I don't know if I should have this in the electrical or drive train section but I suspect my problem is electrical.
I drove my 88 for about a week after finally taking it out of the garage and all was great until I came home Tuesday and parked it. When I got in the car Wed. it wouldn't come out of park so I drove my truck to work and looked into it that night. I had noticed that the T handle shifter button was sticking a day or so earlier but that seems fine now. When I checked the brake lights they would come on for just a second and then go out even though the pedal was depressed so I assumed it might be the switch. I crawled under the steering column and when I took the brake light switch off one of the wires broke off, I believe it was broken and barely touching before that. I changed the switch and plug today and now have normal brake lights but I'm still stuck in park. Does anyone know if an 88 cougar would have a manual shift interlock release button? If I could just get my Cougar into the garage and move it from the area it's blocking my drive that would be helpful. Any other thoughts on the next step in diagnosing this?
When I bought my Cougar I was made aware of an issue with the A/C where as the magnetic clutch would not always engage (not completely sure about the part terminology). If the A/C didn't engage all I had to do was to open the hood and tap on the fan pulley to the compressor and the A/C would engage and work. This year I'm not able to get the compressor to engage so I'm assuming that the electro magnet has given out in the clutch. I looked in my owners manual and it doesn't show a fuse for the compressor only the blower which is working. Should I look at finding a full clutch/pulley assembly with the magnetic coil? Any suggestions on where to look? Thanks Charlie
I'm looking for a gray 88 cougar power moon roof control panel that mounts to the roof just above the rear view mirror. The clips are broken on mine and in an effort to fix that I ruined the cloth cover. I might be able to get it recovered and still repair it but it would be easier if I could find one in good shape. Please let me know if anyone has this. Thanks: Charlie
I'm picking up a BBK 2 1/2" H pipe with cats and the catback to flowmasters from a fox mustang setup today. The guy has a set of stock mustang shorty headers that he's throwing in which I might use but I have came across a used set of BBK headers from another source for a good price. I dont' know enough about how these would fit in the 88 Cougar but I've read that the shorty headers were a tight fit. Would the BBK shorty headers be able to fit in without modifications? I'd like to make this conversion as simple as possible. Charlie
I wasn't braking right so upon inspection I needed front brake pads but the rear shoes looked fine, however both rear wheel cylinders were leaking. I changed my front pads first while I waited on the wheel cylinders to arrive. The front brakes worked great and I had a lot more pedal. I changed the wheel cylinders a few days later which is where I'm currently stumped. After doing this I couldn't get a bleed at all in the rear. When you bleed the front brakes fluid comes out as it should and the pedal goes to the floor. When you try the rear only a few drops comes out and the pedal doesn't move. I tried gravity bleeding over the next few days which results in a slow drip similar to the amount I get when trying to bleed with the brake pushed. I collected a few onces on each side gravity bleeding and tried again to bleed with the same result. I get no movement at all on the rear brake bads or wheel cylinders while pushing the brake pedal either. I checked the master cylinder and it appears that I'm not getting any fluid movement on one half of the resevoir. If I understand the mechanics correctly (which I'm not certain) then 1 side of the resevoir feeds 1 piston which goes to the back brakes and the other side feeds the other piston which goes to the front. I think I have a bad master cylinder at least I hope it's that simple and I've ordered a new one to come in this week which I hope to install Tues. Even if this isn't the issue the cost of the new master is very little and it comes with the bleed kit which I'd have to buy to test my old one. Question for anyone who has done this. I don't have a vise so I was thinking of mounting the master first then bleeding it using the bleed kit while having someone pump the pedal inside the car. Then taking off the bleed fittings and connecting the lines. This seems like it would be just as effective as pushing the piston with a rod on a vise. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated, this is my first time installing a master cylinder. Thanks: Charlie
I'm still working on piecing together my exhaust system and found a guy that has some dirt cheap mustang parts. I'm buying the headers from him but he also has 2 sets of heads and an intake. One set of heads has 152k on them and came off his 91 and the other set come off his fathers 89 but they were rebuilt 5,000 miles ago with new seats ect., the intake also came off the 89. These are the E7TE heads. The price is right, and I have to decide to get these by Thursday. Would this be the way to go? I'd just be addressing the exhaust now and wouldn't get into the top of the engine until this winter when I park the car in the garage. What else would I need to make these exhaust changes? Sensors?, computer?
I'm trying to save my original premium sound system although I'm starting to second guess my decision. The Equalizer power button was broken so I took that out and had it soldered on since I couldn't replace the switch. Speakers were crackling in the front doors so I ordered a set of Polk 6.5 db651s speakers, took the door panels off and installed them last night. I'm still getting crackling whenever I adjust the equalizer from front to rear but then it levels out and the speakers sound o.k. Rear and dash speakers sound good as well when I put my ear to them. The main issue that I have now is that the system isn't loud enough, not nearly as loud as it was when new and working right. At full volume it's loud enough to hear but it should be uncomfortable at that volume. I took out the rear panel in the trunk and looked at the amplifier. The mounts were broken off the amp but other then that I didn't see any issue. There are no lights on it or any way that I can see to tell if it's working. I have a multi meter but wouldn't know where to check it out. Any thoughts on how to test the amp? Any thoughts on why my system is so low? Thanks: Charlie
A friend of mine pointed this out to me. It's at a dealership for $3488. It looks very nice from the pictures. I may swing by and check it out next time I'm in the Denver area.
Within a few weeks I'll have everything done to my 88 XR7 that I plan to do except for the exhaust. I wouldn't touch it but both lers have holes in them so since I have to replace them anyway I might be willing to spend a little more while I'm at it if I get the bang for the buck. I doubt if I'll ever do a mass air conversion, change the heads or fuel injectors but you never know, I might get bored next winter. Assuming that I don't plan on doing anything else, is it worth going to something like Magnaflow lers on stock pipes or upgrading to larger pipes from the Y back? Or to make it simple if I planned to spend something like $300-$400, what would be the best bang for the buck? Would I notice the difference over just going to my local ler shop and getting standard lers installed or is it a waste of money on my stock 5.0?
On a side note I went through the original owners paperwork and the car has is on it's 3 set of lers. Both of the replacement lers were listed as lifetime guarantee but they charged her parts and labor at the same shop when the last set were installed.
I'm working on my graphic equalizer trying to fix the power button that won't stay in. At worst I'll just wire permanently on if I can't find the switch. I'm interested in adding an auxiliary jack for an mp3 player like new stereos have. I might be able to try this if I knew which wire to splice into. Does anyone know where I could find a wiring diagram for an 88 ford graphic equalizer?
I bought a set of Permadry valve cover gaskets for my 88 5.0. I was able to get the passenger side off with some difficulty painted it and put it back on. The drivers side looks to be impossible unless I take off the upper intake manifold. I hate to do this but I guess I'll have to unless someone knows of a better way. For anyone who has done this is it as simple as taking off the 4 bolts on each corner where the upper and lower manifolds connect? I took these out but the manifold didn't seem to want come apart even with a great deal of force, and I didn't want to break anything. It sucks that they make a 10 minute job into a 4 hour job but I guess access is still better then most new cars. It's been a very long time since I tried something like this. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks: Charlie
I used to have a set of brake dust shields on my cougar which I bought when it was new. I'd like to get this for my new 88 cougar if I can find them. They really saved a lot of rim cleaning which isn't easy on the factory rims. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks: Charlie
I just changed my plugs on the cougar and I'd say the old plugs where at least 10 years old. The car was garage kept but had set for long periods of time. I was checking out the engine in the dark to see if I had any arcing and 3 of the wires along with the distibutor wire were arcing. I think I still have the original ford wires and distributor cap. I had a friend recommend going to the Acell 8.8 mm wires. He said he couldn't believe the difference in his throttle response. I plan on changing the cap and rotor as well. Does anyone see an advantage to these over say a set of Bosch 8mm wires? The price is quite a bit more but I wouldn't mind it if it makes a difference.
I have the original graphic equalizer in my 88 Cougar. It works but you have to hold in the power button and it won't stay in. I guess the button needs replaced. I'd really like to stay original if I can. Repair shops are very few in my area. I called the only one I could find and was told that they couldn't get the button. Does anyone know of a source to find a part like this? Thanks: Charlie
