All of a sudden with no warning my interior dome lights, power windows and front and back windshield wipers didn't function. I was driving it started to rain and I could see very well without functioning wipers. I had to pull over to the side of the road. I figure that a fuse might have blown but when I checked all fuses they seem to be ok. I was reviewing a recall for a 1999 Mountaineer for a GEM problem. Although my vehicle is a 1998, could this problem be similar to the 1999 recall. It appears to have all the similar symptoms. Is it possible that my 1998 Mountaineer has a recall for the same problem. Thank you

- San Francisco, CA, USA

At 2 am we smelled smoke and saw it coming from garage, when I opened garage door flames were coming out of front of car. My mothers car burnt and it is a total loss. We had to call fire dept. My garage was wrecked. My house has smoke damage.

- Richmond, TX, USA

Being the space is limited, I have the same problem with my car as follows: My check engine light has been coming on. I have had various shops use their computer to find out why the light was on and have paid for cleaning valves, sensors, and hoses as well as having new sensors installed. The first instance occurred at 90,000 mileage on my vehicle. Today, the shop where I now take my vehicle for servicing used their computer to see why the check engine light was on yet again and it generated a tsb from Ford, article 04-7-5 which supersedes article tsb 03-25-1. this article states the issue as "some 1998 Explorer/Mountaineer vehicles equipped with the 5.0L engine may exhibit a malfunction indicator lamp (mil) on with diagnostic trouble code(s) P0420 (catalyst system efficiency below threshold-bank 1) and/or P0430 (catalyst system efficiency below threshold - bank 2). The action listed for correction of this problem is stated as "to service, reprogram the powertrain control module (PCM) to the latest calibration using wds release B28.3 or higher. Replacement of catalyst's is no longer necessary to address the most common causes of this condition." This sounds like a problem Ford installed on these 1998 Mountaineer and I believe Ford should bear the cost of reprogramming the computer in the vehicle for the vehicle to function properly and safely. The worker at the shop took the time to explain to me what this article meant and the possible ramifications to the functioning of my vehicle because of the problem caused by Ford not having the correct computer program running in the vehicle. My mechanic is telling me that this vehicle has 3 catalytic converters and will cost about $3000 for the parts alone. Because of this problem my vehicle will not pass emissions or inspection. I went 1 year with this problem and now it is back again.

- Onsted, MI, USA

I am the original owner of a 1998 Mercury Mountaineer, V8, AWD, VIN [xxx] with 142,000 miles. I parked the car in my driveway on Friday evening, July 14, 2006 where the car remained unused until Sunday afternoon, July 16, 2006. On Sunday afternoon, July 16, 2006, around 1:00 pm the car caught fire, also catching my house on fire. The car was a total loss and the house sustained major damage in one area. The car was not used between the time it was parked and caught fire. Updated 07/12/2012 information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

- Northport, NY, USA

I bought my vehicle about 3 years ago. It had 60,000 on the odometer. The back windshield wiper never worked, and does once in a while and the radio light never stays on. Once in a while it will show the station or the time. My drivers side door handle has always been loose. My engine light came on a year after I got it and it will not go off. It say egr flow insufficient and yet I have replaced all of those and had the computer reset. The passenger side door does not lock unless I lock it by hand and then you can't open it. The back seats sometimes lock and other times won't. my seat was recalled and I took it, and now it is broken. These cars are not made very well and I think we should get letters on the recalls. I haven't received but one letter and I took it immediately, but I see there have been other recalls and I wasn't notified. What should I do now?

- Chillicothe, OH, USA

Vehicle was parked in front of my home--approximately around 6:00 am the vehicle caught on fire with no keys in the ignition!

- Landover Hills, MD, USA

The consumer stated that the vehicle caught on fire and burned up. The firemen indicated it was an electrical problem and looked like it started on driver's side. The consumer stated this document was mailed to her home in error.

- Oswego, NY, USA

While the vehicle was parked it caught on fire on its own. The fire department extinguished the fire. Then, vehicle was towed to the consumer's residence. Consumer will contact the manufacturer in the near future.

- Miami, FL, USA

1998 Mercury Mountaineer headlights go dark momentarily when using turn signals or changing from low to high beams

- Evergreen, CO, USA

When handling a cd that was ejected from the stereo of my 1998 Mercury Mountaineer, the disc was so hot I received a first degree burn. Apparently, heat build-up within the dash board of the Ford Explorer/Mercury Mountaineer is causing extremely high temperatures and I'm concerned that there is a potential fire hazard. The temperature is also high enough to cause component failures within the stereo head unit adding to my concern of a possible fire hazard. Many internet forums host discussions about the heat build-up causing the display units of the stereos to fail intermittently, or completely. According to the discussions, this is very common occurrence, happening on several Ford and Mercury models over several years. (incident date is approximate).

- Glenmoore, PA, USA