A crack in my exhaust manifold behind the alternator causing coolant to spray all over under my hood and now my engine overheats..thanks for using plastic parts Ford.

- West Allis, WI, USA

Car caught fire had no problems with the car in the past drove about 2 miles parked and turned car off and the engine caught fire.

- Quincy, IL, USA

The contact owns a 1996 Mercury Grand Marquis. While parked in the residence carport, the vehicle caught on fire. The fire department extinguished the flames. The massive fire completely destroyed the vehicle and caused damages to the home. There were no personal injuries. At this time the cause of failure has not been determined. The manufacturer and insurance company were notified. The failure and current mileages were 96,000.

- Spring Lake, NJ, USA

Had just turned off freeway when warning chime for overheated engine sounded. Stopped car within one block & turned off motor. Towed to mechanic. Turns out to be the intake manifold catastrophic failure, common to Ford (mine is 1996 Mercury Grand Marquis, 71K miles.) am now running compression test to see if any engine damage, if there is no damage then I will have to fix manifold at a cost of approx. $1036. If there is engine damage then I will have to junk a perfectly fine car in excellent condition (apart from this). Ford does not offer any redress. I never received any information about this problem, nor about the class action lawsuit settlement. This could have been extremely dangerous, as I had just excited a freeway when the warning beep sounded. I have received all other recall info on this vehicle and have complied w. recall. In fact vehicle had been fully checked by dealer only 6 days when taken in for the second part of the switch recall on this model. Dealer never informed me of any potential manifold problem. This is a safety issue as well as a defective part issue. At the very least, owners should be notified that this is a common catastrophic failure.

- San Antonio, TX, USA

The contact owns a 1996 Mercury Grand Marquis. Occasionally, when driving 55-60 mph, the vehicle would vibrate. The vibration also occurred while driving between 35-40 mph. The contact stated that she had to add water to the antifreeze receptacle each day because the vehicle would overheat. While making a left turn, the contact would hear a rustling sound as if something was rubbing together. In addition, the rear windows would not go down. The front passenger side window would go down, but would not go back up. The contact was informed that the failure was electrical. The blinkers, brake lights, and cruise control have failed. She also received a safety recall notice for the vehicle speed control. The powertrain and recall number were unknown. The current mileage was 90,647 and failure mileage was 73,000.

- Savannah, GA, USA

Regarding my 1996 Mercury Grand Marquis. Engine fire on August 15,2007 in my driveway. Key off, vehicle driven and parked 1/2 hour before incident. I received Ford recall notice on Sept. 4, 2007.

- Preble, NY, USA

1996 Grand Marquis intake manifold failed, mechanic determined this needed to be replaced.

- Pittsford, NY, USA

My car was not running correctly one day, so I took it to my mechanic and he found anti-freeze in the cylinders. He said that the anti-freeze blew through passage on intake manifold into the pistons, and I had to replaced the entire motor and the intake which cost me $3400 enable to fix. I can not understand why they used a plastic part on the motor.

- Farmingville, NY, USA

Plastic intake manifold split during travel through mountains causing all of the coolant to spew out. Overheating occurred immediately and caused severe damage to engine. Ford had issued a technical service bulletin 02-2-2 dated 1/17/2002 and subsequently redesigned part. This was a known problem that has not been properly communicated to the consumer resulting in extensive cost to the consumer with an engine replacement.

- Broomfield, CO, USA

While driving on interstate plastic intake manafold cracked, resulting in coolant spraying entire engine compartment and limiting visability. Entire radiator was empty in matter of seconds. Replacement part was redesigned admitting that there was a design fault in original.

- Ankeny, IA, USA

While driving at 45 mph, the vehicle overheated and stalled. The vehicle was towed to a independent shop. The mechanic determined the intake manifold was cracked and coolant spilled inside the engine.

- Island Lake, IL, USA

Sudden loss of coolant due to a failure of the plastic intake manifold. Re-placement part has been redesigned with a metal area where failure occurred. This is a common problem with this model. Vehicle has 86,000 original miles on it.

- Lynbrook, NY, USA

While driving at highway speed plastic manifold intake cracked, causing the engine to lose coolant, I was told this was a problem from a ga state hero unit who stopped to give assistance. The vehicle only has 89,000 original miles, to me this is a problem and bad business on Ford's part. Not taking care of the customer!

- Canton, GA, USA

Cracked intake manifold, causing overheating and lost of coolant while traveling at highway speed. 1996 Mercury Grand Marquis 4.6L engine.

- Marana, AZ, USA