Hi folks just found you as I'm looking for some help....I bought a green X plate V6 Cougar about 4 months back and instantly fell in love with the thing!! 2 days after getting it and spending a weekend in Sctland all the dials and dash lights went mental, I got the car home and it was diagnosed as a knacked alternator,the seller changed this and the battery which had fried. Now coming home from work tonight, the same thing has happened. Is this common or does anyone know of a reason why it should keep happening......I need peace of mind or the cougar will have to go.
New owner but for how long????
- Thread starter Yorkie
- Start date
Hi Yorkie
First thing is to get a proper battery/alternator check at any local auto shop, they normally do these checks for free. Can you beleive the seller actually took the time to replace the alternator?
First thing is to get a proper battery/alternator check at any local auto shop, they normally do these checks for free. Can you beleive the seller actually took the time to replace the alternator?
Oh yes I know it was replaced, I bought iut from a friend and he paid for the alternator ( he owns a garage!), hesdoing the same this time but he won't keep doing so.
has he replaced it with a genuine ford altenator or a after market one the cougar eats non genuine best getting the real ford altenator to cure problem
welcome to the forum yorkie, as guys say, ensure you get genuine ford / motorcraft one and you shouldnt have any more worries
Hello and welcome abaord. Just another thought too, if the dials are doing odd things.....Speed Sensor could be about to go or has gone and only works some of the time. This will affect all of the dials - it happened to mine last year. It's a simple fix as only one lead, but a bit of a sod to get to. You need the car on ramps as you need to get to where the sensor screws into the gearbox, then follow the lead up and then coming in from the top of the engine bay (you may need to move a few bits first) unclip the sensor from the electrics and then replace and do the reversal of taking it out. The sensors aren't cheap, you can get them from Ford Parts UK - see the section on here for club discount.
http://www.ukcougarforum.com/vb/showthread.php?4831-Ford-Parts-UK-Discount-details
You can also get them from Paynes of Hinckley via their eBay shop (at £95.20):
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220592811529
http://www.ukcougarforum.com/vb/showthread.php?4831-Ford-Parts-UK-Discount-details
You can also get them from Paynes of Hinckley via their eBay shop (at £95.20):
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220592811529
Hi mate, welcome along.
I had problems with dials and battery completely dying after a new geniune alt & batt.
After huge ford diagnostic costs turned out to be the alt to batt lead had corroded. Simple fix so check that before splashing out, cost me hundreds in not needed parts.
I had problems with dials and battery completely dying after a new geniune alt & batt.
After huge ford diagnostic costs turned out to be the alt to batt lead had corroded. Simple fix so check that before splashing out, cost me hundreds in not needed parts.
Hello mate - Welcome!
Can I suggest a simple thing to check - check that your cars battery-earth strap is grounding properly...come to that ANY earth straps...
Mine has always been super reliable - went over to chat with fellow Cougar owner's 'Topcat' & 'Procomm' a couple of weeks ago...went outside to 'oggle' the Cougars - goes to start mine and NOTHING!
Dials went into sweep-mode, No dash-warning lights, central locking went mental, wipers came on by themselves, all the relays were clicking away like mad...and it turned out to be the main battery earth lead was just a little loose and had some corrosion where it mounts to the body - SIMPLES!
Good Luck and don't give up yet!
Can I suggest a simple thing to check - check that your cars battery-earth strap is grounding properly...come to that ANY earth straps...
Mine has always been super reliable - went over to chat with fellow Cougar owner's 'Topcat' & 'Procomm' a couple of weeks ago...went outside to 'oggle' the Cougars - goes to start mine and NOTHING!
Dials went into sweep-mode, No dash-warning lights, central locking went mental, wipers came on by themselves, all the relays were clicking away like mad...and it turned out to be the main battery earth lead was just a little loose and had some corrosion where it mounts to the body - SIMPLES!
Good Luck and don't give up yet!
Thanked and seconded.
I've seen earth straps that have rotted through, even they don't really look like it. The resistance goes sky high and can cause some really odd faults, though it tends to affect HT first and is more obvious when the car is cold.
A common mod on several cars I've owned is to move the strap from the chassis/slam panel to somewhere more protected like the gearbox for exactly this reason. From the look of it the Zetec Cougar dodesn't have that particular problem, but that's not to say that the strap hasn't rotted for other reasons, (age, insulation, electrolysis, etc) .
Well the big cat is back on the road,after a week in the workshop. Turns out the alternator he fitted 1st time was a Motorcraft one, this time round something had caused a regulator ( I think) in the alternator to literally melt, meaning the thing was pushing out 19volts!!!! A rebuild and all seems well so shes back in the good books again.....that v6 push is much better than a lift in me mams Micra to get to work lol.
Well the alternator lasted a massive 3weeks this time! Once again the regulator has melted this time pushing out 29 volts and wrecking the battery. So I'm sorry to say I've given up on it, I've gone out and bought a stop gap Astra, and put the Cougar on Ebay, I'll also stick an ad on here, so if you fancy a cheap project or spares car then have a look in the for sale section.
