2.3

hardly worth mentioning
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
68,214 miles

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problem #2

Aug 142005

Mountaineer 8-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 46,827 miles
Last night while traveling home on the nys thruway, approximately 5 miles from my exit, the cruise control didn't disengage. It was late, and we came upon some road work, so I depressed the coast button several times to lower my speed. I have done this numerous times before without any mechanical/electrical/software problem. When this didn't lower my speed, I depressed the off button numerous times-this didn't work-so I depressed the brake-and this didn't work. I became scared and immediately put the SUV in neutral. The engine RPM went high over 5 on the tachometer so I put the transmission back into drive. The speed control indicator dash light was no longer on but the SUV's RPM was still higher than normal like the speed control was still engaged. The SUV now was not trying maintain previous speed but it was still pulling ahead without and any gas pedal. Using a lot of brakes, I was able to slow down way in advance and stop. I was able to drive and stop in my driveway (approximately 1.5 miles from the thruway exit). I purchased my 2000 Mountaineer new and have never abused it. No off road - mostly just winter driving. Less than 47 K miles. I noticed a recall for the speed control cable which can become flared at the end. This is for certain Mountaineer equipped with 4.0L SOHC engines. My engine is a V-8; the older 5.0L that earlier mustangs had. I am thankful that this happened late at night with no traffic on the thruway and very little in the village of saugerties. So there you have it. I'm not sure where this glitch is-possibly the speed control cable is flared and will not loosen to allow regular idle, or something else in the speed control software or something else. I consider myself an above average driver. This could have been tragic if this happened in traffic with a less experienced driver. Good luck and keep up the good work. Not an easy thing to do considering everything you do. Thank you for making our daily lives safer.

- Saugerties, NY, USA

problem #1

Apr 282005

Mountaineer 8-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 89,600 miles
4/28/05 brake lights stopped working, fuses were checked by technician, cruise control/brkake fuse was blown. Fuse was replaced by technician, after technician parked vehickle, smoke was noticed coming from underneath the dash. Technician disconnected cruise control from master cylinder and smoke stopped. Technician noticed wires were melted. Vehicle is regularly serviced with service records available.

- Dunn, NC, USA