I own a 1998 mercury villager. I would like to know if it has an interference engine. I have done research on this myself and have conflicting responses. I don’t want to change the timing belt unless it is necessary. Thanks
Well, I will make a wild guess. It’s probably a V6 and does not have a belt.
The Mercury Villager (Van or Wagon) only comes with a 3.0 V6. It has a timing belt and is an “interference” engine. It will need to be changed if it hasn’t been already.
The belt should have been changed about 7 or 8 years ago; interference fit or not.
A belt that suddenly snaps while you’re on the freeway at 70 MPH with a tailgating semi or while you’re trying to beat a train through the crossing is going to cause problems also.
Your Mercury Villager is basically a Nissan Quest with a Mercury badge. And, as others say, it has a timing belt and has an iterference engine. If it had a Ford V6, it would have a timing chain and overhead calves.
It is an interference engine and, even if it were not, it would still be necessary to change the belt to prevent a sudden breakdown, which can range from being inconvenient to deadly depending on when and where it decides to fail. It could fail in your driveway, while traveling down the highway, at midnight in a really bad part of town, or while you’re stuck in a ditch miles from the nearest town during a blizzard. Consequences could range from making you late to work to sticking you with a $400 tow bill to leaving you frozen to death. Is it worth it?