There are 13 owner-reported powertrain & transmission complaints for the 2000 Mercury Mountaineerin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
I HAVE A 2000 MERCURY MOUNTAINEER THAT STARTED HAVING TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS AT 70K MILES. IT HAS AN AOD TRANSMISSION AND IT WOULDN'T SHIFT INTO GEAR WHEN I WOULD HIT THE GAS TO DRIVE. I TOOK IT INTO THE DEALER I BOUGHT THE SUV FROM AND THEY TOLD ME THAT I WAS LOW ON TRANSMISSION FLUID AND THAT WAS THE PROBLEM SO I HAD THEM FILL THE FLUID. ALMOST IMMEDIATELY IT STARTED GOING THROUGH FLUID AND AT AROUND 85K MILES IT SLOWLY STARTED HAVING THE SHIFTING PROBLEMS AGAIN. NOW IT HARDLY SHIFT AT ALL. I DID SOME RESEARCH AND IT SOUNDS LIKE THERE IS A MAJOR DEFECT IN THE 2000'S TRANSMISSIONS FOR BOTH THE MERCURY MOUNTAINEER AND FORD EXPLORERS. I TRULY BELIEVE THAT FORD SHOULD BE ISSUING A RECALL AND FIX THE PROBLEM. THERE HAVE MANY TIMES WHERE I WAS MERGING INTO ONCOMING TRAFFIC ONLY TO HAVE MY TRANSMISSION FAIL TO ENGAGE AND I'VE ALMOST BEEN BROADSIDED BY THE ONCOMING CAR. HERE IS A WEBSITE THAT TALKS ABOUT THE TRANSMISSION FAILURES: HTTP://WWW.CARCOMPLAINTS.COM/MERCURY/MOUNTAINEER/2002/TRANSMISSION/TRANSMISSION_FAILURE.SHTML PLEASE CHECK IT OUT AND HELP US GET THE PROBLEM FIXED. *TR
CAR WAS IN PARK - AFTER RELEASING THE EMERGENCY BRAKE - I TRIED TO PUT THE CAR IN DRIVE AND THE GEAR SHAFT BROKE OFF - COULD NOT PUT THE CAR IN GEAR - VEHICLE WAS PARKED ON A HILL AT THE TIME. *TR
THE O/D LIGHT KEEPS FLASHING AND IT DOESN'T SHIFT INTO GEAR WHEN PULLING OUT IN FRONT OF ONCOMING TRAFFIC ITS VARY DANGEROUS FOR MYSELF AND OTHER DRIVERS PLEASE ADDRESS THIS ON GOING PROBLEM WITH THIS TRANSMISSION
2000 MERCURY MOUNTAINEER TRANSMISSION IS DEFECTIVE. I HAVE HAD TO REPAIR MY TRANSMISSION 3 TIMES NOW. *TR
JUST BOUGHT A USED 2000 MERCURY MOUNTAINEER AND THIS MORNING WE EXPERIENCED A PROBLEM WITH THE TRANSMISSION. PUT IT INTO REVERSE AND IT IMMEDIATELY SHUT DOWN AND STARTED TO ROLL BACKWARDS BECAUSE OF BEING ON A SLIGHT INCLINE. PUT IT BACK INTO PARK AND TRIED AGAIN TO HAVE IT HAPPEN AGAIN AND AGAIN. LOOKED UP ON GOOGLE AND NOW FIND THAT THIS SEEMS TO BE AN INHERITED PROBLEM THAT FORD IS NOT ADDRESSING. WHAT IS OUR RECOURSE ON THIS MATTER? *TR
2000 MERCURY MOUNTAINEER TRANSMISSION FAILURE VEHICLE HAS ONLY 64,000 MILES, TRANSMISSION HAS BEEN POWER FLUSHED BY OUR LOCAL FORD DEALERSHIP WITH NO CORRECTION, WE WERE TOLD THE PROBLEM WAS SHIFT FLARE, WITH THE O/D LIGHT FLASHING IS COMMON WITH ALL 5R55E TRANSMISSIONS WITH 4.0L V6 ENGINES. WE WERE TOLD IT WOULD BE BEST TO REPLACE THE TRANSMISSION WITH A FACTORY REMANUFACTURED UNIT, RATHER THAN TRY TO REPAIR THE OLD TRANSMISSION AT A COST OF $2500.00 TO $3000.00 DOLLARS. WE ARE NOW TO A POINT WHERE WE CANNOT DRIVE THE VEHICLE ANY GREAT DISTANCE OTHER THAN RIGHT AROUND TOWN. ASSISTANCE FROM FORD WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED THIS VEHICLE IS THE FOURTH FORD PRODUCT WE HAVE OWNED, WE NOW HAVE DOUBTS ABOUT OUR 2005 F150 4X4 SUPERCREW WE USE TO PULL OUR 26' TRAVEL TRAILER APPROX 4860LBS. OUR VEHICLE IS IN WONDERFUL CONDITION AND WE DO NOT WANT TO GET RID OF IT, THE MANUFACTURE NEEDS TO STEP UP AND HELP ALL THE LOYAL FORD OWNERS THAT HAVE BELIEVED IN THERE PRODUCTS FOR MANY YEARS. *TR
TRANSMISSION FAILURE AT 42,000 MILES W/O WARNING WHILE DRIVING AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS! *TR
WHILE DRIVING AT LOW SPEEDS, THE VEHICLE DOWN SHIFTED TO LOW RANGE. *AK THE 4WD AND OVERDRIVE LIGHTS WHERE FLASHING AND WHINING ALONG WITH AN ALARM SOUND COMING FROM THE DASH. THE ENGINE WAS SHUT OFF AND THE KEY WAS REMOVED, BUT THE WHINING SOUND CONTINUED. *SC THE CONSUMER DISCONNECTED THE BATTERY AND THE NOISE STOPPED. *JB
2000 MERCURY MOUNTAINEER DIAGNOSED WITH TRANSMISSION FAILURE - SLIPPING BETWEEN 2ND & 3RD GEARS. VEHICLE ONLY HAS 50000 MILES.*JB
WHEN ACCELERATING, THE DRIVER HEARD A KNOCKING NOISE AND THE VEHICLE LOST ACCELERATION. *AK THE VEHICLE BUCKED AND BANGED INTO GEAR, THE OVER DRIVE LIGHT FLASHED. *JB
AT 25 MPH WHILE APPLYING GAS PEDAL, ENGINE REVVED, BUT VEHICLE STARTED TO SLOW DOWN INSTEAD. TOOK VEHICLE TO DEALER WHO FOUND THAT TRANSMISSION NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. FORD REPLACED IT WITH REMANUFACTURED TRANSMISSION. *AK AT A SPEED OF 30 TO 40 MPH, THE TRANSMISSION SLIPS AND WAS REPLACED. *YH
AT 25 MPH WHILE APPLYING GAS PEDAL, ENGINE REVVED, BUT VEHICLE SLOWED DOWN INSTEAD. TOOK TO DEALER WHO FOUND TRANSMISSION NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. FORD WILL REPLACE IT WITH REMANUFACTURED TRANSMISSION. *AK TRAVELING AT 30-40 MPH, THE TRANSMISSION SLIPPED BADLY. *YH
VEHICLE ROLLS BACKWARD ON EVEN THE SLIGHTEST INCLINE WHILE IN DRIVE. THIS APPEARS TO BE A SAFELY HAZARD AS AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION VEHICLES SHOULD NOT ROLL BACKWARD. THE DEALERSHIP'S SERVICE DEPARTMENT HAS REFUSED TO DO ANYTHING AS THEY SAY THIS IS HOW THE TRUCKS NORMALLY WORK.*AK
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 25, 2026