem reoccurred. Took it back to dealer,they drove it around, and couldn't find anything wrong. Finally, in another city, left work and lost power and engine light came on and didn't go off after restart. Contacted dealer and they replaced throttle body sensor (or similar) for free. This last week, was driving on interstate 75mph in traffic and I lose power in passing lane. Luckily coasted to shoulder, restarted and lights off. Happened again this morning going to work on state highway at 60mph. …
Wrench light on Mercury Mariner 2011 with slow (20-40mph max) and rough ride home. Yesterday while leaving work, I turned right out of the parking lot onto the main road. Immediately my Mariner hesitated, jerked forward, and a wrench light came on. My SUV slowly accelerated to 20mph and struggled to get to 40mph. It road rough and I wasn't sure if it would stall or not; however, I was able to slowly make it home. I looked up the wrench light and learned I was likely having a throttle body or powertrain problem. I found online that the dealer would fix it, but unfortunately, that was only through January 2015 and had expired (before the dealer even sold me the SUV.) I started the SUV this morning to take to the dealer to get fixed, but the wrench light has gone off and there is not proof to show the dealer of the problem. …
I was driving about 60 miles an hour on an expressway when the throttle control/powertrain indicator light came on and I could no longer accelerate the vehicle. As I pulled over to stop, the vehicle lurched forward multiple times before I was able to shut the engine off.
The throttle is not working right. I was almost in 2 accidents because of this. I step on the gas and nothing happens. I hear that 1000s are having the same problem but no recall. This is very dangerous when in a 75 MPH zone and suddenly no power.
I was driving on the interstate at about 65mph. Vehicle became unresponsive to the gas pedal input. Check engine (yellow wrench) light came on. I had to cross over to the right side of the road, while coasting with the engine at idle. Came to a stop and that's when I realized that the car was at idle and would not respond to the gas pedal. Turned off the car, and it restarted after a longer than normal amount of cranking. Check engine light was out. Car drove normally to my destination. Took car to alan vigil Ford. They said it has no stored codes, but it would need the throttle body replaced, but it was not covered under the 5/60K powertrain warranty. I also called Ford customer service and they said the same thing. They charged $99.95 diagnostic fee for this. They told me to keep the receipt, incase of a future recall. …
While driving down the highway, in my 2011 Mariner it suddenly lost the power to accelerate (engine still running). The wrench light illuminated at this time. Pressing on the accelerator did nothing. Fortunately there was nothing behind me so I coasted about 1/4 mile to the next turn off and coasted off the highway. Then I turned the vehicle off, waited a few minutes and restarted it. I drove about 20 miles home with no other occurrence. The next day (August 14, 2013) I drove about 20 miles to work with no problems. That afternoon I left work and drove about 2 miles at 25 MPH and it lost all acceleration power again (motor still running). I turned it off and restarted it. I drove another 2 miles at 25 MPH and it lost acceleration power again, but this time both the wrench light and the check engine light came on (engine still running). …
I was driving through my neighborhood on the way home from going out to dinner. I went around a curve and then when I started going up a slight hill, the engine surged. I didn't think to much about it until I lost almost all power. I could not get up to a speed higher than 5 miles per hour. I was able to get within one block of my residence. I waited for about an hour as I looked up the diagnostic code that my odb2 scanner gave me. I found out that it is code p2111, throttle actuator control system - stuck open. I went back to my car, after about an hour, and it started just fine. I was able to drive my SUV to my local Ford dealer, with someone in another car following to make sure that I didn't have a repeating issue. I did a night key drop tonight, the same day as when the issue happened. …
While cruising on I-40 headed towards nashville, my car went into an idle state and I forced to the side of the road to turn off the car. Turned it back on and it ran for another 25 miles and did the exact same thing. I took it to the Ford dealer where they looked for any codes. The code that they found was p2111 for a powertrain throttle body. None of these parts are in stock anywhere in tenn from what the tech said. I was forced to travel back to dallas in a vehicle that would randomly go into an idle state where I was forced to exit the road to turn off and re-start my vehicle. Upon doing some research, it appears that several for vehicles are having throttle body issues. Also, I learned just today that the part I need, ds7z9e926d costs $324 at the dealer. The parts person mentioned that are now on part #d and that the previous parts are defective. …
Friday 24th, the wrench sign came on, the car shut down in traffic. Called the dealer, told me to pull the key out and then restart after 5 minutes. It started and he okayed me to drive it. He said it was a 1time glitch. Later in the day, pulling out of a restaurant, it did the same thing. So I repeated what the Ford service tech told me. The next morning I brought it directly to the Ford service center where the tech told me that since the light indicator didn't remain on, there is no way to tell what the cause was. He told me to drive it until it happened again and the light remained on. 2 days later, this happened. I had the car towed to the service center and they dropped it for service for the next morning because it was Sunday night. Monday, got a call from the tech who said the lighy went back off so they are at square one. …
Car seems to stall all power stays on but the car shakes and then stalls and the wrench light comes on which is a powertrain light. Took car to dealer they say there is nothing wrong with it. They reset the light. One week after bring the car to the dealer the wrench light comes back on and the car stalls this time I was going 55 miles an hour on a parkway thankfully I was able to pull over before the car stopped. Brought to dealer, nothing is wrong with the car they recommended me to leave the heat off because there could be a problem with the heat. (don't understand that) last week the car stalled again and the wrench light came on. I am currently waiting to bring it in for service. This is not good nor safe.
Transmission complaints in other Mariner years
Frequently asked questions
How common are transmission problems on the 2011 Mercury Mariner?
NHTSA has 24 complaints about the transmission & drivetrain of the 2011 Mercury Mariner, 28% of the model year's 87 complaints.
Is there a recall for 2011 Mercury Mariner transmission problems?
No. NHTSA lists no transmission & drivetrain recall for the 2011 Mercury Mariner, though it has 2 recalls for other components. If the problem is widespread, a repair may still be covered by an extended warranty or a manufacturer service bulletin — ask a dealer.
At what mileage do 2011 Mercury Mariner transmission problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 46,000 miles, and 5% before 25,000 miles.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.