1999 MERCURY COUGAR Complaints

REPEATED ISSUES ON VARIOUS DATES. PROBLEM 1: THE VEHICLE ALARM WILL RANDOMLY ACTIVATE ITSELF. IT WILL GO THROUGH IT'S 5 MINUTE ALARM PROCESS AND THEN SHUTS ITSELF DOWN. THEN ANYWHERE FROM 3 TO 10 MINUTES LATTER IT WILL SET ITSELF OFF AGAIN. IT DOES NOT MATTER THE LOCATION OF THE VEHICLE SO THAT COULD RULE OUT INTERFERENCE. PROBLEM 2: BATTERY LAMP ILLUMINATES IN THE HIGHER RPM RANGE AND BATTERY AND ALTERNATOR HAVE BEEN CHECKED TO BE FUNCTIONING PROPERLY. PROBLEM 3: THERE IS A LOUD POPPING SOUND FROM THE FRONT DRIVER'S SIDE WHEN THE CAR SHIFTS TO 2ND GEAR AT FULL THROTTLE. *JB

FUEL PUMP FAILURE IS SIMILAR TO THE ONE ON THE RECALLED FOCUSES. I HAD MY FUEL PUMP FAIL ON THE HIGHWAY GOING 70 MILES AN HOUR AND WAS ALMOST RUN OVER. AFTER LOOKING AT SOME CAR FORUMS I HAVE COME TO FIND THAT THIS IS NOT AN UNCOMMON PROBLEM FOR THIS CAR. SOME PEOPLE HAVE REPLACED THIS PUMP 2-3 TIMES BEFORE BREAKING 100K MILES. *NM

ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS, CAR IS ALMOST 5 YEARS OLD, JUST PUT IN 3RD ALTERNATOR; NOW, CANNOT PASS EMMISIONS, CANNOT FIND A PROBLEM. TONS OF ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS. *AK

I HAVE A 1999 MERCURY COUGAR AND IT HAS MALFUNCTIONS ALL OVER IN THE ENGINE. THE MAIN PROBLEM IS THAT MY PRESTONE IS LEAKING INTO MY PISTONS THEREFORE KILLING MY WHOLE ENGINE. I HAVE TAKEN IT TO THE DEALER THAT HAD SOLD IT TO ME BUT THEY HAVE DONE NOTHING TO FIX THE PROBLEM.SOMEONE NEEDS TO FIX IT AND I'M NOT ABOUT TO FIX IT.*AK

WHILE DRIVING VEHICLE STALLED. DEALER TOLD THE CONSUMER TO KEEP THE FUEL TANK AT LEAST HALF FULL UNTIL THE FUEL PUMP COULD BE BE REPLACED. *AK

WHILE DRIVING THROTTLE STUCK, AND VEHICLE ACCELERATED TO A HIGH RATE. CONSUMER ABLE TO DECELERATE VEHICLE. *AK

EXHIBITING A STARTER GRINDING NOISE AND / OR LACK OF STARTER DRIVE ENGAGEMENT (FROM TSB). THE FLYWHEEL DEFECT FIRST APPEARED IN JUNE 2001 WHEN THE COUGAR WAS UNDER WARRANTY IN YEARS AND MILEAGE. WHEN THE DEFECT SURFACED, THE COUGAR WOULD NOT KICK-OVER IMMEDIATELY, HOWEVER THIS OCCURRED VERY INFREQUENTLY. AT THE TIME, THERE WAS NO CONSISTENT PROBLEM TO RECOGNIZE AND RECTIFY. OVER THE ENSUING MONTHS THE PROBLEM CONTINUED TO OCCUR INTERMITTENTLY. AT THIS POINT, I RECOGNIZED THERE WAS A POSSIBLE MECHANICAL PROBLEM. THE PROBLEM I WAS EXPERIENCING WAS CAUSED BY A DEFECTIVE FLYWHEEL. ITS TEETH WERE SOFT AND THE DEFECT HAD WORN AWAY THE STARTER. THE FLYWHEEL HAD TO BE REPLACED ALONG WITH THE STARTER MOTOR AND IN ORDER TO COMPLETE THIS REPAIR THE TRANSMISSION HAD TO FIRST BE REMOVED.

WHILE DRIVING, THE THROTTLE BECAME STUCK INTERMITTENTLY. IT WAS DIFFICULT FOR THE CONSUMER TO DECELERATE THE VEHICLE. THE CAUSE HAD NOT BEEN DETERMINED. THE DEALERSHIP HAD BEEN NOTIFIED, BUT DID NOT RESOLVE THE PROBLEM. *JB

WHEN DRIVING AT ANY SPEED CHECK ENGINE LIGHT APPEARED ON THE DASHBOARD INTERMITTENTLY. *AK

BOTH HEADLIGHTS CONTINUOUSLY HAD CONDENSATION WHICH DIMMED THE LIGHTS. ALSO THE WIPER MOTOR FAILED AFTER LESS THAN 36,000 MILES AND THERE WERE TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS PRIOR TO 50,000 MILES. *NLM