I am having some issues with my driver's side corner light on my 88 Cougar - it works when it wants too and takes a few seconds before it even comes on when it does. I replaced the light assembly itself thinking the assembly was bad - I did not think about checking the relay first. Where are the corner light relays located in the car? I have looked and saw many relays under the dash behind the console - did research and cannot find them. I saw new ones with a bracket on a website, but where are they? THANKS!!
I have an 88 Cougar LS with the full digital dash, and I am having 'spots' appearing on the upper right section where you select the different mileage readouts (Avg economy, Inst economy, etc.) It looks as though the backing is starting to almost chip away showing these 'spots'. They appear where the orange arrows are, on the readout itself and in the background. Is this normal with age and can it be repaired? It's really bugging me!
I have an issue with my oil pressure gauge. I have read the numerous postings on the oil sending unit, but cannot find the same issue that I am currently experiencing. If I am repeating something that has already been posted, my apologies. I have an 88 Cougar LS with the 5.0 and full digital dash. The car can sit for 3 to 4 weeks at a time before I drive it, and is not driven in the winter. Today I drove the car after sitting for about 3 weeks and after I drove for about a mile the oil pressure alarm sounded and the pressure gauge showed 1 to 0 bars. It went off for about a minute, then stopped and showed normal range. It sounded off again about 30 seconds later, again showing no bars then about 30 seconds later showed a normal reading, then operated normally all the way to work - about a 15 mile ride. This only happens when the car is not driven for a period of time and when I drive it somewhat regularly the oil pressure is always normal and shows no issues. On the way home - there were no alarms and the gauge showed a normal reading. The same thing happens when I start the car a few times over the winter and let it idle. Is there a real issue or is the gauge just acting wacky, and why does it only happen when the car is not driven for a period of time? I do not have an oil pressure gauge to check the pressure myself and I am thinking I need to have it checked by a mechanic. I had the oil pressure sending unit checked by the dealer last year due to the same issue and they stated it was operating normally, though I do not know how they 'tested' it. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
As of late my Cougar seems to be upshifting at higher RPMs that I thought it did last year. Driving about 40 - it does not shift into OD - which I thought it did before, and the RPMs are around 2000, and when I lift off the gas a little is will upshift to OD. When accelerating harder onto the highway, it will upshift to OD at about 60-65MPH. It upshifts at about 2200-2500 RPMs from 1st to 2nd to 3rd, I have a digital tach so kind of hard to tell exactly. It upshifts a little hard when driving normally, but when accelerating harder, the shifts are a bit smoother. I did have an issue with the TV cable last year, the bushing broke off, but I found the problem quickly and I do not think it was off the throttle linkage for long, and I adjusted the cable as per the intructions on the forum(attaching the cable back with no tension or slack). I checked the linkage, and it seems to be operating smoothly. The tranmission was flushed and refilled last fall. I have not driven the car for a while, so maybe it is just me. It is a 5.0 - has about 32,000 miles. Is this normal?
I have an 88 Cougar LX 5.0 and would like to remove the air silencer. Does this require removing the whole box located inside the fender well, or is there a chamber inside the airbox that needs to be removed? And what is the correct procedure? Thanks!
My 88 Cougar was in storage for about 5 years, and started occasionally before I got it. After a while the Oil Level warning light and alarm would chime, has the electronic dash, after being started. After you turned the engine off and restarted it a few times, it would eventually go away. My first order of business was chaging the oil, and never had a problem over last summer. After sitting for about 5 months I ran a quick errand with it a couple of days ago - no problem. Last night, when I started it, the alarm chimed again and after turning off and restarting - it went away. The gauge showed one bar, then jumped to 3 bars, then down to one. There was definately enough oil in it when this happened and I didn't hear any loud valves or strange engine noises - was idling normally. I had the dealer check the oil sending unit last year and they tested it and told me it was functioning normally. Last year after the few initial times it happened, I never had a problem. I just changed the oil again, and no issue yet. Is this because it sat for a while? The car has a 5.0 with 31,000 miles on it.
My 88 Cougar with a 5.0 liter and has 31,000 miles on it ( it was my Dad's baby). I took it to the dealer last fall to have the oil changed before I put it up for the winter. I checked the oil the other day and noticed that the oil level was over the full mark - maybe about a quart. I figured they did not drain the front part of the pan from the second oil plug, so I changed the oil tonight. I drained the oil from both plugs and replaced the filter and put 5 quarts in. I checked the oil after letting it run for a minute and it still shows over the full mark - again it looks like about a quart or so, judging from the hashmarks. I know I let it drain completely, only put 5 quarts in and was level with the engine very warm when I drained it. Why is it showing over? I have changed the oil in all my cars many, many times and have never had this happen before. I'm a little nervous to even drive it.
Not a Cougar question - but I hope you all can help. I just aquired a 1997 Mercury Sable with 82,000 miles - it is in excellent shape - owned by an elderly couple who traded it at a local dealership and I got my hands on it. It had 31,000 miles back in 1998 when they bought it so it was not driven a lot over the last 13 years. The problem I have is that the motor skips, it is the 3.0 liter OHV, not the Duratec. It runs fine for the first minute or so, then the missing starts. If you travel about 40 MPH, or anywhere around 1500-1800 RPM you can really feel it - like a tire is out of balance. Sometimes at a stop it misses bad enough that the lights flicker. Sometimes it will run fine with no skipping for a little stretch. I changed the air filter, plugs, plug wires, PVC valve and fuel filter - still misses. I took it to the local Ford/Mercury dealership and had a relative compression check done and hooked up to the diagnostics - no code, compression fine and the check engine light has never come on. The 'injector flow' was checked and it was okay as well. They performed an 'induction cleaning' which cleaned the throttle body and put 'injection cleaner' in the gas and they told me to run the tank dry and then try a tank of 91 octane to see if the injectors are dirty. After half a tank of their 'cleaner' - still the same problem. They stated that it looked like it had sat a little while, which it probably did. Any suggestions?? I know the ignition module goes bad on the Taurus/Sable - but the part it $90 bucks and I hate to buy it, and it doesn't solve the problem - no return on electrical parts of course. The gas milage on my first tank was was around 20-21 MPG, and I do about 70% on the interstate at 65 MPH, so the milage is not great. I've put about 500 miles on it since I got it. Still think it is an injector problem somewhere. Again, I know it is not a Cougar question, though it is a Mercury :). Any thoughts and/or suggestions would be appreciated!
PS - Sorry for such a long post, but I wanted to make sure I gave as much info as possible :)
Was about to do an oil change and noticed 2 drain plugs on the oil pan. One seems to be the main one in the center and another one on the front of the pan. Can't find anything about it. Do both need to be drained? Silly question - but I have never seen an oil pan with 2 drain plugs before.
My '88 Cougar 5.0 with 29,500 miles developed a bad transmission slip. It started yesterday and I can't tell if it is just 3rd gear or other gears as well. The car will take off fine from a stop or low speed, but on the highway at a constant speed and you gas it, the engine revs - but the car stays the same speed. While driving at about 60 mph I shifted from Overdrive to Drive and the RPMs climbed fast to 4500 rpm -probably higher if I didnt start to brake and put back into Overdrive. You can feel the slippage too when the cruise is on, and accelerates, say up an incline. If you are in second gear, and you floor it, the car is reluctant to drop a gear and even sometimes won't. And in second gear I can get the transmission to slip a little too. I checked the fluid first thing when I got home from work - about a 13 mile trip, and the tranny fluid was in the hash marks and still looked pretty good in color. Is it the old tranny fluid - not a lot of miles, but old - thats needs to be changed or, as I am afraid, it is a lot more? Common issue or not? The car has been babied it's entire life and never driven hard for any length of time and was my father's car he gave to me. I am sick over this and would appreciate any input.
Today the lever for the Cold/Hot for the climate control broke. I can swing the lever to hot and cold- but the air coming out is full hot. Something must have become disconnected in the back. How do I get to it - and any suggestions on what might have happened and what I will be looking for. Thanks!
I have just acquired an '88 Cougar LS 5.0 with 30,000 original miles from my father. The car is all stock, in showroom shape and has won several car show awards. I just broke it out of storage where it has been for the last 5 years. It was started regularly and I've had it all looked over by the local Ford/Mercury Dealer. I would like to turn the car into a 'sleeper' and not sure where to begin. I would like to put a bigger throttle boby and exaust as the first of many upgrades. What are the suggestions for this? Can I add a throttle body that will stay with the car through the upgrades I would like to do, or do I need to be careful what I get since the engine is currently stock? I would like a 'throatier' exhaust - what is recommended? Last but not least, how difficult is it to get Mustang/Thunderbird 5.0 performance parts to fit on a Cougar? A lot of questions, but would appreciate any help for the newbie! :)
