Changing Spark Plugs and Plug Wires on a 1999 Mercury Cougar V6

The old Cougar developed a misfire. Sometimes when I hit the gas, it would hiccup or go chug-a-chug, especially if it was below 2000 RPMs. It would also lose power when starting from a stop, so it seemed like I didn't know how to work the clutch right. I bet my kid was wondering why I couldn't work the clutch right. Once, the check engine light started flashing at me when I didn't let off the gas while it was misfiring. At night, in the dark, without any lights on, you could see blue rings of electricity going up and down the spark plug wires, especially when I revved the engine.

Cylinder 4 (front of the engine, front of the car) had some misfires counted up on the computer when I scanned it. Also, the O2 sensor #1 on bank 2 (same side as cylinder 4) was taking longer to warm-up than bank 1. I figured I'd just do plugs and wires together. But before I could get to it, the check engine light came on for P0420, catalyst efficiency below threshold.

I decided on a set of NGK wires and NGK Laser Platinum spark plugs. I was going to try the NGK laser iridium plugs that had an iridium center electrode with a platinum tipped ground electrode, but RockAuto.com was out of stock. I really like the performance of double platinum plugs, so I'm still happy I got the Laser Platinum plugs.

Judging by the wear on the old Motorcraft spark plugs, I'm guessing that they were in there since the car came from the factory. If the plugs were original, then the Motorcraft wires on the car were probably original too.

The new plugs were pre-gapped to 0.044". The old plugs were worn much wider.

I measured them with a ramp gauge after I took them out.
Plug #1: 0.075"
Plug #2: 0.071"
Plug #3: 0.067"
Plug #4: 0.092"
Plug #5: 0.089"
Plug #6: 0.089"

I was a little worried about cylinder 6 after it was still tight when I turned it 1/8th turn, so I squirted some WD-40 down the hole and turned the plug back and forth until it was a little looser, before backing it all the way out. This is just one of those things I do by experience. When you're loosening any bolt and it stays tight, or gets tighter, don't continue loosening it. Work it back and forth with WD-40.

Here, you can see the plugs from cylinders #4, 5, and 6 had about twice the gap they should have. I normally wouldn't post about such a routine job, but I had to show you the huge gaps on these plugs.

The new spark plugs are threaded longer, but that just means they fit more cars. Since there's no washer on these (just a tapered seat), the spark plug box recommended 1/16 turn to tighten them.

Before installing the new plugs, I put a little anti-sieze compound on the threads. This should prevent the new plugs from binding and damaging the threads the next time they need to be removed.

Before installing the plug wires, I put dielectric grease (included in the plug wire box) on both ends of the plug wires. This will keep moisture out, and also prevents the plug wires from gluing themselves to the plugs.

Even though it's a sideways V6, getting to the back three cylinders wasn't too bad. The worst part about the job was that it was freezing cold outside.

Now that it's done, it's really nice to drive without any misfires.

How to Fix a Westinghouse LD-4680

Our friends were given a 46" LED LCD TV that didn't work. The previous owners were watching TV when it just turned off. It sounded like it was worth a shot to try and fix.

With the TV plugged in, there was no LED, no beep, no picture, no signs of life. 

When I unplugged the power supply from the TV, it measured 19V as it should. I grabbed an old 19V Dell laptop charger and plugged it in to the TV and the green light on the power supply turned off. I figured the TV was shorting out the power supply.

So I checked the internet and found that a common problem was the LED ribbon cables short out. I went straight for the common problem, hoping nothing else was wrong. This was one of those lucky cases. Here's how I did it.

Take the stand off the TV by removing the six screws. If you're following along, I hope you have enough sense to lay the TV flat before removing the stand.

Remove the back, by removing the screws around the perimeter and the two screws near the I/O ports. Slowly lift the back cover, being careful because the cable for the buttons is attached. You can peel off the tape and unplug the wire.

The five screws along the top row are machine thread screws. Also the two screws next to the inputs are machine threads.

Remove the small metal panel (centered between the two speakers) by removing four screws.

Remove the screw holding the remote sensor to the front bezel. Then remove the front bezel (the front frame around the entire TV).

Remove the 15 clips that secure the front glass in place.

Remove the screws that secure the plastic trim pieces on the sides and bottom.

After removing the bottom plastic strip, you can see the LED bars and the ribbon connectors on the edges, one on each side. The usual problem is a short between the ribbon cable and the aluminum light bar frame. 

I left the top plastic piece in there because I didn't want to deal with all the LCD panel connections. But I removed the side and bottom black plastic strips.

I lifted up the panel, including the plastic sheet at the bottom and unscrewed the LED light bars using a right angle screwdriver. I used the speakers as spacers to hold up the display panel.

You can disconnect the ribbon cable by flipping the socket's black lever up, then sliding the ribbon cable out of the slot. This style of connector is commonly used with this type of ribbon cable. I then cut and attached black electrical tape around the edge of the light bar.

Carefully re-insert the ribbon cable and flip the black lever closed to secure the ribbon cable in place. Then screw in the light bar and it should look like this. I had to peel the cable off the frame to get a little more slack to screw in the light bar.

Here's a quick power-on test before re-assembling the TV. It works, so it's going back together.

Here's the TV connected to a computer as a monitor. There are a few LEDs not working on the bottom left. It looks like a connection problem. I'm not very motivated to take it apart again. Allow yourself about two to three hours for this repair if you decide to try it.

Fixing My Car With a Little Help from Above

I've rebuild a couple power steering pumps because it's so much cheaper to buy the rebuild kit and it usually isn't hard. But this time, I probably should have bought the remanufactured pump instead. It would have been worth spending the extra $35.

My new-to-me 1999 Cougar had a leak, so I thought I'd fix it. It seemed like it had an oil leak coming from under the power steering pump. I took the belt off, and was having trouble getting the pulley off the pump because the engine mount was in the way. Time to get serious. I pulled out the coolant reservoir, jacked up the engine, removed the engine mount, power steering pulley, and the cover plate over the power steering pump.

Disconnecting the power steering hoses made a mess and I couldn't tell where the leak was anyway. So I put it back together. I made a bigger leak. This time it was running down the side of the engine and was obvious that the shorty pressure tube had a bad o-ring. No kudos to Ford engineers this time. Instead of being able to just put a new o-ring on, I had to buy a new $5 part for $25.

Teflon o-rings? Really, Ford? One-time use and that's it. Destroyed. They don't even fit right brand-new. Time for teflon tape instead. Apparently it works just as well.

After a few days, I was still smelling oil burning on the exhaust pipe. Since the power steering fluid level seemed a little lower than I remembered it, and the pump was wet with oil, I figured I'd rebuild it. It shouldn't be too hard.

This time I went straight for the coolant reservoir first, then the engine mount, and then the belt, pulley, and cover plate on the power steering pump. It was much easier this time. I figured I'd be done in an hour. My wife is used to my time estimates for working on cars. She doubles my estimate, and then adds another 50%. I figured that sounds better than saying she triples it.

After a quick look-over on the pump, it was obvious I had to remove the circular clip on the back of the pump. After a half-hour of trying to pick at it, I managed to rotate it and see the hole in the side. If I'd only read the instructions . . .

Poke the pick through the hole and voila! I popped the back cover off and proceeded to take it apart. Then I got to the little clip that holds the shaft on. I figured a pair of 45 degree needle nose pliers should do the trick. I heard the clip go bing! ting ting ting. [Don't ask me to do the sound again.] Okay, it must have landed somewhere on the other side of my table.

After looking around on the floor for a minute, I figured this was going to be a lost cause. I'd have to take a trip into town and waste two hours to buy a 25 cent clip, if they even had the right size. It was time to ask for help. Please, God, if it's your will, please help me find that clip. I opened my eyes and saw it sitting down inside a bracket on the lawn mower deck. Wow. I don't think I've ever seen such a speedy answer to prayer. 

I replaced the two o-rings inside the pump, the one on the back cover, the front seal, and aligned all the parts back together. It was kind of a pain getting the insides lined up and back together. I must have taken the back off at least four times trying to get it back together. The kit didn't have a replacement teflon ring for one of the plugs, so I used an o-ring. I think it's holding, but I'm not sure. I could have left it alone and been fine.

On the pressure hose, I didn't want to totally squash the new teflon o-ring, so I didn't tighten it all the way down. That was a mistake. Although it wasn't leaking when I put it back together, it was by the next day. I made another oil mess on my driveway. I tightened the pressure hose fitting until it stopped. Apparently the teflon ring isn't what holds the pressure in. Maybe it's just to keep dirt out.

Right now, electric power steering sounds really nice. There's no fluid to leak out. I still don't know if I fixed all the leaks.

How to Build a GPS Navigation PC in Linux

For this project, I used my old Acer Aspire One D257 netbook PC and a
GlobalSat BU-353-S4 USB GPS receiver (or see the GlobalSat web site)

The total cost was only about $35, just the cost of the GPS receiver.

Brief Overview

1. Install a Linux operating system.
2. Install gpsd, xgps, and Navit.
3. Copy /etc/navit.xml to ~/.navit/navit.xml
4. Download a map from openstreetmap. Copy to ~/.navit/maps/yourmap.bin
5. Edit ~/.navit/navit.xml 

Software Installation Details

Operating System
For the operating system, I installed the 64 bit version of Lubuntu by writing the .iso image onto a 2GB micro SD card using the USB image writer program that came with Linux Mint 17. Then I inserted the card into a USB card reader and booted the netbook PC from the USB port.

After I installed the Lubuntu version of Linux, I had to play around with the settings in the Lubuntu Software Center so that it would update the available package list. Even then, searches were still agonizingly slow.

GPS Software
Once the software center started working, I installed Navit navigation software.

Then I installed gpsd. It makes it easy to get the GPS receiver working. And it works well with Navit.

I also installed xgps to test the GPS receiver. If you type xgps in a terminal, it will give you the link to install it if you don't already have it.

To test the GPS receiver, the instructions that came with it said to use the following commands:

su root
 
stty -F /dev/ttyUSB0 ispeed 4800 && cat < /dev/ttyUSB0

This didn't work out so well, or at all. It works if you split up the second command into two parts. Then you get to see gibberish. That's not a verification test in my opinion.

Here's how you test to see if the USB GPS receiver is working.

1. Install gpsd. If you don't already have it, type gpsd in a terminal, and it will tell you the command to install it. Then you can highlight it and middle-click it onto the command line.

2. Plug in the USB GPS receiver.

3. Run gpsd. But you need to specify where your GPS device is. If you just try the command gpsd without any command line arguments, you'll get this error:

gpsd:ERROR: can't run with neither control socket nor devices

So I used the following command to tell gpsd to look at USB port 0:

gpsd /dev/ttyUSB0

4. Run xgps. Once the red LED starts flashing on the BU-353-S4, it's locked onto your GPS location. You should see a list of satellites and a picture of the sky view. (I had to re-boot my desktop PC after installing the software before xgps showed satellites.) Since I don't want to publicly share my GPS location, here's a screenshot of the program without any satellite data, before I re-booted my computer:

Setup Navit

Download a map from the navit planet extractor. It uses maps from openstreetmap.org
Zoom in on the map area you want to download, then under map controls, click select. Then click on Get map! It will download the file to your Downloads folder.

Create a folder called maps in ~/.navit/
(The folder will be created after you run Navit for the first time.)
Rename your map file to something like UT.bin
Move your map file to ~/.navit/maps/

Edit navit.xml
Copy /etc/navit/navit.xml to ~/.navit/navit.xml
You can use this command:

cp /etc/navit/navit.xml ~/.navit/

Use gedit to edit ~/.navit/navit.xml

Search for openstreetmaps and it will find this section:

<!-- If you dont want to use the sample map, either set enabled="no" in the next line or remove the xml file from the maps directory -->
        <mapset enabled="yes">
            <xi:include href="$NAVIT_SHAREDIR/maps/*.xml"/>
        </mapset>

        <!-- Mapset template for openstreetmaps -->
        <mapset enabled="no">
            <map type="binfile" enabled="yes" data="/media/mmc2/MapsNavit/osm_europe.bin"/>
        </mapset>

Change it to this (changed text is in bold).

<!-- If you dont want to use the sample map, either set enabled="no" in the next line or remove the xml file from the maps directory -->
        <mapset enabled="no">
            <xi:include href="$NAVIT_SHAREDIR/maps/*.xml"/>
        </mapset>

        <!-- Mapset template for openstreetmaps -->
        <mapset enabled="yes">
            <map type="binfile" enabled="yes" data="~/.navit/maps/UT.bin"/>
        </mapset>

Save your changes to navit.xml.

Run Navit
You should be ready to run Navit now. If you have your GPS unit plugged in and xgps shows satellites and your location, Navit should start with your map loaded and your GPS location circled.

Click on the map and it will disappear and show you a menu.
To navigate, click on actions, then click on town.
Type in the town you want to navigate to. Click on the suggestion.
Then click on Streets. Type in the street name. Click on the suggestion.
Then click on House numbers and type in the house number. This step never works for me. So hit escape or click the green check mark to go back.

You can add it as a bookmark or set it as a destination. Adding it as a bookmark is good if you don't want to enter it every time. Since the house numbers feature isn't working for me, after I click "set as destination", it plots the route on the map, but ends up at the wrong place on the right street.

I haven't yet actually used it to navigate, so I'll probably update this post soon.

Moonlight Savings Time

Today, we set our clocks back one hour to normal time. What if daylight savings time was reversed? Shall we have moonlight savings time? What if it was spring back, fall forward?

If the whole reason to have daylight savings time in the first place was to get more evening daylight hours, then why not have daylight savings time go the whole year? That way we'd never have to adjust our clocks. And on December 21st, instead of sunset being at 5:04 PM in Provo, UT, it would be at 6:04 PM. That sounds great until you realize that dawn would be at 8:46 AM.

Now, if we actually had DST last all year, people would adjust their schedules accordingly. But DST forces people to get up to go to work earlier, and entices them to stay up later. In the winter, we don't have kids playing outside at 9:00 pm because by then it has been dark for hours (and cold). Yet in the summer, kids are playing outside until well past 9:00 pm.

What if we changed our work schedules along with daylight savings time? On March 20, we set our clocks forward an hour, and went to work an hour later. Then on November 2, we set our clocks back an hour, and went to work an hour earlier. Work would start at 8:00 am in the winter, and 9:00 am in the summer.

Setting clocks forward an hour benefits people who like to stay up late and can still get up early. But if we instead set the clocks back an hour, it could benefit everyone. We could alternate years, and could switch our clocks back an hour for the summer, and the next year, set our clocks forward for the summer.

That way sunrise would be at 3:57 AM on June 21st, and sunset would be at 7:00 PM. Since it would be dark in the evening, we could get to bed on time, and we could be able to get up on time in the morning for work.

Here's a table of sunrise and sunset times for Provo, UT. The times in bold are standard times. The columns under dawn and dusk are times without adjusting for daylight savings time. 

	1 hr advance	Dawn	1 hr delay	1 hr advance	Dusk	1 hr delay	1 hr advance	Solar Noon	1 hr delay
August 10	04:33 AM	05:33 AM	06:33 AM	06:30 PM	07:30 PM	08:30 PM	11:32 AM	12:32 PM	01:32 PM
Fall equinox Sep 22	05:14 AM	06:14 AM	07:14 AM	05:24 PM	06:24 PM	07:24 PM	11:19 AM	12:19 PM	01:19 PM
DST end November 2	05:57 AM	06:57 AM	07:57 AM	04:23 PM	05:23 PM	06:23 PM	11:10 AM	12:10 PM	01:10 PM
Winter solstice Dec 21	06:46 AM	07:46 AM	08:46 AM	04:04 PM	05:04 PM	06:04 PM	11:25 AM	12:25 PM	01:25 PM
DST start March 9	05:48 AM	06:48 AM	07:48 AM	05:27 PM	06:27 PM	07:27 PM	11:37 AM	12:37 PM	01:37 PM
Spring equinox March 20	05:30 AM	06:30 AM	07:30 AM	05:39 PM	06:39 PM	07:39 PM	11:34 AM	12:34 PM	01:34 PM
Summer solstice June 21	03:57 AM	04:57 AM	05:57 AM	07:00 PM	08:00 PM	09:00 PM	11:28 AM	12:28 PM	01:28 PM

Sounds crazy? I thought so. Here's a suggestion. How about we abolish daylight savings time? That way, we wouldn't have to worry about changing clocks. For the clocks that adjust for DST, you can also set them to not adjust for DST. So if your area doesn't observe DST, your clocks still work. It's already implemented in the hardware.

Replacing Rear Sway Bar Links on a 1999-2002 Mercury Cougar

There was a clunking sound coming from the back when the car would hit a bump, especially when one side ran over the bump. Looking at the suspension, I found that one of the rubber bushings on the sway bar link had come apart. So I decided to replace the entire link on both sides.

To take the link off, all you need to do is remove the nut on the bottom side, then remove the nut and bolt on the top side. Pull the link upwards out of the lower control arm. Then remove the bushing (or what's left of it). If the bushing is still intact, you can tear it out with pliers.

Installation isn't too difficult if you spray WD40 on the bushing before installing it on the lower control arm. Without some kind of lubrication, it won't go in. Push the bushing in until it's in the middle slot, as shown here. It will take some strength, but can be done by hand.

Lower control arm with stabilizer bushing installed

Then when you install the sway bar link, the bushing is locked in place and won't move. Tighten the top nut and bolt first, then tighten the bottom nut until it's tight. The nut will stop on the metal. The bushing will be squeezed while you're tightening it. Here's what it looks like with the new link.

New Mevotech MK80458 rear stabilizer link installed

Now it rides so much nicer without clunking over bumps.

Update 
15 August 2015 (ten months later)

The Mevotech sway bar bushings are already worn out. The rubber was too soft. The replacement bushings were less than six dollars, so I'm not going to bother to warranty these.

Mevotech sway bar bushings after 10 months of use

I replaced them with AC Delco part number 45G0103. These have much harder rubber, and were more difficult to install. So I used a long 8 mm bolt to compress it while poking it from the side with a screwdriver.

Here's a picture of the setup. I used large fender washers on the top and bottom of the bolt.

Installing stiffer bushings

Being basic black, the new bushings aren't as pretty as the blue ones, but they will work better being harder.

Diagnosing a speedometer failure on a 1999 Mercury Cougar

(Update) Bottom line: the VSS signal is too low for the instrument cluster. It needs at least 7.2V on the VSS signal wire at the instrument cluster for the speedometer to function. When the instrument panel is unplugged, the VSS puts out enough voltage. But when instrument panel is plugged in, it loads down the VSS signal voltage. Read on for the whole story. 


Original post
I just bought (Sept 2014) a 1999 Mercury Cougar that had a non-functioning speedometer. From what the previous owner told me, the speedometer stopped working maybe 6-8 months ago. It turns out that the last oil change sticker on the window was within about a thousand miles of the current odometer reading. The sticker was dated January 2011. Somebody has a poor estimation of time. The digital readout on the left side of the instrument cluster would sometimes read 1 or 2 MPH when set to average speed. But the speedometer needle was stuck at 0 MPH.

The first thing I did was check the OBD-II reading on the vehicle speed sensor. There was no code for a VSS problem. I can plug-in my bluetooth OBD-II and have the speed read out on my phone's Dash Command app. So this tells me the problem was not with my VSS.

Next, I checked the connections to the instrument cluster. When I unplugged the instrument cluster and plugged it back in and turned the key to on, the needles went to full and back to zero. The speedometer gauge itself seemed to be fine. So the problem was between the VSS and the gauge. The VSS to PCM was good because I could get data out of the OBD-II port.

The VSS signal goes to pin 9 on the white connector. It's a white/blue wire on my car. To test for signal there, I jacked up one front wheel, put it in neutral, and connected my volt meter between pin 9 and ground (frame). I rotated the tire by hand and saw the wire getting 12 volt pulses. That told me that the signal was getting to the instrument cluster.

The problem appears to be between the plug and the gauge. It sounds like I need a new instrument cluster. Ford part number 10849 for $338.46. For now, I'll just use my phone's app to tell me my speed.

While I was in there I decided to replace a mini instrument panel bulb that failed. The tiny bulbs are number 2721. For some reason, they aren't listed in the parts catalogues at auto parts stores.

I found an instrument cluster on ebay from a junkyard for $28 and ordered it. Unfortunately, its speedometer doesn't work either. It's not the gauge itself. It's somewhere in the electronics on the board. Does every 1999 Cougar speedometer fail?

Update 28 August 2015
I decided to try one more instrument panel, so I ordered one online from a junkyard. I was hoping, but getting ready for disappointment. The speedometer didn't work on it either. Sigh. I figured it was somewhat unlikely that all three had failed. So I did some more looking online and found a helpful post about the instrument panel loading down the VSS signal. Now I can't find that post to link to it.

From my calculations, my VSS signal at pin 9 on the white plug has an output impedance of 8.7 k ohms. That's too high to drive the speedometer. In case you're curious and want to check my methods and math, I rotated the tire until the VSS had a high signal of 11.34V without the instrument panel attached. I then connected a 3.95 k ohm resistor from the white plug's pin 9 to ground. That loaded the VSS signal down to 3.53 V.

I was getting about 4.9 V when the instrument panel was connected. Apparently the PCM is happy with a lower VSS signal voltage. That's why the OBD-II app would show the speed, but the speedometer wouldn't.

So I took a variable resistor and connected it in series between 12 V and the instrument panel pin 9. I'd scratch it across the 12 V terminal to get a bad square wave signal and see if the speedometer moved. I turned the knob until I found where the cutoff was. The voltage on pin 9 had to be above 7.1 V on my panel or it wouldn't move the speedometer. I then measured the variable resistor and it was 3.9 k ohms.

The speedometer operates by frequency, and the voltage of that signal needs to be above about 7.2 V for it to work. 

Now I need to figure out if a new VSS will have a low enough output impedance to drive the circuit. If not, then I need to install a signal amplifier. But first, I need to use my 3.95 k ohm resistor directly on the output of the VSS to measure the output impedance and make sure the problem is not somewhere else in the circuit.

I'll update this blog on the results. Feel free to leave a comment if you found this helpful.

Update 5 September 2015

I put a new vehicle speed sensor on it. Done. The speedometer works now.