Mercury Villager Acceleration Problems

Acceleration complaints by model year

Which parts fail

• Accelerator pedal
  105
• Linkages
  7
• Cruise control
  1
• Cables
  1

Components named in complaints (accelerator pedal, throttle, sudden acceleration, cruise control).

Mileage when the problem started

• Under 25k
  1016%
• 25k–50k
  2032%
• 50k–75k
  2235%
• 75k–100k
  58%
• 100k–150k
  46%
• 150k+
  12%

What owners report

Came to a red light and the accelerator stuck. I had to push very hard on the brake and put the vehicle in park in order to stop. This type of situation happened several other times. I took the vehicle to alexander Ford in boaz, al. They said it was the throttle assembly, and would cost a lot of money to fix. The Nissan dealership said that they had experienced many instances of the same type of problem. They also said that to their knowledge a throttle assembly does not exist. A relative who works on cars cleaned the "butterfly" and this temporarily corrected the problem.

Gas pedal sticks on 2000 Mercury Villager. Had vehicle since 2000. Problem started in 2002 and got worse. We dealt with it but since my wife was diagnosed with ms in 2003, she found it hard to deal with. I deal with it, but find it very annoying. The problem is just as others describe where mostly when starting from a stop, the pedal sticks and requires a lot of pressure to release it cause hard starts and breaking traction. It sometimes occurs while driving. Problems occurs about 50% of the time.

Tl contact owns a 1999 Mercury Villager. While the contact was pulling into a parking space the vehicle suddenly surged forward without warning causing the contact to crash into a pole. The contact previously noticed that the vehicle would surge forward whenever it came to a stop. The vehicle has not been diagnosed by the dealership. There were no prior warnings. The VIN was not available. The current and failure mileages were 140,000.

When stopped at light, upon accelerating when the light turns green, the accelerator is hard to press. It does not depress. You have to either press too hard or pump a few times for it to get going. This is very dangerous when you are taking a left turn on a solid green light without a green arrow. You May stall and then lunge forward into an oncoming car

The vehicle automatic door locks automatically lock the doors this has happened innumerable occasions. This began shortly after purchase of the vehicle in 1998, and continues today. The doors ar not to lock if the keys are in the ignition, and they do. This has occurred while driving the vehicle, while it is parked, when entering, and exiting the vehicle. The interior doors do not override the locks, and in an emergency, one would be unable to exit the vehicle if they were to lock. Usually this occurs most often when the doors are being closed; and if the battery is unhooked, and reconnected, it May remedy the situation for several days. The rear automatic windows go out when you press the buttons to make them go in, and the rear wiper stays down as if the window is unlocked. That can be remedied by unlocking the window, and relatching it, it usually stays up for 2-3 days. …

1998 Mercury Villager purchased used in 2003. Idle throttle body failed in 2006, Mercury dealer took two weeks to find the part and replaced at my expense. Idle throttle body failed again in early 2007. Dealer took two weeks again to find part and did not charge me but I had to rent a car at my expense. Today 9/30/07 the same symptom of the car accelerating to 1500 RPM intermittently while sitting stopped at a light has begun again instead of constant 800 RPM when this part is working correctly. I will have to wait on the dealer to find a part and repair it again at my inconvenience and expense. Have other owners of this vehicle engine experienced the same repeated safety and waste of fuel issue?

Driver reports he must have had his foot on the brake and accelerator at the same time (semi-panic brake application). Police report states "tire marks" on the (dry) pavement. One does not produce "tire marks" on dry pavement (no turning involved) without brake application. Driver had episode of microsleep: when alerted by the event taking place, he could not get the vehicle stopped in time to prevent hitting and fatally injuring a pedestrian. Upon examination of accident vehicle, inspector discovered unusual arched accelerator pedal design wherein the brake pedal was located only 1 5/8 inch from the arched accelerator pedal allowing brake application and acceleration concurrently if certain conditions prevail. Examination demonstrated that when the brake pedal was depressed, the pedal went substantially below the accelerator pedal. …

Accelerator pedal sticks when accelerating from a stop, then, when it is freed, the van accelerates rapidly causing the van to lurch forward. This is dangerous for two reasons. One, when maneuvering in tight parking like situations, the van will lurch forward unexpectedly, and two, when pulling out into traffic there is a hesitation that could cause and accident if the response time between pushing the accelerator pedal and the time the van actually starts moving.

NHTSA investigations