Questions and Answers

Mercury Cougar Overheats Q. I have a 1988 Mercury Cougar, 3.8 liter V-6, automatic transmission, 120,000 miles, fuel Injection, P/S, A/C and cruise control. I have a overheating problem I can`t seem to fix. I have replaced the radiator, radiator cap, thermostat, heater core, water pump, temperature sending unit. And gets very little flow through the heater core with no heat coming out of the heater.

And after all that it still overheats. Could you please help me out? Thank you for your suggestions.

A. Somewhere in the block you have a blockage. What you can try is to try a reverse flush from a radiator shop to see if that will clear out the block. If not, you'll have to knock out the freeze plugs and actually get inside the block with any tool (screwdriver, snake, coat hanger) that will work to open it up.