Just over a year ago , I bought a 92 cougar with a 3.8 from a friend. The car runs great when it is cold but when it warms up (after 5-10 min) it begins to run very badly. It bucks and sputters and dies after about 20 min or so but the colder it is outside the longer it takes before it starts acting up. Eventually it will die and will not start until the car has cooled all the way down.Once it is cool , it starts back up and drives like a new car until it heats up again.It doesn't always happen on short trips in the middle of winter but in the warmer months it is guaranteed to happen. This car has been doing this for at least 3 years now and I would like to find the problem. The person who owned it before me gave up trying to fix it after it had been to almost every dealership in town and being told there is nothing wrong with the car because it doesn't throw any codes and didn't act up on the short test drives. The only place that told him anything was wrong told him he needed new heads and 2 weeks and $1100 later it still acted the same was on the way home from the shop. He got fed up and parked the car and didn't even start it for over 2 years until I bought it from him. Almost everyone I asked said it sounded like the ICM.
2 weeks ago I replaced the ignition control module, I kept the old one in the car and when it left me stranded I plugged in the old ICM but the car still would not start until it had cooled off. A few people told me since it was not the ICM that it was the stater. I got a new stater-pick up coil and replaced it along with plugs cap and rotor but the car still does the exact same thing. It is getting good fuel pressure and the engine is not overheating. When it acts up the check engine light does not come on and all the gauges are normal. If anyone has any ideas please let me know. I am at my wits end and I really do like the car and don't want to send it to the junkyard. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks. ( Sorry the question was so long )
2 weeks ago I replaced the ignition control module, I kept the old one in the car and when it left me stranded I plugged in the old ICM but the car still would not start until it had cooled off. A few people told me since it was not the ICM that it was the stater. I got a new stater-pick up coil and replaced it along with plugs cap and rotor but the car still does the exact same thing. It is getting good fuel pressure and the engine is not overheating. When it acts up the check engine light does not come on and all the gauges are normal. If anyone has any ideas please let me know. I am at my wits end and I really do like the car and don't want to send it to the junkyard. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks. ( Sorry the question was so long )