Problems with 01 Cougar

My cougar has so many problems but there's one that seems to keep coming back.

I've taken it numerous times to so many different places and they either don't know what it is, or they "fix it" which fixes it for maybe 2 months before it acts up again.

Basically, my gas censor reads wrong. It will say that I have a certain number of miles before I need to fill up but it'll be wrong. My car died 2 weeks ago on the side of the road saying it had 88 miles left... then this week saying it had 176. It also does this weird jerking thing (seems like it has problems shifting... it's an automatic) sometimes when I accelerate (especially when taking a turn) but I don't know if the two are related.

Any ideas?

do you reset it every time you put gas in your tank?

do you reset it every time you put gas in your tank?

Hmm ... no. Didn't even know you were meant to/could.

The thing is though that I know it has gas. Like the time it died with 176 I had literally just put in 10 dollars of gas not thirty minutes prior.

It also used to go up to 300-something when I filled it up all the way and now it tops out at 276.

yes, that will happen if you dont reset it every time you fill up,, theres like 3 or 4 things you reset, your tripometer, your average mph, your average mpg, and maybe something else

have you thought about how it knows how many miles are left on your tank?, it takes your average MPG and the amount of gas you have in your tank, then it does a little math, if you never reset it, it wont know what your MPG for that tank is, right now the average might be like 29-30, and you're driving around in town actually getting 18-23, that would make it quite a bit off


unfortunately i cant explain it shutting off 30 mins after putting $10 worth of gas in it.... thats a different problem entirely

I have read a lot about fuel pumps failing. That could be why it is shutting off when you are sure you have gas. The pump is covered by a ford recall campaign. Take it to a dealer and complain and they fix the pump for free.

The filter inside the pump clogs and makes the pump overheat and shut off.

Hope this helps ya.

My 01 Cougar did the same "jerking" thing and it was the fuel pump. It was in the shop a few times till they figured out what it was.