Headlights/ Dash Lights Flickering????

[jpolicke]

Quirky - keep your eyes open and your hand on your wallet. This problem is so often diagnosed as a bad alternator. And yes not only is the alternator expensive the labor is high also if you're not DIY. The location is such a horror, you need to pull the right axle to remove it. Simply brilliant.

I let them do an alternator (under warranty on their dime), then the bulletin for the undersized wire (!), but it was the replacement connector that fixed it. See my above post for the Ford part number.

Between this Cougar and my wife's Contour Ford quality has sold 2 Toyotas. I replaced my Mustang with a Scion tC and my daughter is getting out of the Cougar for a tC of her own.

Hopefully the replacement Contour gas tank will hold up long enough for my wife to replace it for a Solara or Accord. Billy Clay has seen his last dime from me and mine.

[QuirkyCougar]

OMG you jpolicke are SO right! Thanks so much for the advice.

After this car I have made up my mind to get a Toyota, and I too have my eye on the TC! I just cant afford it right now, and my job is up in the air so I have to figure out what i am going to do about that first.

I found the information on a recall for this but my garage wouldnt cover it, said I didnt have a VIN number that qualified. I am SOOO mad! They just wont cover anything for this car. Especially that sunroof defect I am still fuming about. I called Mercury last night but their offices were closed. Does anyone have a good phone number or ideas?

[jpolicke]

Sorry to hear about your job worries.

When the Cougar's gas tank warped, they replaced it under warranty. When the same thing happened to the Coutour that was out of warranty, they quoted me $968. In the back of the owner's manual is an 800 number (it should be 1800-MY4DSUX, but I believe it's 1800-392-3673) that gets you their customer relations dept. I called it and after ranting about how I had a good mind to fill the tank and take it to a Toyota store they came back and agreed to eat 70% of the cost. The catch is that they won't consider any assistance until it's been diagnosed by a Ford dealer. They make the offer to you through the service department, not directly to you.
You will love the tC. Once you get past your job issues, wax the Cougar and trade it in.

[wagne540]

Hey so I know this is a really old thread, but I'm hoping someone out there can help me. In June I bought a 00 cougar from and old woman. I was obviously really well taken care of and had less than 80 k on it. About 2 weeks after I bought it I noticed the headlights flickered. This eventually progressed to headlights and dashlights. Now it seems to be headlights, dashlights, and any ac/ heater fans that are blowing will slow down in accordance to the dimming of the lights. Does anyone have any idea what this could be? I've had the battery and alternator tested, both of which are fine. It does not have the battery line recall, which I thought could be the issue. The only other thing I think it could be is a short somewhere? It everything flickers right as you turn on the car and while its idling, as well as when you're driving and go to step on the break pedal.

If anyone could help me that would be wonderful. I certainly don't want to end up on the side of the road somewhere.

[bigj-dog]

Take a look at post number 12. That fixed the flicker in my old Cougar too. Call the deal with that part number, and if you're not DIY, buy your most mechanical friend a case of Busch Light.

[noteey]

Originally Posted by wagne540

Hey so I know this is a really old thread, but I'm hoping someone out there can help me. In June I bought a 00 cougar from and old woman. I was obviously really well taken care of and had less than 80 k on it. About 2 weeks after I bought it I noticed the headlights flickered. This eventually progressed to headlights and dashlights. Now it seems to be headlights, dashlights, and any ac/ heater fans that are blowing will slow down in accordance to the dimming of the lights. Does anyone have any idea what this could be? I've had the battery and alternator tested, both of which are fine. It does not have the battery line recall, which I thought could be the issue. The only other thing I think it could be is a short somewhere? It everything flickers right as you turn on the car and while its idling, as well as when you're driving and go to step on the break pedal.

If anyone could help me that would be wonderful. I certainly don't want to end up on the side of the road somewhere.

I hope you get this fixed. These Cougars had lots of electrical problems I think. My lights dimmed, fan slowed down etc. everytime I stepped on the brakes. I never took it in to get it checked out. About 4.5 years ago I finished work, went to the parking garage, and found my Cougar was destroyed by a fire! Only thing they could determine was that it was probably bad wiring somewhwere under the hood. I'll probably never buy a Ford again. Other problems I had, water leaked into the hatch area, lots of trouble filling the gas tank (nozzle kept clicking off even when the tank was not full), and car occasionally stumbled when trying to accelerate. Good luck on a solution! They are still a nice looking cars.

[jsb60x]

I do believe that it is the clip on the alternator is the issue with the lights flickering, I reached in and played with the plugs and it seemed to help will order the new plug pigtail and install,

[smoller]

hey i know this is an old post but i was hoping to get help simply out of ideas, so the other day i got in my 99 mercury cougar and was driving when i noticed the battery light flickering. as i kept driving the dash board dimmed. we thought it was the battery or altinator we had some one meet us we hooked jumper cables to it to give us enough battery to get home. the next day it ran as smooth as ever. then that night i was taking my husband to work when the battery light started flickering again but it ran just fine the battery light even stayed on for 6 miles and the car never missed a beat. the next morning i went to the auto shop to have the battery and altinator tested and on the way every time i stopped at a stop light it acted like it was going to die. the tested and every thing was fine, they hooked up the computer and it said my EGR valve was out so i just figured that was it. i got home called and told my husband what they said and he said that the EGR valve had been unplugged a year ago and it never caused anything????? so confused as to whats wrong with it any ideas please?

[lukin]

Hello all I have a 2000 mercury cougar with 34k on it. About 2 months ago I turned the lights on and nothing happened. Since then I have had 4 different mechanics with electrical knowledge look at it. The #26 fuse keeps blowing which controls the the headlights. It's on the top row 3rd from the right 7.5 amp. I replaced the fuse box and the lights worked for 2 weeks and it started again blowing fuses. The last mechanic was VERY knowledgable about auto electric. He did an HID light conversion with a relay which completely changed the system to upgraded lights (masterful job I might ad). That didn't work the fuse blew right after the installation. Then he did the TSB modification ( pita fix) or pain in the arse if you don't get the pita because the alternator is under the car on the right side very difficult to work on. That didn't work it still blows fuses even without driving just by turning on the light switch. I havn't replaced the alternator and reading this forum doesn't seem to help. Havn't replaced the light switch ( ford doesn't have a new one available nationally I checked) Maybe aftermarket is available. Part #XS8Z11654BA. That wire assembly for the Alternator is my next step Part #3U2Z 14S411 SHA. Will let this forum know the results.

[aleekat]

When you piggy back on a 2 page thread that started in 2005, most members here won't go back through the old posts. Start a new thread you'll probably get more responses.

[lukin]

Took your advice there are probably a lot of cougar owners with this problem that don't know where to go for help on this #26 fuse blowing that controls headlights. I am in the process of getting the connector for the alternator. Hope it works. New to this forum so making some mistakes but have a new thread now.