Repairing

This is the most common problem associated with our cars. It commonly occurs with 1985-88 cars with the base or electronic instrument clusters (but can happen with 1983-84 cars as well). Here’s the likely scenario: the dash lights won’t come on at night, and usually the digital speedo won’t light either. (Some people have also reported that the headlight switch smells like it’s burning, or it actually does smoke). And as a result, you have to drive around shining a flashlight into your speedometer to see how fast you’re going at night. Sound familiar? Well, it CAN be fixed, but you need to inspect a few things first.

First and foremost: Make sure that all the light bulbs didn’t burn out of the dash (including the two in the speedometer module and the two in the radio, if necessary). We know, its common sense, but you might want to check it out anyway. This requires removing the cluster, or at least taking it out of the dash far enough to get your hand back there. For cars with column shifters, be careful of the gear indicator cable on the bottom of the cluster—that can easily get bent or broken if you’re not careful. There are 4 T-20 Torx bolts in each corner of the cluster—remove them, and it’s essentially loose. If you need to remove the whole cluster, you must uncouple the wiring harness(es) on the back of the cluster. Squeeze both sides of the harness at once, and just pull out.

Second, you could have a bad fuse or circuit breaker. We’ve had that happen before, and it drives you nuts until you discover that out. Over time, circuit breakers and fuses can wear out just like any other mechanical part. Since there’s always power going through them, day or night, it makes sense. That’s a cheap fix and you can have the questionable parties tested if necessary.

Third, one or both of your wiring harnesses for the dash cluster could be loose. That’s kind of uncommon but well within the realm of possibility. And it’s a free fix.

Fourth, be sure to inspect your ignition switch. When the switch or its associated wiring goes bad, all sorts of strange things can happen with the electric portions of the dash. This could potentially be a dangerous situation so be sure to inspect or change the switch as soon as you have this issue. Be sure to also inspect the wiring going to the switch, as it can get brittle and move over time, causing heat and melting of the harness and/or wiring.

Fifth (and probably most important): Have you installed a radio lately, or removed and replaced the stock one? If so, that could very well be the cause of your problem. The wiring behind the radio can get pinched very easily due to its proximity to the back of the radio. The main culprit is a light blue wire with a red stripe; that’s the one on the same circuit for the dash lights. It’s for the light in the radio, clock, and lighter panel/ash tray. When that wire gets pinched, it causes a short in the system, and since the dash lights are on that same circuit….no more dash lights. Even worse, if the fuse doesn’t blow, then you’ve got power overload running through the car, and the common gateway is the headlight switch. This can cause electrical feedback into the switch and make it smolder, spark, or burn. It’s no fun to have a headlight switch burn up on you halfway to work.

How to solve it? You must find out for sure if that wire’s getting pinched. (There’s another wire that can also cause the same problem—light green with a yellow stripe). Best thing to do is remove the radio and start moving wires out of its way. If you try in vain to wiggle wires around and still can’t solve the problem, then there’s the last resort: tracing the wires back to the fuse box, cutting both, and hooking up only the one that goes to the dash lights. The fuses you’d look for are either the #5 (15A, light blue) or the #13 (5A, tan) positions (please refer to this page for a full fuse panel reference guide). That should solve the problem once and for all, but it’s only recommended as a last resort. That should get you back to getting normal dash lights, and your flashlight can safely reside in the glove box again.

If you happen to have gauges on your Cougar (because not all of them had gauges), you depend upon them for accurate information at all times…well, as accurate as factory gauges get, anyway. But if your gauges suddenly stop working or start acting erratically, you also know how frustrating that can be. The key to every gauge working depends upon the integrity of the car’s electrical system; if you’ve got a problem under the hood, it can show up through your gauge readings. Therefore it’s best to work backwards until you get the source of the problem. If you have the proverbial warning (“idiot”) lights, this also applies to you too.

First off, if you have not changed the ignition switch, that would be the first place to check for issues. A bad ignition switch, or faulty wiring to the switch, will cause a lot of issues to occur with the car, including intermittent charging and drivability problems, but usually one of the first indicators is that the gauges will do abnormal things every once in a while. Please have this inspected and changed first. If you find that the wiring is indeed melted, Fox Resto sells a very inexpensive ignition switch repair kit to do the job properly.

It’s also important to note that the oil, temp, amp and fuel gauges run off 5 volts, not 12. There is an instrument voltage regulator (IVR) that is on the backside of the cluster, and its job is to reduce the 12v power coming in down to 5v. It’s similar to a 9v battery; in fact, it snaps right on just like one. Ford’s been using that same part since 1971 so it used to be a common part at any Ford dealer (p/n D1AZ-10804-A) and it could be the source of your problem. Be aware that it’s sometimes very difficult to find this part lately, even at parts stores, but CJ Pony Parts does carry a version that works for our cars. Otherwise you may end up scouring eBay or even a salvage yard to find one from another cluster. You can find instructions on replacing the IVR on YouTube here.

The direct signal to each gauge comes from a sending unit found around the car or on the engine block at various locations. The temp gauge relies upon the temperature sensor (top of the intake manifold); the fuel gauge depends upon the fuel sending unit (inside the gas tank); the amp gauge/light works via the ammeter (hardwired inline); and the oil gauge/light works from the oil pressure sending unit (from the block, around the oil filter area). Now obviously there’s a wire running from each sensor to its corresponding gauge. Normally the problem is that the sending unit itself has gone bad due to age and normal usage. Or, perhaps it’s that the wire is usually in close proximity to the motor, and if the wires get hot enough over time, the casing can melt or rub through and touch metal…giving you haywire readings. Those are your first places to look for trouble. You can remove the suspected unit and check it for corrosion, and also check the wiring. On the 5.0L V8 engines, the wire running to the oil pressure sending unit just loves to get all tangled up around the a/c and power steering brackets. And the 3.8L V6 can throw a temperature sensor in a heartbeat. So if your light comes on (or your gauge goes all the way to HOT) when you know that the car isn’t that warm just yet, that’s a good place to start. The sensors themselves are not very expensive, and you might even want to replace them every few years as part of routine maintenance. To test the gauge in question, remove the wire from the sending unit, start the car, and momentarily ground the wire, then reconnect. If the gauge moves at all, the sending unit is probably bad. If it doesn’t move, then the gauge is bad.

If you’ve checked the wiring and gauges, then the next place to look is the alternator area. It’s possible that you have a bad voltage regulator, and that would definitely affect your gauges almost instantly. They also go bad with time and usage, and are not usually a problem to find or replace. But while you’re there, be sure to inspect the wiring going to the alternator itself. Notice that the wires are of a heavier gauge; that’s due to the heat and voltage load that the wires have to endure every time you drive the car. Now those wires can break loose from brittleness, or pull away, or rub against metal, or arc electricity over to the block….get the picture? And your gauges will reflect this abnormal behavior. This is a SERIOUS and POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS situation! In fact, when you buy a new or remanufactured alternator, there is sometimes a new wiring harness included for the alternator that you MUST install. There have been fires under the hoods of Ford autos with bad alternator wiring. So please inspect the wiring as soon as you can, and if you do get a new alternator, either install the new wiring yourself or have a shop do it for you. No matter the expense…it’s worth it to save your car from a potential disaster.

If this still hasn’t helped then you must look to the rest of the ignition system: the starter solenoid, distributor cap/rotor, spark plugs/wires, or your even battery itself can cause the gauges to work erratically. Obviously if you have an amp gauge, you should notice the level drop (or the light will come on if you have a light); that indicates a big time problem somewhere—be sure to have it checked out ASAP. And, if all else fails, you go right back to Point A: the gauges themselves. Now they are usually pretty reliable, but they can conk out on you. It’s usually best to check them last though, just to make sure the rest of the system is operating correctly.

So what about the speedometer and tachometer? Well, the 1983-84 Cougars have a traditional speedometer cable that attaches to the transmission housing. If the cable squeaks really loudly and consistently, there could be a lack of lubrication or even a faulty speedometer head (gauge), but usually that indicates that the cable should be replaced.

Beginning in 1985, all Cougars have electronic speedometers. That’s right, no cable; the signal is sent to the computer (again, via a sensor on the transmission called the vehicle speed sensor, or VSS), and it in turn sends the information to the speedometer. The Cougars and Thunderbirds were actually one of the few Fords in the mid-80’s to have electronically-fed speedos. So when the needle (or digital numbers) start to go wonky, the speedometer sensor on the transmission housing is the place to start.

The wiring is held on by one lonely little 11mm bolt; once removed, there’s a small colored gear on the end that goes inside the transmission casing. It’s called the speedometer driven gear(NOT the drive gear, which is internal) and the teeth can wear out, especially if you have a gear in an automatic transmission with over 21 teeth. Now you’ll need to take the gear off the VSS (one clip, very simple) and take it to the Ford dealer, where you can purchase/order a new one, or you can look for one online. Also, it could be a bad VSS unit; that’s known to happen with higher-mileage cars. Fortunately it’s cheap and should definitely help the situation. Again, keep in mind that the VSS is a direct hot line to the computer.

Now if the gear’s not bad, and the VSS isn’t bad, then your gauge has just gone on you. It’s a fairly expensive fix at a speedometer shop but you might be able to get one at the salvage yard. Now the digital speedos are a real nightmare. They’re designed to be tamper-proof…so that means they’re not meant to be fixed by a do-it-yourselfer. You either have to have it repaired professionally or force yourself to get another cluster and use it, with its incorrect odometer and all. No way to reset that either. The 1985-88 analog speedos (XR7’s and V8 sport models) are more traditional in design and will allow replacement or repair as necessary. If you suspect that you need your speedometer fixed, you can always use a search engine for a list of shops. They can usually give you a price quote over the phone or via e-mail.

The tachometers are also electronic. They run off the signal from the ignition coil, by the strut tower nearest the battery (dark green wire with the white stripe). If you happen to have bad wiring then the tach signal can go erratic. But the biggest offender to a bad tach reading is a faulty wire running from the coil to the distributor cap…you know, the spark plug wire-looking wire. If you have the original or an old wire that could be your problem.

As you can see, the causes for erratic gauge behavior are plentiful. Whenever you start to deal with electricity on a Ford vehicle, you’re in for a real treat, so be prepared for the worst and hopefully you’ll come out on top very quickly. Remember, the gauges are the windows to the inner workings of your car, whether intentional or faulty.

If it hasn’t happened to you yet, it eventually will. One day, you’ll start up the car, and even with plenty of gas in the tank, the fuel gauge simply won’t move. The good news is that it’s probably not the gauge itself so that typically eliminates messing with the dash cluster. But the bad news is, the fuel gauge sending unit in the gas tank is probably shot. Now you may wish to have a mechanic do this for you. The tank must be lowered in order to get the sending unit out; lowering the tank is usually easy, getting the old unit out isn’t. It’s usually rusted in the tank pretty good, so getting the snap ring to cooperate with you is a chore. Otherwise, it comes out just like a fuel pump.

In the meantime, you can use your trip odometer to calculate your gas mileage. For V6 and V8 cars, you should have about 1/4 tank at 225-275 miles. For the turbo-4 XR7, you have a smaller gas tank (18 gallons vs. 22 gallonsfor the V6/V8) but you also get better gas mileage, so you can go to about 300 miles with 1/4 tank left. It’s not perfect but this will generally work well until you get the sending unit changed.

By all means, if you have any qualms about tackling this job yourself, DON’T do it. Take it to a shop and pay the money; it’s worth every cent for you not having to mess with it.

If you are going to change the sending unit yourself, though, here’s some info you’ll need to know.

– When getting a new sending unit, be sure to specify whether you have an electronic or analog gas gauge. There is definitely a difference between the two, and if you end up getting the wrong one, your gauge will work the opposite of normal.

– It is possible to have your stock sending unit rebuilt. Check your local shops to see if they offer this service; if not, a quick search engine query should help you out. You may need to send it away, and it will take some time to get the unit back, so plan accordingly.

For more information about sending units, please see the Fuel System section above.

The digital speedometer on 1985-88 cars had a built-in reminder to take the car in for routine services, such as an oil change. It is simply meant as a reminder and is not a strict schedule per se, but it does give you a gentle reminder to keep routine maintenance in the forefront.

To remove the SERVICE reminder, simply press the TRIP and TRIP RESET buttons simultaneously and hold for a few seconds, until you hear 3 beeps. The SERVICE reminder will then go out.

If you have just an S in a circle on the speedometer display, that indicates a replacement speedometer module. More information about removing the S warning can be found here.

If your Cougar is equipped with automatic temperature control (ATC, also known as electronic climate control, or ECC), you know that the system usually performs quite well. The Ford ATC system was designed to make the interior temperature of the car more automatic, meaning less fidgeting with the controls. It’s not that sliding the lever or flicking a switch with a manual system is bad. It’s just that ATC is more associated with luxury cars. The down side is that behind the dash, you have the potential for a lot more problems. For example, on a manual system, sliding the temperature lever physically moves a cable from the panel to the blend door. With ATC, that function is controlled electronically via a signal from the head unit to the blend door actuator (servo motor). All brush-style motors will have the eventual degradation and disintegration of the internal brush contacts. So if you’ve had your car for awhile or plan on keeping it indefinitely, and you have ATC, chances are you’re going to run into a problem somewhere down the line. Add the fact that there are lots of electronic sensors both under the dash and in the engine compartment for this system, and you can really have a mess on your hands.

One of the first signs of a problem with the ATC system is the flashing display. The head unit (where you push the buttons) does a self-diagnostic as it’s running. If it finds an actuator fault it will flash the display. Fortunately you can test the unit and get the error code yourself:

1. Make sure the car is sufficiently warm, at least 50 degrees F (10 degrees C).
2. Push OFF/AUTO and DEFROST at the same time, then press A/C within 2 seconds.
3. The code will display. This self-test will stop all normal functions of the ATC unit.
4. Exit the self test by pressing the COOL button.

When you get the code, compare it to this chart:

Now a code 09 or 88 doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s nothing wrong with the system; it simply means that the self-test didn’t find anything wrong. If you are experiencing a problem and you get either of these two codes, then obviously something’s still amiss in the system.

Another problem is getting cold or warm air when you’re not supposed to, or getting air out of vents that aren’t selected on the head unit. These problems are more often associated with an actuator. When the actuators start to die, they won’t fully open or close their respective doors.

If you have no blower motor power at all, try changing the blower controller. This is also a common problem, and changing the controller (or even just the fuse for the controller) usually does the trick.

Now we don’t want to ruin your day, but with a good number of these codes, replacing the ATC head unit is commonly the solution to a problem. You cannot buy a new ATC unit from a Ford dealer, so you’ll need to find one at a salvage yard or via eBay. Physically changing the unit is not really all that bad.

Finally, there are lots of different tests that you can perform (if you’re so inclined) to isolate a problem. There are too many to list here; shop manuals list at least 13 different procedures. A lot of them include measuring voltage between connectors. If you don’t want to mess with this system on your own, about your only choice would be to take the car to a Ford dealer, or to a mechanic that knows a lot about the Ford ATC system. This can be quite an expensive repair so be prepared.

Another very common thing to go wrong on these cars (aside from the inoperative dash lights) is the failure of your power windows to operate. Your problem will typically fall under two different areas:

A. The window goes up or down REALLY slow or not at all

or

B. You have seem to have good power but the window still won’t go down or up

In the case of A, your motor’s contact brushes have probably disintegrated. Over time, this happens to any sweep-contact type of motor (your alternator and voltage regulator are another example of this). So it’s not anyone’s faults except for Father Time and usage; quite a normal thing really. Good news is, you can get the motor rebuilt, or perhaps be able to hunt one down in the salvage yards. Or you can even buy them new at the Ford dealer (beware of sticker shock), through parts stores, or via eBay. Buyer beware, however: we’ve experienced bad new aftermarket motors from eBay.

If you’re the adventurous type and would like to diagnose the problem yourself, here’s how to do it. First, remove the door panel and insulation, and find the wires going to the power window motor. They’re on the bottom, in the hole toward the front of the car, and should be either pink/black or yellow/black in color. Next, determine the power wires—you’ll have two:  one to make the window go down, the other for going up. Skin back each wire a bit (usually about 1/2″ is sufficient), and turn the ignition key on but do not start the car. Then you’ll need a 12v battery charger. Touch the 12v positive clamp onto one wire, and the 12v negative on the other wire. (Might have to use trial and error here). Your window should go one way or the other with no problem. Then, do the opposite—touch the 12v positive clamp to the opposite wire and the 12v negative clamp to the remaining wire (reversing polarity). The window should go the other direction smoothly. If all goes as written here, that means with a pure 12 volts going to each direction, your motor is not putting out 12v, and that indicates a rebuild (or replacement) is necessary. Nine times out of ten, this is the culprit. (Be sure to properly tape up the exposed wires before going any further). Now for some reason, the window always seems to go up and down slower than stock after a rebuild. But they can be very inexpensive; we’ve paid as little as $40 for a rebuild. Quite a bargain, especially since you don’t have to risk cutting yourself up.

However, if you want to tackle a motor rebuild yourself, Robert has pass along this information: “I had a different failure and it happened on both windows over time. The motor worked fine but the gears inside had completely broken. When searching for the parts to fix it, I found them labeled on RockAuto.com and at Autozone over the counter under window regulator – Dorman part number 74426. It’s basically a 45-tooth gear with a 9-tooth gear glued to it. The failure occurs when the glue connecting the two gears fails which allows the gears to spin independently of each other and thus the window will not go up and down. I ended up drilling out all the regulator and window glass rivets and removing the entire regulator and the window glass, but in retrospect it might be possible to get to the motor alone without removing and having to reinstall all that. If you do remove the regulator, it is spring loaded so you need a helper, and the motor needs to be reinstalled at the center of the travel (thus the need for a helper again). To change the gear in the motor, remove the motor from the car of regulator by removing three small screws. Then you can open the cap and see the gear that need to be changed. To get it out though, I believe you need also remove the long gear screw. I had done it first so even that might not be necessary. If you do need to, remove the two long bolts that hold the cover on the motor case and pull it out. Once you do that you should be able to remove the gear, clean the broken parts and install the new one. To reinstall the long threaded screw with the armature you need to remove the bottom of the motor case with the brushes too. Just knock it off with a screw driver then reset the springs and brushes, insert the armature, then with your helper again holding the motor case, slide it back over the armature making sure the brushes are properly seated. From there you should be able to install the new replacement gear and reinstall everything. Lots of detail work with little parts, plus tons of drilling and re-riveting if you need to remove the regulator but this is a $15-$25 fix if you can DIY.”

If your problem sounds like B above, better read up…there are many things associated with this area as well. Probably the most common thing is the window glass physically separating from the plastic clip holding it in (1987-88). Again, due to time, the glue gets brittle then lets the glass slip out. Now it may be possible to use some kind of epoxy to reglue the glass back into the clip, but we’ve been told by several people that there’s not much success in doing that. The Ford garages usually just order whole new windows; the clip comes glued on them already. Plus, to reinstall the clip requires a 1/4″ rivet gun, and that’s like a $300 piece! Your best bet would be to call or visit an automotive glass specialist and see if they can help you. They can also order the clips in aluminum now, which is much better and way more reliable. Jason has reported that using Gorilla Glue has worked; it’s been over 2 years with no problems. Several people note that they got special adhesive from glass shops. The key to getting any kind of adhesive to work is to sand the glass in the attachment area, and to thoroughly clean everything with degreaser before applying the cement. If reusing the plastic clips, drilling holes in the plastic seems to help with providing more adhesion.

Dennis has passed along some information about the above window clip problem. “You can tell your viewers not to bother using any over-the-counter adhesives or epoxies, believe me I tried them all. There is no substitute for the glass adhesive that can only be gotten from an auto glass shop. They don’t like to sell it to civilians, because it is extremely toxic and is very bad news if you get any of it on your skin. Once I described my problem to them, they sold it to me. The owner said he repairs 2 or 3 Cougars a month with this problem. Once you have the glue, the job is not bad. The key to success is you have to make sure you get all the old glue off the window before you apply new. The glue cost $8.00 and I’m back in business!”

It’s also possible that the regulator (scissors mechanism) could be bent or binding up on some object inside the door. A loose guide or bent door lock rod would definitely do that. Or it could have simply slipped off the track entirely. Whatever the case, if you’ve got what you feel is good power to the motor itself, then one of these problems are what you’re looking for. If you’re careful enough you can probably fix it yourself with little effort. All it requires is that you remove the inner door panel and insulation, and you’ve got access to almost everything inside the door. A little tip: before you reach your arm inside the door, please remember that the metal is very sharp and WILL cut you up in a heartbeat. An old trick is to slit some rubber hose longways and push it over the metal, then you can work inside the door with ease.

Lastly, you may have a bad window switch. It’s not a common thing to happen, but if you’ve accidentally spilled something down in the area of the switch, it could either prevent good contact or short out the switch. The switch can be wiggled off its base and cleaned, in case you need to check it out.

If all else fails, please see an auto glass place—they’ve run into everything that can possibly happen to auto glass and will have an answer for you.

With these cars getting older, some creature comfort and luxury features are starting to wear out. Nowhere is this more evident than with the power door locks. One day they work fine, the next they might stop altogether. This section will help you to troubleshoot the power door locks.

Really, power door locks in our cars run from a pretty simple system. Power from the fuse box is fed through relays (behind the dash on 1983-86 cars, underneath the passenger seat on 1987-88 cars), which is then fed to the switches on either door panel. From there the power is fed to the door lock actuators which are buried inside the door, behind the door panels. Here are some basic procedures for tracking down the problem:

• If you press the door lock button (both the “lock” and “unlock”) and hear the relays clicking in both directions, then the problem is more than likely with the actuator or the switch.
• If you don’t hear the relays clicking, or hear one but not the other, then you have a bad relay.

If a switch or relay change does not solve the problem, you will pretty much have no choice but to remove the door panel and at least test the stock power door lock actuator. The actuator is usually a goldish or silver color with a rubber boot, and is attached to a bracket that is pop-riveted onto the door frame. The hook end of the actuator loops through the door latch mechanism. It’s a pretty tight reach into the area so be careful (and also remember to put your window up first!).

Your first instinct may be to just punch out the pop rivet to remove the actuator, and that’s fine. Upon reinstallation you’ll need to use a bolt, nut and some washers (or another large pop rivet, if you have access to one). However, Jason has passed along this alternate method of removing the actuator: Reach your arm inside the door and grab hold of the actuator. There is a bracket that holds the actuator (you know the one, most of you drilled the rivet to remove it). The actuator has two pins that hold it to the bracket. Twist it, one of the pins will come out of the bracket. Then pop the other side out.

Now that it’s out of the bracket, unhook it from the door latch. The wiring harness simply pulls off from the bottom. Once the hook is off the latch mechanism (just be patient), you can fully remove the actuator from the door. To test it, get the harness from inside the door and plug it back into the actuator. Use your power door lock switch to see if the rod does indeed move up and down. If not, or if you have sporadic success, then you will definitely need to get another actuator.

About that new actuator: if you’re thinking about taking a trip to the Ford dealer to order a new one, you won’t find it listed for a Cougar or Thunderbird. At last check it was available for a Lincoln Mark VII, though. Or you can use a Mustang actuator. Basically most Ford vehicles used the same actuator. The only thing that differs is the rod, with both its length and its end configuration. Some rods have an “S” shape, and some have a “J”-shaped hook. It really all depends on the options your car has (keyless entry, illuminated entry, etc.) as to which type of rod is used. The main goal is to try get a replacement actuator with the same type of rod already installed; however, you can use any actuator and just switch over your rod, if you so wish. There is a keeper lock with ball bearings inside that can be removed to allow rod swapping. It is a little tricky but can be done if you’re patient.

There are some companies, such as A1 Electric, that offer door lock actuator kits with lots of different rod types in the same kit, so that you can create exactly what you need. These kits are probably available on eBay or Amazon as well.

You can always get a used actuator from the boneyard, and that’s okay. Just be aware that you may end up with a bad one, or one that will go bad perhaps sooner than later.

Before you install your new or used door lock actuator, lift up the rubber boot and apply some white lithium grease. This will keep it lubricated for a long time and keep water from infiltrating the mechanism.

The 1985-88 cars had a redesigned hood release that was moved to the driver’s side kick panel, instead of underneath the column like on previous cars. It seems that over time, the hood release mounts can break off, leaving a perfectly intact cable but no leverage with which to open the hood. A lot of people just try to find a whole new hood release assembly, cable and all, and install that. It’s not a fun job. But now, there is a way to save your broken hood release assembly and permanently reattach it to the kick panel area, without having to go through the hassle of replacing the entire thing.

Ron’s Performance Garage recently designed a new hood release cable mount repair kit that is 3D printed, and encases the brittle plastic mount area in the new substrate so that it can’t break again. This is a fantastic way to save your old hood release, or to just bolster up your existing one before it does break.

The kit comes complete with instructions for super easy installation. You can purchase the kit from Ron’s eBay page or via Facebook.

Most of you with column shifters probably don’t have a problem with the gear indicator lining up, but someday you might, or maybe it’s happening already. This section will show you how to fix the problem. It requires only basic tools and not much effort.

First thing to do, as usual, is to disconnect the battery. Remove the collar from around the tilt wheel lever, if your car is equipped as such. It simply unsnaps from the left side. Then remove the 5 screws from the bottom of the steering column cover. You may have to remove the trim from the dash directly underneath the column as well. The bottom half of the cover should come off, and then you can begin the adjustment.

You will notice a white plasic collar that is fastened to the actual steering column shaft. There will be a very thin red-colored cable on the left side; that is the cable that goes to the needle on the instrument cluster. On the righthand side is a 7mm screw. This is your adjuster.

ADJUSTING THE INDICATOR

All you need to do is loosen the screw, and turn the collar until the needle lines up, then carefully clamp down the screw. This is a very delicate procedure though. The plastic can very easily snap if you overtighten the screw. And if you ever remove the collar, it can break in half while trying to get it off the column shaft. We recommend that you do this procedure in warm weather, or inside a heated garage if it’s cold outside, in order to get the plastic to a temperature where it won’t break as easily.

If your collar does happen to break, you could use duct tape on it (super glue will not hold). We’ve done it before and it works just fine, although you may need to lube up the column underneath the adjuster to allow the collar to slide easier. Jimmy has also suggested using a simple radiator hose clamp—just open it all the way up and wrap it around.

Should the red cable becomes disconnected for whatever reason, it’s not very fun to fish back over the loop on the collar, so take your time. Now if the cable breaks, Louis has found a solution: “We found a steel cable with small crimps (we think it’s for hanging pictures) in the Walmart fabric department. It works like a charm, and there’s enough cable and crimps to do at least 4 repairs.”

If you own a 1985-88 Cougar with the optional equalizer (Premium Sound required), then you may have run across a common problem: the power button not staying locked in on the EQ. Over the years we’ve seen this time and time again, and probably the most common “solution” is to jam a toothpick next to the POWER button, cut it off, maybe dab the wood with a Sharpie, and there’s your instant free fix. It’s not professional, but it does seem to get the job done.

However, if you DO want a more professional fix, Shanon offers a solution:

“This repair allows for the use of the stock EQ but please note that once this has been done, it can no longer be turned off.

“If the power button on the EQ does not work, do the following:

1. Remove the EQ from the dash and take it inside or to a place where you can work and not lose parts. You will need a hot glue gun or silicone sealant, a soldering iron, flux, solder, needle nose pliers, standard pliers and various small screwdrivers and a little common sense and ability to solder (minimal experience is necessary, be sure to use the flux on all parts prior to soldering them or the solder will not work.)

2. Disassemble the case of the EQ carefully and take note of how it came apart. You will need to remove the face of the EQ as well. To do this pull on the slide covers until they pop off and remove the Balance knob. Remove the face of the EQ carefully and set all the parts aside. Next remove the nut around the balance knob and pull on the power and “EQ lights” buttons and set them aside. Remove the bottom black plastic cover. This should leave you wtih a piece of electronics equipment that looks very little like what you started with, but this is what must be done. Next, remove the screw on the left side top of the eq and push the side panel away from the body. Next, locate the two white push plugs that secure the top circuit panel to the bottom. After you have unfastened these, open the EQ like a clam shell.

3. Locate the bottom of the POWER switch. Heat the soldering iron and remove the switch by unsoldering the entire 8 pin unit from the circuit board. This takes some patience but it can be done by using a hot soldering iron on the back of the switch and constant pull on the front. Run the iron over the back connectors while pulling on the front. Do this multiple times and eventually you will get it. Next you will need to connect the holes that are left by soldering in between them in pairs of 2. Solder #1 hole to #2 hole, #3 hole to #4 hole and so on. Be sure NO solder gets between the pairs or it won’t work. After this is finished, take the unit to the car and plug it in and make sure it works before reassembling it. If it does not work, check that your soldering job is clean and does not touch any other group. If it does work and it will if you did it right, gut the switch and glue it back up so that it looks right but doesn’t work. Glue it back into the stock location once there is no metal left in it to short out the job. This will allow the EQ to have a stock appearance, though the switch won’t work. Reassemble the unit very methodically until it looks correct and there are no parts left over. Reinstall the unit in the car and enjoy.”