I own a 2005 Mercury Montego. While driving various speeds, all of the instrument panel gauges would illuminate and drop to zero and the seat belt indicators would illuminate and chime. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The approximate failure mileage was 135,000

- Adtian, MI, USA

The car has been lurching forward and decelerating randomly. Keeps going into "failsafe engine mode" and the wrench light comes on but only for a few moments, then runs normally again after restarting. Haven't been able to have the light on long enough to get diagnostics done. Happens while driving or when starting occasionally.

- Monroe, MI, USA

About 6 months ago all the dash indicators turned on. They went out for a few minutes then came back on and stayed on. I was told it was in the electrical harness. It would be a $700 plus cost to fix it. It is a common problem I would think there would be a recall on such a situation. I have to drive not knowing if there is trouble with the lights on full time.

- Republic, WA, USA

Car runs great for about 20 minutes then I get a surge in the engine, dash cluster goes dead, car jerks and I lose power randomly. Everything comes back on but will go out multiple times getting worse everytime. I have lost power to transmission once, no forward or reverse. Replaced the dash cluster and car ran great for 2 days then started all again. This happens mainly while in the city, hasn't happened on highway yet thank goodness. Car just sits in driveway, afraid to drive it. I see countless people with this issue all the way back to when car was released and still no solution.

- Waterloo, IL, USA

The contact owns a 2005 Mercury Montego. While attempting to depress the brake pedal, the vehicle began to accelerate and the traction control, check transmission, and failed safe mode warning lights illuminated. Due to the failure, the contact crashed into a bush while attempting to park the vehicle. There were no injuries and a police report was not filed. The failure recurred randomly. The vehicle was taken to several independent mechanics, but the cause of the failure could not be determined. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified. The failure mileage was approximately 270,000.

- Bowling Green, KY, USA

Dash board gauges and controls. When driving our 2005 Montego all of the dash instruments and gauges will go out, and you loose some power, the rear lights go on. This can happen at any moment when the vehicle is in motion, on the interstate, slow speeds. To replace is quite expensive, but in doing some research I have come across thousands of complaints on the same issue, and it's extremely scary and concerning that a safety recall has not been done. You can turn it off but doesn't always reset and when it does the engine light stays on. This occurs while the car is in motion.

- Everson, WA, USA

Started 2005 Montego to pick up fianc from work, got back inside after brushing snow off the car and I pressed the throttle to drop the idle speed, all of the gauges on my instrument panel went black (tach, speed, fuel, water temp, ac/heater), my reverse lights came on, my stereo had really loud static coming through it and my wipers/heater stopped working. Came back a few hours later and gauges worked but check engine, transmission and charging systems lights were on. I put it in gear because I thought the issue was gone and as soon as I got to about 1500 RPM my gauges went black so I stopped and when the idle speed dropped back down my gauges came back on. I tried my headlights and they go out every time my gauges go out, which is any time I get over 1500 RPM.

- Portage, MI, USA

Parked car at home after dropping daughter off in town car performed normally. Five hours later went out to pick daughter up. Started car and had no speedometer, odometer, tachometer, no cluster panel at all. No lights on panel, A/C would not function and backup lights came on and stayed on. The wrench symbol light came on at this time. I tested the car daily with the same results, until Tuesday, August 11th. I had an appt to take it in to a Ford dealer to have it diagnosed. When I started the car at this time, the cluster panel and A/C were working, the backup lights were off (except when in reverse) and the wrench light was now off. However, now the check engine light was on. Diagnosis at the dealership was that the cluster panel was bad and was sending incorrect codes (P0462 & P2067) causing the check engine light to come on. Since those codes are associated with the powertrain control module it could cause the engine to stall at any time.

- Odessa , MO, USA

The contact owns a 2005 Mercury Montego. While driving 30 mph, there was a sudden loss of acceleration. The contact noticed that the passenger side wheel well was in flames and the wheel well on the drivers side was emitting smoke. The contact and the driver extinguished the fire. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the ABS needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 90,000. The VIN was not available.

- Spearfish, SD, USA

Too many times to count 25 30 even more. When driving my 2005 Mercury Montego the complete dash cluster lost all functions and read outs, always at speeds above 30mph. A few times 9 or so the car would buck a few times. I had the harness connector checked and no problems found. This condition prevents me from using the vehicle as needed, to driver a few times a year from Connecticut to North Carolina and back to visit ailing family members. No other reasonable transportation available. We will pro ally never buy a Ford product again due to safety concerns. Need advice as to problem and how to fix.

- Plainville, CT, USA

The contact owns a 2005 Mercury Montego. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the instrument panel lights failed to illuminate and all the gauges malfunctioned. The vehicle had not been diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 135,000.

- Kingston , OH, USA

Vehicle was started first thing in morning and driven approximately 25' when the transmission seemed to disengage and warning lights came on. Car remained parked for about 30 minutes and a second attempt was made. The car was driven approximately 2 miles when once again the transmission failed to engage and a loss of power was experienced. Following these two incidents with the vehicle I arranged to have the vehicle flat bedded to the local Ford dealership where it was determined that the problem was a defective throttle body assembly the vehicle has 68,250 original miles on odometer.

- Feeding Hills, MA, USA

Instrument panel lights all light up and all the dials drop to zero, traction control goes out which causes a huge safety issue in winter driving. Speedometer, tack, fuel gauge, and engine temp all set to zero. Automatic door locks inop, lights on interior gear shift go out. At first this would happen intermittently - approximately 2 to 3 times a month for a few seconds and then progressively got worse with time to total failure. Every time I tried to bring it into the dealer I was told they couldn't figure out what was happening because the vehicle would "act fine" for them. After several trips to the dealership and a lot of research on the issue I find out Ford knows its a problem and issued a tsb 06-17-9 on it but is failing to stand behind their product and issue a recall. What is it going to take a few deaths? I would never buy another Ford product due to their lack of customer service and concerns with the safety of their product.

- Rosemount, MN, USA

Mercury Montego 2005 instrument panel has been going on and off for two years. Getting longer duration before panel comes back on. The interior is pitch black, I don't know how fast I am going, how much gas I have. My back up lights remain on when panel goes. Drivers behind me stay clear, thinking I am backing up. I have no air conditioner. I have radio, head lights, brake lights. I did not try the cruise control because I am scared to death..it is over a $600 repair..I googled and others have the same problem. It is D a N G er ous.

- Hamburg, NY, USA

The car was purchased in may of 2011. August 2011, the transmission started to violently jerk and act as if it were in neutral. When gradually applying the breaks, the car would begin to shudder. This would happen only if the engine was warm. By March 2012, the shuddering transmission and jerk was constant. I took it in to be looked at in April of 2012. The alternator was replaced, due to what we thought was a bad battery. The mechanic believed this caused the transmission to jerk. The problem was not solved. June 2012 the transmission was replaced by a Ford dealership for 5,000. July 2012 the car went into fail engine safe mode, the codes pointing to the throttle body. A mechanic cleaned the throttle body saying it might solve the problem. 2 days later the car went into fail engine safe mode again with the same codes with an estimate of $900. The car has 72000K on it and has had three major problems in the past couple of months.

- Mesquite, TX, USA

The instrument gauge on my 2005 Mercury Montego just went "dead". nothing registered, so there was no reading on my speed, engine heat gauge, fuel level, or tachometer. This happened once in early spring of this year (2012), but did not repeat until recently. It is now June and the same thing has re-occurred about 10 times in the past two weeks. After turning the car off and restarting, this sometimes (but not always), "fixes" the problem. Most recently, if the gauges do work, the "check engine" light turns on. The airbag light stays on, and the AWD malfunction message displays in the information panel until I hit the reset button. From a safety perspective, is this a short in the system or is my airbag really malfunctioning" and how do I know my speed other than to guess"

- Willoughby Hills, OH, USA

The contact owns a 2005 Mercury Montego. The contact noticed that all of the instrument panel gauge readings decreased to zero and the check engine light illuminated. The contact heard a clanking sound before the failure occurred. The vehicle was shut off and restarted and the gauges reset to the accurate readings. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing. The technicians were unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 45,000.

- Bristol, TN, USA

The contact owns a 2005 Mercury Montego. The contact stated that while driving 30 mph, the entire electrical system malfunctioned and caused the rear brakes and instrument cluster to fail. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer, where a diagnostic test indicated that the throttle body and alternator were faulty. The dealer replaced the throttle body, but not the alternator. The failure continued. The vehicle was taken back to the authorized dealer, where they were unable to diagnose the failure. The failure mileage was 95,275.

- El Paso, TX, USA

Engine revs up, and car lurches, typically when: - shifting into drive or reverse and/or moving away from idle; - almost always when the wheels are cranked all the way to the left or right and the car is moving away from idle. The lurching is sudden and "violent" enough that it can catch a driver unprepared - my wife and I are used to it and able to compensate, but we aren't letting our 17 year-old drive the car for now unless one of us is with her. Ongoing problem since car was purchased new. This has been an occasional problem for years - complaint was even made while car was still under its 3 year/36,000 mile warranty (nothing found). Problem has been getting more frequent over the past year or so.

- Milwaukee, WI, USA

1) no prior events lead to this problem it just happened. 2)the instrument panel of my 2005 Mercury Montego lost all gauges, speedometer, lights, turn-signals. Then the car completely lost power. 3) the repair shop is still trying to determine the problem.

- Palatine, IL, USA