1999 Mercury Villager

Minivan/Van

6 Cylinder 3.3 Liter

Automatic

4M2XV11T2XDJ01522

Clear

Gasoline

Power Windows

1999 Mercury Villager Mini Van 259,700 Miles White with Silver. Interior is Blue Cloth We bought this van a few months ago from my best friend. My expedition had engine problems and we needed extra transportation for a little while. She had been hit by a dear a couple of months earlier. They purchased another car and had made some of the following repairs to the van. The hood was replaced and also the left headlight. The replacement hood is light silver. The hood release still needs some attention. The grill needs some cosmetic work. There is a small crack on the left side between the grill and headlight. That is the extent of the damage. Tires are farely new with a healthy 80 % of tread left. Sliding door on each side. Interior is in fair to good shape. There is a stain on the very back seat. I'm sure a good shampo will improve that. The van was beginning to use oil but the oil temp. gauge wasn't registering. So she put oil in every week. There was some work done to the catalytic converter, but I'm not sure what. The cost at our local mechanic's to replace it was about $168 (parts & labour). Two weeks ago the engine started a small new noise. Not wanting to take any chances we towed it to the mechanic. Mechanic suggested it was more than likely inside the engine..a small knocking. We have already purchased another car, so we cannot put anymore money into the van. So we decided to sell it. We haven't driven it since. Cleaned it up nice and parked it. There is nothing else wrong with this van that we know of. I had a blast driving it for the short time I did...and I thought I wouldn't be caught dead in a mini van! But to my surprise it was quit nice, smooth and responsive. She is being sold "as is" for "parts or repair". We're happy to answer any questions Thank you *Frugalitie On Mar-02-11 at 09:39:08 PST, seller added the following information: I'm including the answer and the question we recently replied to. I found the "questions" to be very informative. However I didn't check the "post the question and answer box to your listing" when I replied. I feel this gentleman might be on to something. Van is for sale localy, so as usual we reserve the right to end auction if it sells here first. However we do our best to be loyal to our ebay listings. This is the question and answer: Dear yellowfishingbird, You mentioned a small knocking noise, is it coming from the top or the bottom of the motor? Is it a constant knock or only when you rev it up or run it at high rpms on the highway? Is the oil sending unit bad and the oil press and temp gauge doesn't work? does the van have the factory 6 pack cd changer in it? Thanks, Ray Hello Ray; I went back and double checked everything and asked my hubby. Your questions got me thinking, maybe it is fixable. So I did some research on the oil sending units and such, it could be just that and it's not dead yet? But to answer your questions: The sound is more like a clatter not a knocking and it sounds closer to the top of the engine. I heard the sounds 2-3 times in 2 days (didn't last long enough to cause an alarm to go off in my head) but the next day it was constant and but we haven't driven it since. I know the oil temp gauge wasn't working and my friend was checking and adding oil every week to be on the safe side. The van already made a noise that could be quite loud because of the catalytic converter. Our plans were to replace that. It does have the factory 6 pack cd changer. You might have something there with the oil sending unit. But I can't say for sure. Let me know if you have any other questions. Thank you Domi at *Frugalitie On Mar-03-11 at 09:35:07 PST, seller added the following information: questions and answers cont..... Dear yellowfishingbird, Thanks for replying, your friend adding oil, did she say how much oil the van was losing every week? Was she blindly adding oil just to be safe? The clacking sound you describe is a lifter problem, the van is equip with hydraulic lifters that fills with engine oil, when a seal in one of them goes out you start to get the "clacking" sound on top of the engine. That means tearing down the top of the motor and replacing all of the lifters. It's driveable, just means about $500 for repairs. The sending unit is all in one, both pressure and temp. It's mounted on the back side of the engine near the firewall. Hard to get to. I used to own a 2000 villager so I learned all of this the hard way with my van I had. Ray Goodmorning Ray; About the oil, I know she checked it every week to be on the safe side becuase the temp gauge wasn't working and it was using some oil. How much I'm not sure. What your describing with the "clacking" sound & the "lifters" completely defines the problem. I'm putting my money on you! If it doesn't sell we will investigate that and the "all in one sending unit". If it does sell then the buyer will know exactly what needs repairing and the cost! Which at this point makes it cheaper to fix than I thought. And If the van sell's at the "buy it now" price and you added cost of repairs you would still be under the blue book value, which is great! Thank you so much for sharing! We didn't get that much info out of our mechanic! (changing mechanic's). Have a wonderful day! Domi