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2002 Mercury Cougar Power Problems
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austinkwillis
New User
Feb 17, 2009, 5:21 PM
Post #1 of 6
(7350 views)
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2002 Mercury Cougar Power Problems
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2002
Mercury
Cougar
2.5 L
70,000 miles
Ok, well this story has two parts.
The first problems started near the end of last summer. It began with dimming lights, stereo cutting out, other quirky things, then eventually led to sputtering,gas cutting out, until it finally just died. I had the car towed and the same people replaced the alternator. I should note that the battery had been changed only two months prior. Everything worked like a charm.
Everything was going great until I took a 100 mile drive to my parents house today. On the way down, the dash lights started flickering and the battery light would flash on and off in rhythm with the lights. I turned off the heat, stereo, unplugged my zune car adapter, and cut the cruise control. Everything went pretty smooth from there and only had minor light flickering from that point. I had the car checked out in my home town since the oil needed changing anyway and everything came back fine. They did a full point check on all the systems and said everything looked great. They even charged the battery just to be safe.
On the way back the same thing happened. The EXACT same thing. Once again, after I turned everything off, everything returned to normal and was fairly smooth. I had only two points on the rest of the drive that the battery light flashed. Once, when I forgot about the problem and, out of habit, turned cruise control on. The second time was simply when I came to a red light.
All I can guess is that I'm simply sucking too much power from the car. Is that the problem or is there something more serious possibly going on here?
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Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Feb 17, 2009, 5:50 PM
Post #2 of 6
(7347 views)
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Re: 2002 Mercury Cougar Power Problems
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Hmmm? A or B
A. Alternator can't keep up with the load but does work a little. There are diodes inside that can fail without it being a complete loss of charging. Plug and connections to it should be checked as well as belt tension.
B. Could something be drawing that much current to overwhelm the alternator? What it this "car adaptor" thing? It takes a lot of juice consumption to defeat a properly working alternator.
You could have the alternator tested - I prefer on car testing.
If you have a voltmeter gauge - what is it reading at assorted times?
T
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austinkwillis
New User
Feb 17, 2009, 5:58 PM
Post #3 of 6
(7343 views)
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Re: 2002 Mercury Cougar Power Problems
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The zune car adapter plugs into my electric plug and will let me listen to the zune through a certain radio station.
Also, I have an amp and a bass system in the back. It's really not that powerful though.
I could get the exact specs if you really think it could be the problem.
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Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Feb 17, 2009, 6:08 PM
Post #4 of 6
(7338 views)
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Re: 2002 Mercury Cougar Power Problems
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Try to get a volt reading # while driving or just engine running and again with it off. These don't cost much - $10 for a cheap multimeter or a tad more for a digital one that just goes in a power port! Autozone has those - neat thing!
What I'd like to see is static voltage of just over 12v and operating voltage close to 14v and may drop to low 13s with a lot of stuff on but not below 13v ever when running or something has to be corrected.
Add on devices should be fused such that if they draw way too much current because of a failure of some sort they should blow a fuse,
T
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austinkwillis
New User
Feb 17, 2009, 6:29 PM
Post #5 of 6
(7330 views)
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Re: 2002 Mercury Cougar Power Problems
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I just got out the results the auto shop gave me today.
A few points that might be of interest:
Alternator putting out 13.9 Volts (That is all it says about that but i guess that means just engine running.)
Retest could not duplicate (meaning they couldn't get the battery light to show)
_______________________________________________________________________
If this isn't enough information then I'll go buy that device you recommended and test it myself.
Basically, my schedule demands that I have the car back running safely very soon. Money is not a huge issue but of course I don't want to get ripped off. Any more help would be greatly appreciated as is what you have already posted!
(This post was edited by austinkwillis on Feb 17, 2009, 6:33 PM)
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Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Feb 17, 2009, 6:38 PM
Post #6 of 6
(7323 views)
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Re: 2002 Mercury Cougar Power Problems
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OK: That's a nice normal reading for just sitting there w engine running. Need a reading now with some load on it, headlights, RWD, blower on high etc.
It's possible the replacement alternator is intermittently failing. They still work on brushes that can lose contact for moments or just partial. Again - wiring connectors to it may show heat damage or lack a good connection??
Note: Alternators don't like being worked too hard. They get hot when working full amps like when a battery get low and it kicks in, gets jump started or a battery fault. Battery and alternators work together and need each other to both be well at the same time or both take a hit.
Keep checking as possible - you'll isolate it,
T
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