[mj12sgal4eva]

Hi , my name is cindy and my 1997 cougar is giving me problems ...

when I press on the gas pedal it seems sluggish and the engine seems to be working harder then its suppose to. also it has trouble changing gears a little bit .... the low coolant light is on and the check engine was on but they changed a few censers and it hasn't come back on ... and also the thermostat was going pretty high , they also changed a censor and it lowered it a bit but it still goes above the half way point usually on the non cold days ...

not sure why its doing this ... please help

 

[woodsnake]

It sounds like you may need to have your timing checked. Do you have any idea if or when the timing gear set was changed? It could also be a vacuum leak between the carb and the distributor. Did the folks that changed the 'sensors' list anything else they thought should be looked at?

 

[1969XR7Vert]

Does a '97 Cougar even have a carb??

Not to discourage you Cindy, but this forum is predominantly 67-73 Cougar oriented/focused.

Not sure if this is the popular one, but here is a late model Cougar forum I found in a quick web search: http://www.fordforums.com/f439/

Regards,

Bob

 

[posidude]

Cindy, sounds like you may have a clogged "CAT". What I mean to say your Catalytic Converter may be restricted causing poor acceleration, higher than normal engine temps, and transmission shifting problems.
If not the cat, you might have a fuel management problem caused by a faulty fuel pump or a mass air flow sensor. Good luck.

 

[cj750]

Does your car have the 3.8 V6? Those engines are notorious for blown head gaskets. Which could account for the low coolant, poor running and high engine temps. I'm not aware of any obvious way it would effect the transmission, but since I can't think of any single cause that would account for all the symptoms you mention, I'd at least want to rule out a bad head gasket before moving on to other possible problems.

 

[catman]

Cindy,
There are two cables connected to the throttle body on top of the engine. One is for the gas and the other is for the transmission. Are they both connected? When “THEY” worked on your Cat they may have forgotten to reconnect the one for the transmission.

 

[woodsnake]

I TOTALLY didn't see the 1997.....Ouch....

 

[Bad69cat]

I agree with posidude and cj750, but you are dealing with a car that has many sensors and a computer making the calls as to what needs to happen/when. The thing should be throwing some codes though? If the engine light is on, take it to a parts store like autozone, and they will sweep the codes and give you an idea of what may be wrong (FOR FREE!!:>) --- in the hopes of selling you something). Get the number from the codes and google it - you should find a number of similar problems/solutions, which can give you better ammo when you take it in for repair. Take Bob's advice and go to forums that deal with your car specifically. Good luck! BTW - if the cat gets clogged (WHY does that make me laugh!) or overloaded you can tell by the smell of the exhaust, or worst case - can be dangerous if it gets to hot, it will glow red hot and potentially cause a fire. If it's the head gasket - may I suggest something called craigslist...repair may be more than it's worth.

 

[mj12sgal4eva]

thanks guys .... I think I'll take it to autozone and get them to sweep the codes

and where is the forum for the 1997 cougars ?

 

[johnboy]

http://www.newcougar.org/content.php