1.heavy loss of coolant, spraying all over engine area continuously and would not maintain proper levels. 2. car overheating and risk of burning up the engine. 3. replaced "plastic" manifold, coolant, thermostat and gasket. This manifold was a class action lawsuit against Ford Motor Company that I contacted after the incident and was told my VIN did not fall into the category. I now looked it up and it certainly does. The outcome of the lawsuit had dates involved and my incident happened seven months after the judges decision of seven years after the warranty. After calling Ford and speaking with 3 "customer service" people their script was the legal decision and they (Ford) was not going to do a thing for me. How many people are out there that had this happen and have no idea of this "plastic manifold" that should have never been in the car and paid good money for something that Ford caused and now will not stand by their product.

- Altamonte Springs, FL, USA

The contact stated the coolant light illuminated on dashboard.the vehicle was taken to a dealership. The plastic intake manifold cracked causing the loss of antifreeze. No repairs were made. Updated 12/27/2005 - the consumer did some research and found that the manufacturer had recall this part but not for civilian vehicles.

- St Albans, WV, USA

Consumer's request for reimbursement but was denied reimbursement for the plastic manifold replacement in his 1997 Mercury Cougar.** answer required***. the consuemr was not reimbursed for the repairs because the repairs were not made at a Ford/Mercury dealer.

- Hillsborough, NJ, USA

The intake manifold cracked, causing the coolant to leak out. Could cause the engine to overheat. Consumer will contact the manufacturer.

- New Port Richey, FL, USA

Consumer complained about a defective part in the intake manifold, which at one time was on recall. No notification was ever received. Manufacturer was contacted, and stated that the warranty expired, and they did not have to honor the recall.

- Saint Louis, MO, USA

Had catastrophic intake manifold failure while on vacation. Fomoco has a recall on this component (97M91) but refused to provide relief. As I understand the recall of this known problem, Ford will only replace when it fails, but it must fail in a specific time frame. This was a silent recall as Ford never publicized it. I had attempted a preventative replacement as I was aware of the inherent problem -- again my local Mercury dealer (king - gaithersburg, md) would only replace when the manifold failed. Well it did while I was on vacation hundreds of miles from home. As this was a known manufactor's problem from the date of installation, replace must be done when the problem first comes to Ford's knowledge. Instead, when issuing the recall (March 1999) Ford chose to ignore the problem until the consumer brings it to the dealership's attention. Only then would the dealer acknowledge the recall existed.

- Germantown, MD, USA

The plastic intake manifold on my 1997 Mercury Cougar failed on 7/13/2004. The coolant leaked into the spark plug socket and grounded the number 2 spark plug, leaked coolant over engine. Left my wife stranded with undriveable car. Subsequent examination of the engine by an ase mechanic revealed a fatigue crack in the intake manifold near the cross-over tube. This is clearly a design flaw. It will cost over $900 to remove and replace the faulty intake manifold. The old part will be available after repairs are affected.

- Cairo, GA, USA

No warning, driving to work under normal conditions when steam and coolant (which could be smelled) came out from under hood, limiting my vision. I had to stop and low coolant level light came on. I had to have car towed home. Took car to a corner mechanic who informed us the intake manifold had cracked and it would cost us $1,200. We were skeptical because on other vehicles we have, this part is cast so it doesn't break. We then had the car towed again to a reputable mechanic that we have used before and he also said the intake manifold was broken. He then had to order a new Ford part that cost us $589.17 plus labor of $249.60 and wrecker run of $38.40, for a grand total of $923.12. Upon checking with Ford.com, we found out that this has happened to several others and upon speaking with someone over the phone we were informed that there was a "customer satisfaction program, service bulletin 97M91" that would have replaced this defective part at no cost to us, if the part would have broken in the month of may, instead of June 19, when it occurred. We were never aware of such a program and are extremely distressed that such a reputable company as Ford would not make this an unlimited warranty knowing that the part will fail and that the replacement part is made of aluminum which is dependable. Why was this not used during manufacturing of the automobile" surely, the cost then would have been minimal to Ford. Could this possibly be reason why it was not made a voluntary recall" we want to be reimbursed for this part, considering we were only 3 weeks out of "97M91."

- Louisville, KY, USA

I have a 1997 Mercury Cougar. After seeing a low coolant light, and stopping the car, I opened the hood and had coolant everywhere! the car was towed to a repair shop and I was told it was a cracked intake manifold. After further research I have found this is a continual problem with Ford produced automobiles.

- Melbourne, FL, USA

1997 Cougar XR7, 4.6liter engine. Cracked intake manifod allows cooling fluid to escape. Problem has been present for over three years but has never been located until lately when fluid loss increased significantly/

- Spring, TX, USA