2004 Mercury Grand Marquis problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Exterior Lighting (170) · Steering (60) · Exterior Lighting:headlights (20)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Mercury Grand Marquis model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
🛣️ Complaints by mileage
281 NHTSA complaints that reported an odometer reading.
Safety recalls (1)
Exterior Lighting:headlights 2015-12-22 · campaign 15V861000 · 296,004 vehicles
Defect: Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain model year 2003-2005 Ford Crown Victoria and Mercury Grand Marquis vehicles manufactured October 3, 2001, to August 2, 2005. The affected vehicles have a lighting control module (LCM) that may fail, resulting in a loss of headlights.
Risk: A loss of headlights can reduce driver visibility and increase the risk of a crash.
Fix: Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the LCM, free of charge. The recall began April 14, 2017. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 15S39.
Service bulletins (49)
Technical service bulletins are repair instructions manufacturers send dealers for known issues. Unlike recalls, the fix is not automatically free — but naming the bulletin at the service desk can save diagnosis time and support goodwill repairs.
Structure 2019-02-07 · TSB 19-2026 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
some 2000 and newer ford, lincoln and mercury vehicles equipped with aluminum body panels may exhibit corrosion concerns appearing as bubbled and/or peeling paint with or without accompanying white dust. panel replacement is recommended. follow the service procedure steps to correct the condition
Structure 2019-02-07 · TSB 19-2026 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
some 2000 and newer ford, lincoln and mercury vehicles equipped with aluminum body panels may exhibit corrosion concerns appearing as bubbled and/or peeling paint with or without accompanying white dust. panel replacement is recommended. follow the service procedure steps to correct the condition
Engine And Engine Cooling:exhaust System:manifold/Header/Muffler/Tail Pipe 2016-09-21 · SSM 46085 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
the powertrain control/emissions diagnosis (pc/ed) manual has been revised for diagnosing electronic throttle bodies (etbs). the etc_act and etc_dsd pids should not used to diagnose possible etb concerns. the ids has a limited refresh rate when reading these pids and cannot display quickly enough to
Electrical System 2015-06-01 · ASI-45182 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
summary to be provided on a future date.
Equipment:other:owners/Service/Other Manual 2014-04-11 · CSP-14N01 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
ford: see document search button for owner letter. information regarding the lighting control module extended warranty coverage, for some vehicles, to 15 years or 250,000 miles, whichever occurs first. model 2003-2005 victoria, grand marquis. *pe
Exterior Lighting 2014-04-11 · CSP-14-N-01 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
ford: the lighting control module has extended warranty coverage, on certain vehicles, due to a possible crack on solder joint that connects relay to circuit board. model 2003-2005 crown victoria, grand marquis. *pe
Showing the 6 most recent of 49 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2026-08-24 · Exterior Lighting:tail Lights“the contact owns a 2004 mercury grand marquis. the contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, a local police officer stopped the vehicle and made the contact aware that both taillights were inoperable. no warning lights were illuminated. the vehicle was taken to a dealer to be diagnosed; however, the diagnostic result was unknown. t…”
2025-08-29 · Exterior Lighting · 116,000 mi“the contact owns a 2004 mercury grand marquis. the contact received nhtsa campaign number: 15v861000 (exterior lighting). the contact stated that while driving at night, the headlights were flickering and became inoperable. occasionally, the headlights operated as designed. there were no warning lights illuminated. the contact called the local deal…”
2025-08-04 · Electrical System:ignition:anti-Theft:immobilizer/Proximity:key/Sender · 90,000 mi“the contact owns a 2004 mercury grand marquis. the contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, the key fob became inoperable. the contact was not able to start the vehicle with the security warning light illuminated. the dealer was not contacted. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. th…”
2025-07-02 · Service Brakes“auto lights stopped working. tail lights will not come on…”
2024-06-26 · Exterior Lighting:headlights“the contact owns a 2004 mercury grand marquis. the contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed at night, he became aware that the headlights were not functioning properly. no warning lights were illuminated. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic. the vehicle was not repaired. after investigating the failure, th…”
2024-06-22 · Exterior Lighting“the rear running lights are not working. no lights in rear of vehicle at night.…”
2023-11-15 · Exterior Lighting“my front headlights stopped working and i was driving in the dark. …”
2023-11-01 · Exterior Lighting:lighting Control Module · 212,000 mi“the contact owns a 2004 mercury grand marquis. the contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the exterior lighting became inoperable. the contact stated that the failure occurred at night which caused him to be on a dangerous dark road. the contact stated that due to the failure and his vision being impaired, the vehicle was driven int…”
2023-09-01 · Exterior Lighting“the headlight repair has been made but now the tail and park lights work intermittently. most of the time not working but occasionally they will come on in colder weather. i think the problem is still in the lighting control module. first appearance was last summer and has gotten worse. no other symptoms. hazard ,turn signals, and brake lights all …”
2023-07-14 · Steering · 116,000 mi“the contact owns a 2004 mercury grand marquis. the contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel was loose and made an abnormal sound while turning. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed that the steering shaft was corroded, and the bearing had collapsed. the contact was informed that the st…”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.