1998 Mercury Mystique Electrical system Problems

“Dt: while driving down the road, I noticed smoke coming out of the dash. I pull over to the side of the road, opened the hood and the first thing I saw was fire coming from behind the glove compartment. The car caught fire and burned just five after I pulled over. No warning lights, looked at temp gauge and everything was fine before the fire. Called 911 at 5:44 pm, fire dept came and put out the fire. This was on the interstate.”

“Vehicle instrument panel went hay-wire, car starting hesitating, and slamming from gear to gear. Took to a service center that advised me that it had a bad sensor. Paid close to $800.00 to have replaced. Car started with more electrical issues within the next couple of days. (ie: lights would not go on, etc) took back to service center that then advised that the wiring harness on the car was malfunctioning and causes the electrical system to short circuit. The wiring harness would have to be replaced and wiring on car would have to be redone costing close to $3000.00. …”

“Dt: the contact was having electrical problems. She said the vehicle would not start. The vehicle would jump while she was driving. She was going about 40 MPH. She had it looked at, and was told it was in the wiring. She said when the mechanic looked at the vehicle the windshield wipers came on by themselves. A mechanic told her the wires were bad, and they needed to be replaced. She was told this by two different mechanics. She found out about a recall 01v230000 on the wiring harness. Dealer told her the recall has expired. Manufacturer said this vehicle was not included in the recall.”

“Approx. 3 weeks ago, the original battery in my car was completely dead . It had showed no signs of losing power prior to that day. I bought a new battery and when I hooked it up the engine started turning over. The keys were in my pocket. As a result the starter died. I had the car towed to a local service station. They replaced the starter and a cracked serpantine belt. A few days later I was driving from nj to pa when I heard a strange buzzing sound under my hood and I smelt the faint smell of something burning. I pulled over, turned off the ignition and looked under the hood. …”

“The contact owns a 1998 Mercury Mystique. The contact took her vehicle to a mechanic because the blower motor resistor failed. The mechanic stated that her fuse box melted, which caused the blower motor to fail. She called the manufacturer and a representative stated that her VIN was not included in NHTSA campaign id number 01v230000 (electrical system), although the failures were identical. The contact would be responsible for the repair costs. She is in the process of having the vehicle repaired. The failure and current mileages were 114,708.”