1999 Mercury Cougar V6 from North America - Comments

99 Cougar. Revving the engines causes the dasboard electronics to reset: RPM, speedometer, instrument lights, etc. I've checked the fuses and battery cables. Any ideas? gkinva@comcast.net - if you do.

First off I don't own a cougar. I was going to buy one for my daughter and did some research on them. As far as all the electrical problems go it sounds like a ground problem. If the system can't find a ground it will go looking for one. It will travel the path of least resistance. Install a good ground from the engine to the body. This should cost no more than about $10. then increase the size of both battery cables. also increase the size of the alternator hot wire. All of this should be done with copper wiring not aluminum. I install stereo system's on the side in cars and all this is done on every car I work on. High power systems in cars today demand a solid circuit to achieve maximum output. this should help with all the electrical system and will not hurt anything. All this should cost no more than $50 for the parts. labor should be no more than $100. I hope this helps.

I purchased a 2000 mercury cougar in 05 and have problems with it almost every day! Fuel pump has been replaced 7 times and just went in to the shop AGAIN. Trunk latch sticks on mine also. Seat levers do not work, so nobody of normal size can squeeze into the back seat. My main issue with it is the fuel pump, and I believe I may have found out what the issue is. Now I admit I know pretty much nothing about cars, but after having it fixed so many times, this is my theory: Under the backseat cup holder there is access to the fuel pump. If you lift the rubber cover you will see a plug that powers the pump. This plug overheats, and burns up the pump itself. Now I'm not exactly positive on this, because the guys in the shop are still investigating, but I believe the issue all links back to a simple 5.00 fuse. There was a fuse under the drivers side dashboard and it contained a really weird (not like the others) black fuse. The fuse has evidence that it has been extremely hot. If this is the fuse that powers the fuel pump plug, then it would explain why the plug and pump have been getting so hot. And it just might be the sole reason I have had to replace 7 fuel pumps. NOT CHEAP!!! The thing that is most upsetting, is that every time I have it replaced, I think it will stay fixed, and it still goes out! So if it actually lasts more than 3 or 4 months this time, I will post again and let everyone know that may be something for you all to look into. P.S. tires DO wear out fast and are expensive/hard to find, but I just figured it was because I love to drive the car WAY faster than I should. Love the car, frustrated with the fuel pump issues. Just wish that ford mercury would look into the problem so we can enjoy these beautiful cars like we all want to.

I have a '99 Cougar that's just about to hit the 100k mark. I'm really surprised to see so many negative comments here when overall it's a very nice car. Yes, there are some really stupid design flaws like the cup holder and the placement of the alternator, but nothing like a chronic transmission failure or anything.

Anyway, my reason for dropping by was to contribute a solution for the trunk latch problem. There are two things you can do. First, yank the springs sticking out of the underside of the hatch door and stretch them - they get compressed after a while and don't push the door up as well as they used to. If that's not enough (and it's usually not), head over to eBay and pick up some replacement lift supports for the door - they stiffen up after a while, and in addition to impeding the latch, they also don't hold the door up so well anymore. I think I paid $25 for the pair and installed them in 5 minutes, and haven't had a problem opening the trunk since then. Happy trails.

Guys, my 99 Cougar has been jerking pretty bad and I think it's the fuel pump. I would be changing it tomorrow, but the problem is that I'd have to remove the tank from underneath. Has anymore had this experience, please email me to tell me how difficult the job is, because I want to do it alone.

Femi. email; talk2cmii@yahoo.com.

Thanks.

The fuel pump in the '99 is inside of the gas tank, and you can get to it by lifting the back seat and opening the cap on top of the tank... which requires a tool that your dealer has. You might find a way to open it yourself, but I'm not sure I'd recommend that.

I have had my '99 Cougar for a little over a year and just hit 100k. All the sudden there are tons of problems...

Blinkers don't work, doesn't start half the time, when I brake the engine revs itself up and the rpms go up, the speedometer bounces from 55-100 when I'm going maybe 10, power windows are VERY slow, A/C shuts off on its own, and radio shuts off as well.

Also I have a new battery, and when I turn the car off, it needs to be jumped 3/4 of the time... Anyone have any idea what needs to be fixed?

Email me at aebebe23@hotmail.com

I am the original owner of my 2002 Cougar, and although I haven't had the problems of everyone here, I definitely have the alternator problem. My original one lasted 3 years, and each one after that lasted only 1 year. My advice is to just buy the replacement at Advance or Autozone. They warranty them for life. You just have to deal with the annoyance of putting them in, but at least you don't have to pay for more than one. For people with sputtering problems, did you try a tune up? When mine started to sputter and misfire, it just needed new plugs and wires. I didn't mind it at 90k miles.

I just recently purchased a 99 Cougar privately. Before I purchased the car the person had an exhaust valve and head gasket replaced, which cost $2000. Since I've had it I had to have both front sway bars replaced, 4 new tires, repair a leak in the exhaust manifold, new rear left and right caliper slide pins, and new brake pads and a new alternator (which seems to be the most common, luckily this one has a 3 year warranty). Also the drivers side window switch sticks and sometimes doesn't work for days, the trunk sticks sometimes, one day I went to turn the car on and the alarm went off. Another day every button I pressed in the car the horn would beep. When I turn the heat on the car revs A lot higher. I'm hoping that once all this is fixed it will drive like a new car again, but I guess we all know that cars (especially Fords) are money pits. This car has taught me the value of hard work, because I've had to work my butt off to pay for it! lol However the car is very fun to drive with the V6 5 speed and I hope to drive it for a couple more years... Humm then maybe a new Lancer...

Devin.

I purchased my 99 cougar 2 1/2 years ago and just recently after the 100k mark, have had several problems with it. I have so many common problems with everyone else, it's pathetic to rewrite them, cause we are all having the same problems. As I am on here, depressing myself and making myself sick reading all these reviews, I am left wondering about the "lemon law". Is there nothing that we can do to get back our outrageous money that we've spent on these p.o.sh*t's??? Can we all hire a lawyer and sue ford for some of our money back?

These comments and problems that just about everyone us have is no coincidence. The 99 is the first year of the new body style and it has more problems than any, but we can't forget that EVERY year has more problems than a decent car should. Someone, a lawyer reading this or a lawyer that owns one, should do something about it. Then let us all know and maybe we can have some money out of it to get us a real car that doesn't just LOOK GOOD!

Very frustrated in Virginia

brandieejoe@yahoo.com.

I recently purchased a 1999 Cougar from a used car lot with 91,000 miles on it. I have had nothing but problems, with the brake lights not working, and also the engine light stays on all the time. I'm totally disgusted with this vehicle.

I've had my 1999 Cougar for 3 years now, and I can't wait to get rid of it! I cannot stress how much money I've spent getting it fixed, and it seems that something always goes wrong. The tires are crazy expensive, fueling it is tricky, its revs up when my foot is on the brakes, its difficult to park because of its design and blind spots. It eats gas, if you have passengers who are taller than 5 '10'' their head will touch the roof of the car if they sit in the back. The list goes on and on.. Don't buy this car if you want something more than just a nice looking car.

I purchased a 99 Cougar in Jan of 2005 with 85,000 miles on it. It is absolutely a beautiful car and I can honestly say I have only replaced a battery. I guess I should feel lucky? I hate to hear how poorly the car was built as they are fun to drive. Very sexy cars!

Good luck everyone.

I just hesitantly bought a 99 cougar V6 automatic with 124000 miles on it. It seems like everything works good on the car that I can tell except it hesitates when you "get in" it pretty hard. I talked to a ford service guy and he said that it's because it's computer controlled and it takes it a sec to react to what I'm telling it to do. I don't know, it seems more like an injector problem or maybe needs a fuel filter. It stutters pretty bad for a second then takes off fine. If you ease into it - it does great. Any thoughts?

I have a 99 Merc. Cougar with 63,000 miles. My problem is that the volt light comes on at 5,000 to 7,000 rpm's. I have already put an alternator on it, what can I do to fix this problem? I also have a loud noise somewhere in the breather system when I first start the car in the morning. Please e-mail me if anyone knows what I can do to fix these problems. At marthalou52@frontiernet.net.