1996 Mercury Cougar power problem
#1
11-11-07, 07:11 PM
1996 Mercury Cougar power problem
hello im new to the site and thought that some one may be able to help me out with this problem. i have a 96 cougar xr7 with the 3.8 v6 it has been running fine. i changed the plugs and wires and it ran good for about 2 weeks then it started missing while in gear but smooth and no miss while in park. and when driving while it is cold it is kinda smooth but as it warms up it gets worse and wont drive up to my house it has a small hill but it never did it before it always came up it fast now it just stops at the top and i keep it to the floor and it wont rev up or nothing it just starts to roll backwards.
then i can put it in park and it revs up smooth with out a miss. i had a guy to hook it up to a computer and all that it showed that was wrong was the oxygen sensore but he said that it would say that if the converters were takin off and 2 of them have been but it ran for over a year with them off with no problems.now i have takin the 3rd one off and it did not help. i have also changed the mass air flow and the air fillter. thanks for your time
then i can put it in park and it revs up smooth with out a miss. i had a guy to hook it up to a computer and all that it showed that was wrong was the oxygen sensore but he said that it would say that if the converters were takin off and 2 of them have been but it ran for over a year with them off with no problems.now i have takin the 3rd one off and it did not help. i have also changed the mass air flow and the air fillter. thanks for your time
#2
11-12-07, 10:39 AM
There probably 4 O2 sensors on your vehicle. There are two right at the end of the exhaust manifold (I'll call these 'set 1') and two behind the catalyticalic converters ('set 2'). Now, if you only have one cat, you will only have one behind it. Anyway, set 1 controls the engine fuel mixture and if those are not working properly, then your engine will default to a relatively rich mixture. I am not sure what code this will bring up in the computer but if there is a failure on set 2 or if the cats have failed, then you will get a Catalyst bank not working properly or something to that effect. If you have not replaced the O2 sensors, it is quite possible that they are your problem (or at least part of it). How has your mileage been. Another symptom of O2 sensors is poor mileage.
Other stuff to check:
Did you check the gap on the spark plugs before you intstalled them? If not, pull them out and check to make sure that it is correct. If it is too wide, you can have the problem that you describe. Examine your plug wires and make sure that nothing is arching. One way to check this is to open the hood at night and see if you see anything sparking. If so, see what you can do to move the wire around. Be careful, they will byte pretty hard. Also, make sure that all of the wires are properly seated on the plugs and the electronic distributor. Good Luck!
Other stuff to check:
Did you check the gap on the spark plugs before you intstalled them? If not, pull them out and check to make sure that it is correct. If it is too wide, you can have the problem that you describe. Examine your plug wires and make sure that nothing is arching. One way to check this is to open the hood at night and see if you see anything sparking. If so, see what you can do to move the wire around. Be careful, they will byte pretty hard. Also, make sure that all of the wires are properly seated on the plugs and the electronic distributor. Good Luck!
#3
11-12-07, 11:10 AM
thanks for the reply FordGuy83 i will recheck all the plugs and wires the guy at autozone gaped the plugs for me but you never know he mite not have gotten them right thanks again
