30th Mar 2011, 20:28

I have a 99 Cougar... have had it for less than 2 months now! It was running perfectly fine until about 3 weeks ago; the coolant light came on, got that fixed, now the check engine light is on!!! I wish I would have just put my money towards a down payment to a new car, because now I have to fix this car just to get rid of it! The shop says it's my catalytic converters, which means I can't pass smog test until it's fixed! Also I'm in CA, so it's extremely hard to get a converter for this car... I won't ever look twice at a Mercury Cougar when I get rid of this TRASH! Thought I was saving money purchasing a used car, however I just lost money! My advice, if you car is having lights on and off, is get the problem fixed and get rid of the car ASAP! And to the ones who have great Cougars, I guess you're the lucky few...

30th Apr 2011, 18:33

The engine light can come on for lots of reasons. Disconnecting battery might make you feel better, but you really need to get the OBD2 codes so you can see what's the problem. Sometimes it's as easy as a loose gas cap, but other times, well that's another story! LOL.

2nd May 2011, 14:01

O.K. it's a 12 year old car. I have a 13 year old car and had to deal with the CEL. (Review: '98 Mazda Protege "A Lovely Runner"). I had to replace vacuum hoses, unplug vacuum passages, clean the MAF sensor and throttle body, scrape deposits out of the EGR valve, etc to track it down. A "Seafoam" treatment helped too.

The Contour Enthusiast Group and Mad Moles may be good sources of information for you.

Good luck.

24th Nov 2012, 11:03

I have the same exact problems, but my CE light came on days after I bought it. The guy at the dealership was kind of a jerk about it when I brought it back.

Was your CE code P0426? If so, did you ever fix the problem? I keep getting different diagnoses. Some say it's the catalytic converter, and others say it's the O2 sensors.

20th Dec 2013, 15:03

Hey! It sounds like you might want to go and get your tires balanced and get an alignment!!!

17th Aug 2015, 17:15

I have a 99 Cougar that only had 45k miles (was hardly driven by an elderly relative).

First the engine light started coming on at about 15k miles. I have to use top tier gasoline and keep it above 1/4 tank, but it solved the problem.

Next, the coolant light. I found this only happens after parking on an incline and goes after driving or parking level (this started at about 40k miles).

The brakes make loud noises if they get wet or dirty.

Now, I lost power on a crowded freeway! I was afraid it overheated, but the temp gauge was normal. After a few minutes it started up with no warning lights. I see there are many recalls that might affect this latest issue, but will have to see if Ford will still honor them. I know the fuel module filter recall expired after 10 years.

26th Sep 2015, 14:53

I have a 99 V6 Cougar with 221k miles. It's still running great; the only issue is the lock right on the gas tank got knocked loose somehow, and when I went to tighten it back down, it got a bit bent out of shape and I cannot find a new one anywhere; not even if you buy a kit to replace the entire housing for the fuel pump. And all they said I could do is go to a dealership to get one. So I might try pick and pull to see if I can find a good one that's not bent.