1979 Mercury Zephyr Recalls, Complaints & Specs
3 safety recalls list the 1979 Mercury Zephyr, and owners have filed 1 complaint with NHTSA. Check your own VIN below.
3 safety recalls for the 1979 Mercury Zephyr
Most recent first. Recall repairs are free at any authorised dealer. Click a recall for the full defect, consequence and remedy text.
-
Windshield (visibility)
Windshields may have been installed on these vehicles without the application of a butyl primer on the mounting surface of the glazing. The primer is required to ensure adequate retention of the windshield to its opening flange. This constitutes a non-compliance with federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 212, "windshield mounting".
Remedy: Dealer will reinstall the windshield correctly without charge to owner.
-
Pedals and linkages (service brakes)
The involved vehicles were produced with brake push-rod to brake pedal retaining pins which were not heat-treated as specified. This could allow the brake pedal to become disengaged from the push-rod.
Remedy: Dealer will replace the suspect brake retaining pin.
-
Labels (equipment)
The involved vehicles were built with safety compliance certification labels that contained incorrect gvwr and gawr weight information. The gvwr"s could be overstated by up to 197 lbs., due to an error in the reporting of incremental option weights used to derive the gvwr"s and gawr"s.
Remedy: The owner has the option of affixing the supplied labels himself or bringing the vehicle in to the dealer to have them affixed.
1 owner complaint filed with NHTSA
Owners of the 1979 Mercury Zephyr have filed 1 complaint with NHTSA. Complaints peaked in 1995 with 1 filed that year.
Most-reported components
What owners are reporting
“Owner has tried several models of gas filters that would leak severely onto engine.tt consumer stated that fuel filter has been replaced three times, each filter leaked at the factory assembly joint.*”
Owner complaint to NHTSA, November 8, 1995 · Fuel system, gasoline
Compare Mercury Zephyr model years
Recall and complaint counts for every Mercury Zephyr model year in NHTSA's database.
| Model year | Recalls | Complaints |
|---|---|---|
| 1978 Mercury Zephyr | 10 | 2 |
| 1979 Mercury Zephyr | 3 | 1 |
| 1980 Mercury Zephyr | 1 | 0 |
| 1981 Mercury Zephyr | 1 | 0 |
| 1982 Mercury Zephyr | 1 | 1 |
| 1983 Mercury Zephyr | 2 | 1 |
| 1994 Mercury Zephyr | 0 | 1 |
Checking a specific 1979 Mercury Zephyr
How do I know if my 1979 Mercury Zephyr has an open recall?
Enter your 17-character VIN above. The VIN is on the driver's side dashboard (visible through the windshield), the driver's door jamb sticker, and your registration or insurance card. The check runs against NHTSA's live database and tells you which campaigns list your vehicle. 3 campaigns currently list the 1979 Mercury Zephyr; your car may already have been repaired under some of them.
Is the recall repair free?
Yes. Under federal law, manufacturers must fix safety recalls at no charge for vehicles up to 15 years old from the date of sale to the first owner. Contact any authorised Mercury dealer with your VIN and the NHTSA campaign number (for example 79V039000).
What is the difference between a recall and a complaint?
A recall is a safety campaign filed by the manufacturer or ordered by NHTSA, with a defined defect and remedy. A complaint is a report an owner sent to NHTSA; it is not verified, but patterns of complaints are what trigger NHTSA investigations and, eventually, recalls.
Other Mercury models
- Sable5,381 complaints
- Grand Marquis3,951 complaints
- Milan2,519 complaints
- Mountaineer1,992 complaints
- Cougar1,893 complaints
- Villager1,725 complaints
- Mariner1,296 complaints
- Mystique1,019 complaints
Source: NHTSA recall and complaint databases and EPA fuel economy data, October 2026. Complaint counts are owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects. Recall counts are safety campaigns that list this model year; whether a particular car was already repaired depends on its VIN. How this data is compiled.