1997 Mercury Cougar

[Guest Jess_W]

Hi girls, long time no see, lots going on, still going through custody things with my x and my child, finally getting headway on it becasue i pretty much told my x "look, you sign it today, you get it turned in today, or ill see you in court" its amazing how that finally got things done, unf its still only the temp papers, so ill still have to deal when we turn that official

ANYWAY a while ago i had to give up my cute HHR, ti was a great vehicle, i miss it allot, but carmax was really hurting me with intrest to hte point where i payed off lesas than 1000 in a whole year

so ive been wtihout, but now my mom's friend is practically giving away her 1997 mercury cougar, its white, and white isn't my first car choice, but for 2000, its a bargain

here's a bit of history, the origina merc cougars where muscle cars, big, blocky, muscly full of roaring engines and fast speeds, they where released in the 60's i think and thats when muscle cars where getting to be the thing

the 97 cougar was the first "not muscle" cougar, it was basically a two door coupe, the 97 usually had a wimpy v6 under the hood but for the older fans they could get the old muscle car power by getting the "otpional" v8 version, which is te one im buying, it needs a new mass airflow sensor, which i had to learn about, but thats nto completely caput yet, unf the peice is going to cost me like at the least 115 and thats not counting labor as i have no idea where it goes!

anyway tomorrow im going to go test it out, and as long as its not lurching around i will buy it, i got the vin number, and by all accounts its running well as far as i've seen, so it should be ok, so yay for more freedome, no more 6 hours in starbucks

[Guest viv]

Good to see ya back Hun,,,,,hope the car turns out a winner for ya. Luv,viv

[Guest Donna Jean]

Jess, you sound excited to be getting that car!

And you should be!

Nothing sux quite like being without wheels!

And 6 hours in Starbucks? That must cost a small fortune!

Good luck, Hon!

HUGGS!

Donna Jean

[Guest Pammy]

Jess, I don't want to rain on your parade, I know how exciting a "new" car can be, but I have a 1994 model and I will warn you that the transmissions in that model tend to give out at about the 80,000 mile mark. I have put THREE in mine before I parked it, intending to make a "project car" out of it one of these days. A good hint would be to turn off the automatic overdrive (push the little button on the shifter and look for the green indicator light to come on) when doing your "about town" driving. Only use the O/D for long distance highway driving. I got that tidbit from the transmission mechanic #3.

The MAF (Mass Air Flow) sensor goes in the air intake near the air cleaner (the black square thing in the front right corner. The MAF sensor is right behind it with wires coming out of it. If it is malfunctioning, expect the check engine light to be on and the engine to be running a little rough. There will be black smoke from the exhaust pipe due to an overly rich mixture. These usually run $2-300 to repair. The MAP (Manifold Air Pressure) sensor (in back of the engine) is more like $100-150 and will cause similar symptoms. If you have a handy mechanic, have him check the car over carefully (usually $50 or so).

One other thing that I will tell you is that this model car has a VERY common vacuum leak on the right rear of the engine. It's a little plastic T fitting that melts off due to it's proximity to hot things. The Check Engine light will go on and the engine will not run roughly or give any indications other than a slight hissing (sucking) sound from that area. You can do the repair yourself, the part is about $5 at any auto parts store and just pushes into place. There are two little vacuum hoses that just push on and the whole thing just sits in a rubber grommet.

That said, good luck with your car and I hope you get lots of good use out of it!

Love

Pam