The contact owns a 2004 Mercury Marauder. While operating the vehicle, the low beam headlights would suddenly shut off. The contact indicated that the failure was intermittent, but worsened and recurred more frequently. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed that the light control module was faulty and needed to be replaced. However, the part was not available and no estimated time for receiving the part could be provided. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 113,000.

- Brooklyn, NY, USA

I was driving my 2004 Mercury Marauder on a two lane road in Delaware county NY when my headlights went out. Driving the back roads takes total concentration due to the large number of nocturnal animals which can cross roads. I am the original owner of this car and I take great pride in maintaining it to the utmost top condition. It is rare to find this model car(a Marauder) but it is a Grand Marquis/ crown vic and while certain parts like tires are hard to come by, a light control module(lcm) is a dime a dozen. Ford has a program 14N01 (recall?) to replace these modules. Repeated calls to Ford customer care and my dealer has proved that Ford wants to help yet makes no commitment other then offering me a aftermarket part. The Ford part is on back order. I feel Ford will help me but only after my 18 year son has crashed due to Ford reluctance to immediately correct a potentially dangerous condition. If the proper part is on back order when will the part become available" I purchased the part from a Ford dealer and replaced it myself. Why? I can buy the lcm from a dealer in Texas but my NY dealer can't get the part? Ford recognizes the problem uses a excuse of no parts? more important, Ford and Ford dealers want to correct the problem immediately with a non oem part? why? Ford no longer has manufacturing resources" how about a potential head on collision due to a failed relay or relays in the lcm which costs $20 in parts to replace. Shame on you Ford! how dare you put public safety job # who knows!

- Walton, NY, USA

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

2004 Mercury Marauder headlights occasionally stop functioning without warning. Running lights and fog lights continue working, no low/high beam headlights at all. Switch seems to be the issue, fuses are fine and no bulbs out. Recently had dealership replace driver side headlight, only change to vehicle before issue started. Possible issue continues in daytime, but headlights are not as needed in daylight. Due to necessary driving at night on high speed and unlit country roads, this is a serious issue.

- Charles Town , WV, USA

The headlights became inoperative and turned off while traveling down the road. The light control module was found faulty and replaced. Searching the internet revealed this is a common problem for this base model car (Ford Crown Victoria, Mercury Grand Marquis, and Mercury Marauder) and needs to be addressed as a safety issue as the loss of lights can cause an accident.

- East Hanover, NJ, USA

While driving at night headlights stopped working fog lights stayed on, just got hard to see, had to hold the signal lever in the ''flash to pass'' to see the road. After work I pray that my headlights will come on.now if I stop for a coffee and shut the car off for a few minutes the headlights will not come back on. I then need to leave the car running so they stay on.

- Whitman, MA, USA

The contact owns a 2004 Mercury Marauder. While driving at night approximately 55 mph with the headlights on, the headlights suddenly turned off. The contact was able to maneuver with caution to the side of the road and after waiting ten minutes, the headlights began to function normally. The failure occurred whenever the vehicle was in operation at night with the headlights on. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 117,000. The VIN was unavailable.

- Evanston, IL, 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

The contact owns a 2004 Mercury Marauder. The contact stated that the headlights would intermittently shut off without. The VIN was unknown. The failure and current mileages were less than 110,000.

- Arlingon, TX, USA