The headlights started to flicker on and off while driving on the highway at night, then the car stalled. I instinctively put it in neutral to try and restart which I did but it stalled again and this time it was completely dead while unfortunately on the curve of a 2 lane bridge with no shoulder or breakdown lane. Luckily the hazard lights were enough for on coming traffic and tractor trailers to see me in time or I could have easily been killed on that bridge. Great appreciation to dispatch and the state troopers for their assistance.

- Stratford , CT, USA

Headlights in 2004 Mercury Marauder began going out intermittently at about 60K miles, also intermittently not coming on when turned on by switch. They now rarely stay on for more than 5 minutes at a time. This is undoubtedly related to the widely reported failure of motorola-manufactured Ford lighting control module (lcm, Ford P/N 4W7Z13C788bb) units in many Ford 'panther' platform models (crown vic, Grand Marquis, Marauder) through model year 2004. NHTSA action PE08066 addresses this issue. The Ford/Mercury dealer I sought service for this issue from recommended replacement of the lcm at a cost of $700 for parts and labor. The part is available through internet sources from $300 to $500. The dealer would not guarantee that this part replacement would fix the intermittent headlight problem, so I have decided to purchase and replace the unit myself and return the part if this does not correct the problem. This is an issue of public safety that should be addressed by a recall -- cars traveling at night without headlights are a danger to the driving and pedestrian public. It is hard to fathom why the NHTSA would disagree with this logic and close this investigation. Since many owners and third-parties are now sharing stories and home-grown solutions on the internet (replacing/re-soldering the defective nec relay P/N EQ1-11111S, which is the root cause of the problem), the NHTSA is passing ownership and responsibility of Ford's bad manufacturing decision on to vehicle owners. This is a terrible message to give the public, it further erodes any trust a consumer could possibly have in Ford products. The huge volume of fleet vehicles (taxi, police, municipal) that are affected makes this an even more critical safety issue. The NHTSA should have its legal position prepared for a worst-case scenario in which an accident resulting in death is linked to this defect.

- West Nyack, NY, USA