2000 Mercury Cougar

WHILE DRIVING HEADLIGHTS FLASHED ON AND OFF INTERMITTENTLY. CONSUMER PULLED OVER. THE LIGHTS CAME BACK ON FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER. THEN, CONSUMER DROVE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER, AND MECHANIC DETERMINED THAT BATTERY NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. . BUT THE PROBLEM RECURRED THE NEXT DAY. THEN, MECHANIC ANALYZED THE PROBLEM, AND INFORMED CONSUMER THAT THE VOLTAGE SENSOR CIRCUIT NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. *AK

THE LIGHTS ON MY DASHBOARD KEPT DIMING WHEN EVER I HAD HIT THE GAS. DID INFORM L/M OF PROBLEM AND HAD MADE AN APPOINTMENT FOR THEM TO LOOK AT IT. THEY INFORMED ME THERE WAS NO PROBLEM. THAT THIS DOES HAPPEN ON SOME COUGARS BUT NOT TO WORRY ABOUT IT. I BOUGHT IT IN AGAIN FOR SOMETHING AND MENTION THE DIMING AGAIN AND THEY SAID THE SAME THING TO ME. ON THE WAY HOME FROM WORK ONE DAY MY CAR STARTED TO LOSS POWER AND BY THE TIME I GOT HOME I DIDN'T HAVE ANY POWER. I CALLED L/M AND TOLD THEM OF THE PROBLEM. I WAS TOLD TO BRING MY CAR IN.THEY INFORM ME IT WAS MY ALTERNATOR. I HAD 3/36 WARR ON IT & I HAD NOT EVEN 37,000 ON IT AND L/M TOLD ME IT WASN'T COVER UNDER WARR AND WANTED TO CHARGE ME OVER $1000.00. THAT WAS ON 12/19/2002...ON 9/4/2004 I WAS DRIVING AND CAR WENT OUT ON ME AND I BOUGHT IT TO FIRESTONE AND THEY MY BATTERY WAS SO DEAD AND THEY COULDN'T EVEN FINISH THE TESTING AFTER PUTTING IN A NEW BATTERY THEY TOLD ME IT WAS MY ALTERNTOR.THIS IS THE 3RD ONE SINCE I PURCHASE MY CAR. I WAS TOLD THAT THE DIMING WHICH IS STILL HAPPENING WASN'T A PROBLEM AND NOW I AM ON MY 3 RD ALTERTNER. EVEN I KNOW THERE IS PROBLEM. THIS SHOULN'T BEEN HAPPENING ON A CAR LESS THEN 5 YRS OLD AND IT 3RD ALTERNATOR. *AK

VEHICLE LOST POWER WHILE DRIVING DOWN HIGHWAY. REPLACED THE BATTERY AND TOOK TO SHOP TO HAVE ALTERNATOR AND WHATEVER ELSE LOOKED AT. MECHANIC COULD NOT FIND ANYTHING WRONG. BATTERY LIGHT STILL FLASHING. I'M SCARED THIS WILL HAPPEN AGAIN AND LEAVE ME STRANDED. ALSO HAVE HAD SAME ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS (POWER WINDOWS) AS EVERYONE ELSE, AS WELL AS SPENDING $600 ON BRAKES, AND TRUNK LATCH WON'T WORK. RADIO WORKS OFF AND ON. ALSO HAD TO REPLACE BUMPER AS IT WAS RIPPED OFF WHILE PULLING OUT OF PARKING SPACE. (NOT NEGLIGENC). *JB

I HAVE A 2000 MERCURY COUGAR THAT I BOUGHT BRAND NEW AND HAS BEEN SERVICE FAITHFULLY BY A DEALERSHIP. BUT RECENTLY IN THE PAST 2 MONTHS THERE HAVE BEEN 3 ALTERNATORS PUT ON MY CAR ALL RESULTING FROM THE SAME PROBLEM. THE CONSOLE LIGHTS FLICKER AND DIM, THE HEADLIGHTS FLICKER AND DIM, THE BATTERY LIGHT FLASHES AND EVENTUALLY IT STAYS LIGHTED AND THE GAUGES ZERO OUT AND THE CAR SHUTS DOWN STARTING WITH THE RADIO AND EVENTUALLY THE LIGHT GOES OUT AND THE CAR DIES. THIS HAS HAPPENED 3 TIMES TO ME WITHIN THE PAST MONTH ALL WHILE DRIVING IN LOT'S OF TRAFFIC. THE LAST TIME I WAS ABLE TO PULL OVER TO A PARKING LOT. I'VE SEEN THAT THERE ARE MANY OTHER COUGAR OWNERS WITH THE SAME YEAR AS MINE THAT ARE CONTINUOUSLY HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM OVER AND OVER. WHY? A BRAND NEW CAR SHOULD NOT BE DOING THIS AND TO COMPLETELY BREAK DOWN IN RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC IS DEFINITELY HORRIFYING. THE DEALERSHIP HAS JUST PUT THE 4TH ALTERNATOR ON AND SAYS THEY HAD TO REWIRE A HARNESS BUT DIDN'T SAY TO WHAT OR FOR WHAT. IT'S COSTING ME $700 AND HOW AM I TO BELIEVE THAT IT WON'T BREAK DOWN AGAIN WITH THE SAME PROBLEM. HOW COME FORD DOESN'T ISSUE A RECALL FOR THE ALTERNATOR/BATTERY/WIRING PROBLEM. A BRAND NEW CAR IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BREAK DOWN BEFORE IT'S PAID FOR. I'M DEFINITELY NOT BUYING ANOTHER MERCURY PRODUCT AGAIN.*AK

FOR THE LAST 18 MONTH THE HEAD LIGHTS AND DASH LIGHTS HAVE FLICKERED. I HAVE TAKEN IT TO THE DEALER 4 OR 5 TIMES. TWICE BEFORE THE WARRANTY RAN OUT. THE PROBLEM WAS NEVER FIXED AND THE DEALER ALWAY TOLD ME THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM CHECKED OUT FIND. THE PROBLEM HAS GOTTEN WORSE AND NOW THE ALTERNATOR HAS FAILED TWICE IN 30 DAYS. THIS WAS MY THIRD AND LAST MERCURY. *LA

WITH LITTLE OR NO WARNING, MY CAR'S ELECTRICAL SYSTEM WILL START FAILING. LIGHTS WILL DIM, RPM AND SPEED GAGES RESET AND THE CAR STALLS. THE VEHICLE WILL NOT START AGAIN AND HAS TO BE TOWED TO THE SHOP. VEHICLE HAS LEFT ME STRANDED 3 TIMES BECAUSE OF THIS. THE FAILURE IS IN THE ALTERNATOR TO THE CAR AND POSSIBLY THE BATTERY AS WELL WHICH HAS ONLY EVER BEEN THE ORIGINAL FORD BATTERIES. I HAVE HAD TO HAVE MY BATTERY REPLACED 3 TIMES AND MY ALTERNATOR 3 TIMES. THIS HAS ALL OCCURRED WITHIN THE LAST 2 1/2 YEARS. AFTER READING INFORMATION FROM OTHER MERCURY COUGAR OWNERS ON THE WEBSITE WWW.FASTCOUGAR.ORG, IT IS OBVIOUS THAT THERE IS A SUBSTANTIAL PROBLEM WITH THIS CAR'S ALTERNATOR AND SHOULD BE ADDRESSED BY THE FORD MOTOR COMPANY.*AK

THE CAR WOULD STALL WITHOUT WARNING ONE TIME LEAVING ME IN THE MIDDLE OF A BUSY INTERSECTION. THIS TIME ON A SLIGHT HILL I SAT STALLED WITH HAZARD LIGHTS & HEADLIGHTS ON BUT GOT REAR ENDED BY A MOTORIST TRAVELING 50 MPH. HAD PROBLEM LOOKED AT & THOUGHT IT WAS REPAIRED BUT HAPPENED AGAIN. CAR IS NOW TOTALED. AIR BAG DID NOT DEPLOY AND GAS SHUT OFF VALVE DIDN'T WORK BECAUSE MUCH LATER AT TOW YARD CAR WAS STARTED. IT COULD OF BEEN MY DEATH! 6 DAYS IN HOSPITAL & NO CAR.*AK

POWER WINDOWS DIDN'T WORK AS FAST, AND EVENTUALLY THE CAR WOULDN'T START. THE SAME THING HAPPENED NOT TWO MONTHS LATER. IT TOOK EIGHT DAYS TO FIX THE ALTERNATOR, WHICH HAD BEEN REPAIRED BY THAT SAME DEALER BEFORE AND ONLY TOOK 2 DAYS. THE DAY I GOT IT OUT OF THE SHOP THE SUNROOF BROKE. AND THEN ON MARCH 29, ON MY WAY TO WORK IN THE MORNING, AS I WAS EXITING THE RAMP ONTO THE HIGHWAY THE RPMS SHOT WAY UP AND THE CAR "LURCHED " A FEW TIMES BEFORE FINALLY DYING. I PULLED OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND CALLED A WRECKER. ONCE AT THE REPAIR SHOP IT WAS DIAGNOSED AS BEING LOW IN GAS, CAUSING THE FUEL PUMP TO OVERHEAT. THEY ALSO FOUND THAT THE BOLT HOLDING THE MOTOR TO THE MOTORCARRIAGE WAS MISSING, BUT I HAVEN'T HEARD BACK FROM THEM ON WHY. THE CAR PRESENTLY ONLY HAS 44,376 MILES ON IT, AND ONE COMPLAINT HAS ALREADY BEEN FILED WITH FORD.*AK

WHILE DRIVING 55 MPH, CONSUMER NOTICED THE DASH LIGHTS AND HEAD LIGHTS DIMMING FLOWING ENGINE HESITATION WHICH RESULTED IN THE ENGINE STALLING. THE CONSUMER RESTARTED THE VEHICLE AND RETURNED TO NORMAL DRIVING. THE DEALERSHIP SERVICED THE VEHICLE AND REPLACED THE ALTERNATOR AND BATTERY, HOWEVER THE PROBLEM RETURN. PLEASE PROVIDE FURTHER INFORMATION. *JB