6th Jun 2005, 00:41

If your coolant light goes in and out even though your radiator is full, have a cooling system pressure test done. More likely than not your head gasket is leaking exhaust into your coolant which will cause poor/erratic cooling.

16th Jan 2006, 23:38

Oh I pity you... you own not ONE, but TWO of these pieces of junk? And I thought I had problems with one. I found this site looking for the answer to my most recent problem (check engine light for Idle Speed Control) but my car is now for sale. I'll soon be in the category of disgruntled former cougar owners who are now proud owner of imports.

11th Aug 2006, 18:09

Its funny you should say that you will be trading your cougar for an import, because tomorrow I'll be trading mine in on a new Toyota. I have or should I say had a 2002 Cougar and have replaced the fuel pump 3 times, the ERG valve and O2 sensors, still it sputters and runs like crap, time to get rid of it. And by the way Ford says my fuel pump is not covered by the recall because its not considered a PROBLEM car. So the last time was out of pocket. I will never bye another FORD.

8th Apr 2008, 12:11

Well, I am back and happy to say that my wife and I have two NEW vehicles now, and are no longer driving the 01 and 02 Cougars!! We had no choice but to sell the 2001 C2, which had the majority of the problems... that car was a piece of trash and this just goes to show that buying a domestic is just a waste of your hard earned dollar on cheap plastic!! Don't be fooled by discounts offered by domestic auto makers, you really do get what you pay for!!

We now have a new 2007 Mitsubishi Eclipse with one of the best warranties I have ever seen 5/60 bumper to bumper 10/100 power train 5/Unlimited roadside!! We love it, and I can't tell you what a relief and joy it is to own a vehicle worry free!

The next time I buy American will be when the Japanese make one! We also have a 2008 Toyota Camry SE... LOVE IT! We plan to drive the NEW cars problem free until the wheels fall off!! NEVER BUY A COUGAR.

5th Jan 2010, 22:15

Very long comment, but hopefully I have made some valid points.

I don't understand why so many North Americans had problems with the Cougar when it was virtually problem-free in the UK (the Ford Cougar). One of my colleagues has a 1999 (V registration) V6/5 speed combo model, and he has had no problems with his car. It actually got better fuel mileage than my 1998 automatic Honda Civic hatchback (five door) with a four cylinder engine.

I don't understand why some owners in North America have no problems and others have horrible reliability with their Cougars. Is it the fact that most of us don't maintain our cars as well as Europeans?

Ford dealers - so what if you have to stock parts for a European-designed Ford product - good service should occur regardless of nation design of the car. Why so many fuel pump/idle speed setting/computer failures, and you don't hear any of that with Ford Cougars in the rest of the world? And if there are genuine complaints about the cars, top down Ford has to acknowledge this and replace the parts, not pass the known failure part replacement onto the owner. Do you think he or she will buy a Ford product again with treatment like this from the automaker? Not likely.

Treatment like this (which will occur again) makes me want to NEVER consider a Ford product. Passing the buck.

Why is it that all of the (Ford Cougar) owners in the UK, Continental Europe, Australia and New Zealand have NO problems (according to owners on carsurvey.org) and parkers.co.uk indicates very good reliability (http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/reviews/ford/cougar/coupe-1998/). Whatcar.com indicates that "Other than a few niggles with the suspension, Cougars are basically sound" (http://www.whatcar.com/car-reviews/used/ford/cougar-coupe/full-review/23821-4).

Wikipedia indicates ALL Cougars were built in the (now) Mazda Flat Rock, Michigan plant and I don't think the finishing in the Köln plant in Germany (for the European market) made a difference in reliability (that occurred because of the lighting/glass/amber tail lamp lenses, and in the case of Australia/NZ/UK, RHD conversion differences from North America). How can a car be so trouble-free in the rest of the world but so trouble-laden in North America - so why the difference in terms of reliability?

It seems that whenever a European Ford product comes to North America, Ford of North America makes it absolutely a terrible product with horrible mechanical failures. Look at the Focus for the first few years. Though this time, Ford tackled the reliability issues with the Focus, and by 2005 most of the problems had been solved.

I hope Ford doesn't shoot itself in the foot with the Fiesta. Maybe this time around, with Ford's so-called claim of "global engineering", what happened to the Cougar's reliability will not occur again by Ford in North America.

3rd Feb 2011, 18:34

I owe a 2001 Mercury Cougar, and have had so many issues. First in 2005, I had my whole transmission rebuilt, had a C02 sensor replaced because it would not pass smog, idle air control valve replaced, gas tank, radiator, and now my check engine light is on, and it keeps having a coughing reaction when I pass 40 mph.

I honestly would not recommend this car to anyone, and I am looking forward to selling it and giving it a good home, and buying an import.

26th Aug 2011, 10:07

I have a 2001 Mercury Cougar and LOVE IT, it is thee best car I have ever owned. I live in California, have had several cars, Chrysler, Toyota, VW. etc. and this is the best, for fuel consumption, sporty looks without actually being a sports car, plenty of stowage room and easy to park. Oh, and I keep it well maintained, so I wonder if that is some of the problems other folks have that could be avoided.

Brenda.

10th Sep 2011, 05:07

You've probably sold your car, but from what I've learned, engine check = means the engine is running in limp home mode, and should not be driven faster than about 35 or 40, hence the stumbling yours suffered when you tried to push it. You should have gotten the reason for the light fixed.

6th Oct 2011, 16:52

I have the same vehicle. Bought it at 3 years old, tuned it up, changed the oil every 3,000 miles, have 100,000 miles + on it, and the only problem I've had was a broken sun roof track, which is all plastic and I never fixed. I just don't open the sun roof any more. I do maintain all my vehicles; that may be the problem.

11th Apr 2012, 19:56

2001 Mercury Cougars suck!! I've only had mine for a year, and I hate it. I've had countless problems with it. 90% of the parts have to be bought from Ford. Right now it's been stalling out on me, then doesn't start back up a lot. It doesn't want to go up hills. I just want to sell it, because we can't figure out what's wrong with it.

31st Mar 2015, 15:01

I have a 2001. My car was doing the same thing. Took it to a mechanic and paid $1000 for a tune up that it never needed. My cylinder coil had a small crack in it that was causing it to do what it was doing, so I would possibly have that checked.

27th Jun 2015, 15:55

Fuel pump.