Questions and Answers

Mercury Cougar Stalls At Stops Q. Hi, I was trying to find out what is wrong with my car and I seen your web page and thought you could help. The car is a 1986 Mercury Cougar. The engine is a 3.8 liter V-6. It is automatic transmission and has 100,000 miles. I'm not sure if it's carbureted or fuel injected. The problem is the car stalls if stopped. The only way it doesn't stall is if I put it in neutral and rev up the car.

Also when the gas pedal is down the car doesn't go right away then it jerks kind of like if the car wasn't getting any gas. There is also a bubbling noise under the hood but it is not the radiator and the car never over heats. Well any information would be great.

Thanks,
Mandy

A. It sounds like you have a couple of vacuum leaks. If the car stalls when you brake at a stop, it is possible that the brake vacuum booster is bad. To check it out press the brake pedal with a good push. While pressing on the brake pedal try to start the car.

When the engine starts, the brake pedal should go down just a little. If it doesn't go down, this is a problem and you should replace the booster. As for the car jerking it could be from a vacuum leak to the transmission.

Check all the lines on the carburetor to see if any of them are off. If all lines are still connected to the carburetor, find the one that goes to the transmission. Trace it back to the carburetor. and unplug it from the carburetor.

With the line unplugged try the car out, see if it jerks the same way. If it doesn't, then I would change that line. Then I would try it again to see if you still get the jerk at the take off.