Cougar not wanting to start

I have a 2000 Mercury cougar, 2.5 v6. Its been having this problem for awhile but now its getting worse. When I first start it up its fine, if I run errands and keep turning it off eventually It will not start, It will turn over, I have to keep turning it over, which is draining my battery, when it finally starts its like I have to give it gas or it will stall out.

Sometimes (this might be a separate issue) when it does start my engine roars, and its like my car wants to accelerate on its own. When i shift into a lower gear my rpms raise up and my engine roars. Also when this happens my engine light comes on. Please help any incite at all?!

I would start by geting the codes read even though the light is not on, there should be a pending code present.

Try cleaning the Idle Air Contol valve.

How many miles on vehicle??? .

About 170,000 I was thinking starting off by replacing the spark plugs

When was the last tune up done??? I would check for codes first, autozone or orielys should be able to help you with reading them, if the check engine light has come on there should be a code present. The IAC controls the idle rpm.

Ok so UPDATE: Today I went out and bought new spark plugs and a Engine coolant sensor because that was what the check engine code was throwing. Changed everything, can tell a difference in performance. Go stop at a few places, turn the car off and it did it again, It wouldn't start, it would crank over. Battery was dying because I'm sitting there trying to get it to start. My mom came and gave me a jump and it started up right then and there. Any new suggestions? :runaround: Its driving me crazy

Do you remember the code number by chance, if so please post it. Does it seem to crank slower at normal operating temp??? Have you tried pushing the accelerator to the floor and holding it as you crank the engine?? This shuts off the injectors from squirting more fuel.

How old is the battery??? Have it tested.

I am thinking either the battery is getting weak or the starter is drawing to much current when engine is at normal operating temp, thus the engine does not turn over fast enough to fire the engine.

If you have a different battery that you could put in the vehicle to try would be worth the time.

If I held the accelerator down wouldn't that flood the engine? The battery is like 3 yrs old maybe. I just had it in the shop and they charged it back up. Tonight though it started acting up on my again and my battery started to die because I was cranking it over. I can't remember the code, it doesn't seem like it cranks over slower, just when the battery starts to die

Holding the accelerator to the floor is suppose to keep the injectors from feeding more fuel into engine, so it should not flood it.

I would have the battery and starter load tested when engine is at normal operating temp.

When it does not start when warm does it have spark??

If you do have a spare battery try it and see if the problem still exists.