2003 Mercury Mountaineer V8 AWD Front differential
Asked by Jor-el Feb 15, 2016 at 12:05 PM about the 2003 Mercury Mountaineer Convenience AWD
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
I had a front diffential somehow get
cracked and blew all the gear oil out of the
differential. All the oil was burnt!! I've
noticed before that the front wheels would
really grab the road when doing low speed
sharp turns. , like parking the car. Doesn't
seem like the front should be engaged to
that point to me. Well I ordered a used
diffential and had it put in. Car was doing
fine driving around town the last few
weeks, but front was still really grabbing
the road and binding like a 4x4. Decide to
take it on a trip and at about 80 miles into
the trip front differential dumps all gear oil
again!! My guess is since the front
shouldn't pull like it is then the diffential is
overheating way too much. Is there like a
sensor or something that tells the car how
much to rely on AWD? Can I just remove
the front axle and depend on the rear
wheels? Really flustrated seeing how I just
put so much money into the car. Thank for
your help.
13 Answers
dang it, somehow the differential seal was not seated properly...could be something as simple as that...an error on installation...might have even been Robot assembly...take it back to the dealer and show this condition is not normal~ can do some research for a technical service bulletin or recall....alas, this is NOT normal~ will begin lookin' for ya~
right out of the chute~ see your dealership~ 2003 Mercury Mountaineer Power Train Service Bulletin 250329 Action Number: 10028736 Service Bulletin Number: 250329 Report Date: May 01, 2009 Component: Power Train Summary: Ford: some vehicles may exhibit oil separation from the internal lube found in the unitized cartridge seal. Oil separation appears to be and is often misdiagnosed, as an axle lube leak. *pe
Wow! Thanks! I also saw a bulletin that would explain my front wheel binding also!
Yeah that sounds exactly like my problem then! Thanks a ton for yalls help!!
Tennisshoes, in what way did your differential fail. My ends up losing oil and grinds. I guessing from the differential overheating from it running too much. I just wanted to know if ours failed the same way.
I've decided to just get a whole transfer case! Sound like a good idea?
maybe the replacement (like from the boneyard) will have Exactly the same problem...found this to be the case whenever I need a part the exact problem is there on the replacement part~...but if you inspect the replacement as seems okay I'd say go for it...you'll need the help of two more guys tho~
Did u ever fix the problem? Mine was doing the same thing an i could not figure out why. Would grab an pull really hard when turning sharp like it was in 4low or something. Then just the other day my wife called an said it was making a bad noise an she was scared to drive any farther. I climbed underneath an there is a huge hole in the differential casing and the drive shaft also broke lose. I assume it got hot and busted. But why? Also why was it pulling so hard when I turned sharp? Is it gonna still do that after I put in a new front diff? Wondering if there is something else I need to fix when I replace front diff to keep it from happening again. Also, where did u buy ur new front diff an how much did it cost you? Thanks for any an all help
Tennisshoes, was ur explorer AWD? Bc I see where u said that clutch was locking up an driving the front end ALL the time which in turn ruined ur front diff. But if it's AWD like my mountaineer then the front end is supposed to b pulling at all times correct? An do u have any thoughts on why my front diff would of run dry? Or why my truck would feel like it was pulling really hard whenever i was at a dead stop an turn the wheel all the way one way or the other an try to take off. Really felt just like a 4x4 vehicle would when in 4 low. I didn't know if maybe these AWD vehicles have a sensor or something telling it to go to 4 low when in a bind or what. If so then would make sense that mine went out sn was keeping the truck in 4low ALL the time. Causing the front diff to run hot and bust a hole out the bottom of it. Any thoughts or ideas are greatly appreciated. If I won't so broke I would just take it to a dealership but I'm a poor boy trying to make a living off farming so I have to fix alot of my stuff on my own whenever possible. In this case, I will b getting a mechanic to put the front diff in but I swear something tells me that I need to figure out why it was pulling hard like that and what caused it to blow a hole out the bottom. If it was bc it run dry then run hot like I'm thinking then where did all the gear oil go. Was just under it a week prior to this incident an didn't see any signs of any leaking going on. About 2 weeks prior to this incident i had the front driver side axle replaced bc it went out. Idk why it went out or if them replacing it could of had any thing to do with this. After I got it replaced it still pulled real hard like it was b4. But like I said, it was ONLY when at a stop an wheel turned all the way or most of the way sn then u try to take off an she acts like she is either pulling really hard with the front tires or the front end is in a bind. I can normally figure these things out on my own but never owned a AWD vehicle b4 sn I'm just simply lost sn confused on this one. Scared to death ima spend 500$ replacing this front diff an then it is gonna go out again due to me not fixing whatever caused it to go out this time... An I have 3 kids depending on this vehicle so thank god it made it till school let out for the summer. But right now it's really putting a strain on things for me an my family an I'm just lost. So once again ANY and ALL ideas an thoughts are greatly appreciated.
Oh yeah j forgot to ask y'all how in the world do I figure out what the gear ratio is in my front diff. For my particular truck?
Man tennisshoes you have been a HUGE help. I thank you for taking the time to read my books I wrote an answer my questions to the best of your knowledge. You have no idea how much that info has helped to point me in the right direction. Me and my family thank you very much sir. Will b taking it to the shop up the road and going over all this with them and trying to get it all figured out and replaced. I'm sure i will have another question or 2 so if I do I will b coming back up here to ask you...lol..hopefully u will have the time to answer me AGAIN.. once again I thank you sir
