Q: How to Service and Repair a Rear Crossmember for Transmission Support on Mercury Mountaineer?
A: Positioning the vehicle on a hoist with neutral transmission is the first step for working on the rear cross-member. The transfer case skid plate requires removal of its four bolts followed by skid plate extraction but these bolts need to be tightened to 15 Nm (11 lb-ft) when reinstalling the plate. Detach the heat shield bolts from right and left heat shields with a torque of 18 Nm (13 lb-ft) torque setting when re-installing them. Position a suitable jack under the transmission and remove its two mount nuts before installation and fasten them to 90 Nm (66 lb-ft). Only remove six lower transmission crossmember bolts at this point but reinstall them tightly using 80 Nm (59 lb-ft) torque when installing back. Tighten the nuts located on the joint's nut side first while removing the two nuts along with two bolts from the transmission crossmember. Reinstall these components with a torque of 103 Nm (76 lb-ft). Complete the operation by uninstalling the transmission crossmember then perform step-by-step reverse installation.