New Ford Cougar owner 2.5 V6

H

hootswah

New user
Jan 20, 2026
3
4
Hi all
Recently bought a Cougar for £650. The car is lovely but needs a couple of things. The ABS light is on but it's a duff reluctor ring so replacement sourced and ready to go on. Car is moosing a little so IAC getting looked at. Other than that, all seems fine. I've given it a service, need the cambelt changing purely as a precaution, and a replacement head unit for Bluetooth. Has all the toys, electric sunroof which works and doesn't leak, heated electric seats, climate which works too, and that lovely heated windscreen. Even has a 6 disc autochanger. Would anyone know, aside from the history with the car, where I could find out more about it or perhaps if anyone on here has owned it in the past? I've added some pics.

I used to be a member of the UK Ford Probe club having had 2 of them with the same duratec engine and they seem pretty bulletproof if looked after. This Cougar has done 95,000 with a full service history up to 87,000 so seems genuine. I'm hoping to take it to FOTU in July as the last 5 years of going there and I've never seen either a Probe or Cougar.
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Welcome, the car looks good. These are chain driven so you don't need to do the cambelt. There's a water pump drive belt though which is worth changing as they're often overlooked. I didn't think the Probe came with this engine?
 
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David` said:
Welcome, the car looks good. These are chain driven so you don't need to do the cambelt. There's a water pump drive belt though which is worth changing as they're often overlooked. I didn't think the Probe came with this engine?
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Yeah the probe came with the 2.0 113bhp engine and the 2.5 V6 duratec. Shared all mechanicals with the Mazda MX-6. Good to know it's a chain instead of a belt. Saves me a few bob! I never changed anything on the Probes so that's something new I've learned today! Thanks David
 
My understanding is the Cougar is based on the MK1 Mondeo and unlike the Probe doesn't share anything with Mazda as far as I'm aware. I think the Probe V6 is a Mazda unit whereas this is the same as the one in the Mondeo, same as everything underneath the car too. I've never had a Probe so would stand corrected. Would be interested to see how different or the same you find the drive is between the two
 
David` said:
My understanding is the Cougar is based on the MK1 Mondeo and unlike the Probe doesn't share anything with Mazda as far as I'm aware. I think the Probe V6 is a Mazda unit whereas this is the same as the one in the Mondeo, same as everything underneath the car too. I've never had a Probe so would stand corrected. Would be interested to see how different or the same you find the drive is between the two
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As far as I know, the V6 in the Cougar is the same as the Probe. Certainly looked identical right down to having 2.5 duratec V6 on the top. This is the same engine (I believe) as the ST24. In terms of driving, the Probe was lighter and more responsive but not as reliable. The Cougar is more solid but seems to be more of a grand cruiser. Of course, the Probes trump card was the fab pop up headlights.
 
My understanding is the Cougar V6 is related to the Mazda V6.

Remember back around then Ford bought / owned Mazda for a little while. The Fiesta and Mazda 121 were almost identical.

Oh yeah, hello and welcome.😁Check out your rear subby ASAP that can be crucial to your cars continued existence.
 
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Hello and welcome to the forum. (y)

Your reg. doesn't appear in our owners list but that isn't exhaustive and there is a possibility of a previous owner having been a member here in the past.

Forum members have access to Microcat which lists the build details for specific vehicles.


The V6 in the Probe was a Mazda designed engine designated as a Mazda KL, which as you alluded to, has camshafts driven by a belt in contrast to the Porsche developed V6 in the Cougar which, as David pointed out above, is chain driven.

The Cougar did inherit Mazda 21mm wheel nuts but not much else.
 
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mabo said:
My understanding is the Cougar V6 is related to the Mazda V6.
Click to expand...

They look really, REALLY similar, but that's only to be expected since they both do the same job. Call it "parallel evolution." The fact that it was fitted to a Ford will mean that the ancillaries will of course bear some resemblance as well. The UIM is conspicuous.

But the Duratec V6 is (as Andy mentions) a Porsche unit with Cosworth-designed heads. We have the original prototype in a museum near me.

The Mazda KL is an in-house design which I believe was based on something by Kawasaki. Might be wrong about that, but it's not a Porsche motor.
 
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Welcome to UKC!
A few previous Probe owners here including myself.
Your car looks a nice example with minor niggles.
As mentioned, there's no cambelt, but do change the water pump tensioner and belt👍🏻
Different engine to the Probe V6 but enjoy it nevertheless!
 
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