Just bought a V6 Cat

B

bigdyl69

New user
Nov 2, 2011
9
0
Denbigh, North Wales
Hi all, just wanted to say hi as a very happy owner of a 2001 V6 Cougar in ebony black with full x-pack fitted. Needed a car quickly as I stupidly traded in a perfectly good Lexus IS200 to get a diesel Laguna 2.2 to keep the missus happy and the heap of french tosh blowing up after 3 weeks!!

Have to say I'm very happy so far with the big cat, just got a few questions and really hope someone can help?

1. Cigarette lighter does not work - Tried using my sat nav and no power goes to it from the lighter plug. Any quick things to check?

2. Feels a bit slack when turning - When turning the car at low speeds (mainly parking) the car sounds like its struggling for grip. The tyres are fine (standard alloys fitted so shouldn't be a clearance issue) and I cannot see anything obvious. Any ideas?

3. Lights and dash lights dimming and going brighter at random - I've found that when I am driving, if I slow down and change down a gear, the headlights seem to suddenly become brighter. Also, the interior dash lights seem to get brighter and dimmer based on if I rev the engine a little. Could it be the battery or are there other things to check?

4. Sound when decelerating - When I slow down and the car gets low in the rev range, I get a kind of humming sound, like I've suddenly grown a V12 under the bonnet. No idea what this might be. Doesn't seem to cause any problems but I just wanted to check it isn't anything major.


Anyway, I really hope someone on here can give me a little advice as to what to check. I'm fairly competent with cars so don't mind having a go myself at most things.

Thanks in advance people and I really look forward to being a part of the community here and loving my big black cat
 
Hi, welcome to ukcougar.com, your in the right place for all things cougar related, as well as some crazy banter. You will also be able to find all the fixes you need in our subscriber sections. Have a browse around the open forums and get a feel for the place. Remember! ukcougar.com is the only workshop manual for the big cat.

1. Check the fuses behind the glovebox.
2. First check the steering fluid level.
3. Sounds like your alternator could be on it's last legs. The V6 has a common fault with the live feed, there is an easy fix for this in the subscribers section and if i remember correctly (iirc) there is even a "HOW-TO".
4. No idea :(
 
1. Cigarette lighter does not work - Tried using my sat nav and no power goes to it from the lighter plug. Any quick things to check?
Fuse

2. Feels a bit slack when turning - When turning the car at low speeds (mainly parking) the car sounds like its struggling for grip. The tyres are fine (standard alloys fitted so shouldn't be a clearance issue) and I cannot see anything obvious. Any ideas?
Check your tyre pressures (easy stuff first)


4. Sound when decelerating - When I slow down and the car gets low in the rev range, I get a kind of humming sound, like I've suddenly grown a V12 under the bonnet. No idea what this might be. Doesn't seem to cause any problems but I just wanted to check it isn't anything major.
Assuming its notonly when your moving stick your head under the bonnet and listen to the aux belt (left side under the engine mount) - if the hum is coming fom there its likely the idle wheel (they are prone to it). If thats the case PM "Dogsbody" as he does a cheap exchange. If the hum is only when your moving it could be brake bind, a driveshaft or a wheel bearing.

welcome mate
 
Thanks for all the help guys, guess I'll be having a play soon when I get some time off work. I'll try all the easy things first and report back on anything I find.

Tallgeese - As for the Laguna, don't even go there mate! What an absolute dog of a car. Lost a couple of thousand on my Lexus trading it in so I could try save some money on running costs, it kept flagging up a fault in the fuel injection system (which turned out to be a cracked inlet manifold), then the day before my nan's funeral, it went up in a rattly puff of smoke outside my mum's place. Bottom pulley fell of which destroyed the oil pump which melted the turbo!!! Total repair bill in the region of about £1000 so I told the trader I got it from to keep the useless piece of crap! More money lost again. I wouldn't mind but I checked the whole car over before buying it and it had full service history, low mileage and was the top of the range 2.2 diesel with every extra...learned a harsh lesson with that one.
 
Well I got a couple of things done today. Checked the fuses and the cigarette lighter fuse had blown so that was a nice easy fix. Other thing I did today was fit my nice new Kenwood KDC-BT61U stereo. All went well (eventually, I had to get to grips with how parts of the dash came apart, for wiring in the bluetooth microphone) until I dropped the missus off for work tonight. Whilst trying to listen to music through the USB connection, both front seats heating turned on by themselves and off again when I switched it to the radio. Also, whilst trying to play through the USB, it would play for so long, then the stereo would kind of lock up and start flashing, as if to indicate an error, but switching to Radio works fine. Also, the light behind the trip computer readout has stopped lighting up, is this an easy fix at all?

Only thing I did other than fit the stereo was fit the microphone on the dash just in front of the engine temperature readout using a small self-tapping screw. Could I have gone into a wire?
 
bigdyl69 said:
Well I got a couple of things done today. Checked the fuses and the cigarette lighter fuse had blown so that was a nice easy fix. Other thing I did today was fit my nice new Kenwood KDC-BT61U stereo. All went well (eventually, I had to get to grips with how parts of the dash came apart, for wiring in the bluetooth microphone) until I dropped the missus off for work tonight. Whilst trying to listen to music through the USB connection, both front seats heating turned on by themselves and off again when I switched it to the radio. Also, whilst trying to play through the USB, it would play for so long, then the stereo would kind of lock up and start flashing, as if to indicate an error, but switching to Radio works fine. Also, the light behind the trip computer readout has stopped lighting up, is this an easy fix at all?

Only thing I did other than fit the stereo was fit the microphone on the dash just in front of the engine temperature readout using a small self-tapping screw. Could I have gone into a wire?
Click to expand...

Well I took my dashboard apart to look see if I'd damaged any wiring and I haven't so I'm still unsure as to what may be causing this problem with my new headunit. All I have done is replace the fuse for the cigarette lighter and changed the bulb behind the trip computer readout, both work fine now. I am going to do the alternator bypass wiring this weekend to get rid of that problem.

Could the dodgy alternator wiring be causing power fluctuations that might affect the headunit when its in USB mode, as it work fine for radio and CD's but locks up and flashes when in USB mode?
 
I did the alternator fix on the car a few days ago and since then I've had no more problems with the electrics in the car. The US on the stereo playing up turned out to be a brand new 16GB usb stick I bought for it, not a cheap one neither but since the missus put my last one through the washing machine I felt I needed to replace it. I'm not sure with the heated seats though, should the switch on the seats be in or out for the seats to be on?
 
Hello and welcome aboard matey. Sorry to hear you have a few little niggles. I'm not good with electrical stuff, so can't offer any advice - other than re-checking all the connections to the back of the head unit - as sounds asthough you may have shorted or got a wire connected somewhere that shouldn't be connected?? Is it a single din or double din head unit???
 
Thanks for all the help guys and how welcoming you've all been. It seems I have sorted everything out now after doing the alternator fix and the moosing fix. The heated seats problem was me being a complete tool and thinking that the switches being out meant they were off!! Think I need a holiday
 
bigdyl69 said:
Hi all, just wanted to say hi as a very happy owner of a 2001 V6 Cougar in ebony black with full x-pack fitted. Needed a car quickly as I stupidly traded in a perfectly good Lexus IS200 to get a diesel Laguna 2.2 to keep the missus happy and the heap of french tosh blowing up after 3 weeks!!

Have to say I'm very happy so far with the big cat, just got a few questions and really hope someone can help?

1. Cigarette lighter does not work - Tried using my sat nav and no power goes to it from the lighter plug. Any quick things to check?

2. Feels a bit slack when turning - When turning the car at low speeds (mainly parking) the car sounds like its struggling for grip. The tyres are fine (standard alloys fitted so shouldn't be a clearance issue) and I cannot see anything obvious. Any ideas?

3. Lights and dash lights dimming and going brighter at random - I've found that when I am driving, if I slow down and change down a gear, the headlights seem to suddenly become brighter. Also, the interior dash lights seem to get brighter and dimmer based on if I rev the engine a little. Could it be the battery or are there other things to check?

4. Sound when decelerating - When I slow down and the car gets low in the rev range, I get a kind of humming sound, like I've suddenly grown a V12 under the bonnet. No idea what this might be. Doesn't seem to cause any problems but I just wanted to check it isn't anything major.


Anyway, I really hope someone on here can give me a little advice as to what to check. I'm fairly competent with cars so don't mind having a go myself at most things.

Thanks in advance people and I really look forward to being a part of the community here and loving my big black cat
Click to expand...


(4. Sound when decelerating - When I slow down and the car gets low in the rev range, I get a kind of humming sound, like I've suddenly grown a V12 under the bonnet. No idea what this might be. Doesn't seem to cause any problems but I just wanted to check it isn't anything major.)
check your exhaust all the hangers check nothings touching the exhaust, check for blow holes, check the cat some have a heat shield if the rivits are loose it will hum on rev drop and ...take off :), check centre box mate and of course your back box's
 
Hi mate and welcome to the home of the cougar. You are in the right place and on the right track to getting all your little problems sorted out. There is nowhere else that can offer the information you require.
 
Welcome dude! plenty of knowledge up in this friendly forum!! in relation to question 4, try to see if the sound is coming from your headlight because it could be the motorised module in your headlight but ifs its like a loud hum, clean your maf sensors, buy new or just purchase an anti moosing kit for the v6 from ebay.
 
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