Okay, well cranking but not starting is usually easy to narrow down at least. The fact that it was running and then died is important. Fuel/Spark/Air/Vacuum Step one: -Does the fuel pump turn on? -Is the battery at 12V? -Do you hear any vacuum leaks under the hood while cranking? -Does it make any d...

That's alarming...
How exactly is it behaving when you turn the key?
Did you check the engine oil? I don't understand how you could get oil gushing everywhere from the gearbox unless something else is going into it.
Because I dont know...what exactly does this breather pipe connect to?

Mileage is what it is. When I buy a used car, I'm more concerned about rust than anything. All the mechanical stuff can be fixed. Most modern engines can do well over 200K with regular maintenance. Being a 20 year old car with some miles on it though, you do have to be prepared for anything...Fuel p...

Not Puma, but I thought this group might get a kick out of my adventure this weekend: This is an SVT Contour motor (ST200 Mondeo) that someone had no use for so he gave it away for free. I transported it in the back of my '01 Cougar.

It seems to be a thing with the Ford ignition systems that sometimes if the cranking amps aren't quite high enough the starter will seem okay but the ignition system wont be putting out enough juice to spark correctly.

Probably just the battery getting tired. They get weak in the cold as they age. Try jumping it during a cold start (Or use a known fresh battery) to see if the problem goes away.

There's a possibility I might be able to import a FRP sooner if I can convince our government of its historical technical importance, but that's honestly a bit of a longshot. It was a few years ago now, but I remember reading something about the US not requiring the destructive safety testing of la...

Check the clutch fluid level too. This sounds like a hydraulic problem.
Master cylinder, slave cylinder, or the lines between them.

Fluids, zip ties, duct tape, super glue, ratchet straps, a floor mat to lay on the ground, maybe some self-vulcanizing tape for rubber hose repairs, maybe some bits of various common wire sizes. It's pretty hard to predict roadside mechanical emergencies. Either something gives you a warning before ...

Just thought I'd share this little milestone I hit on my '01 Cougar (The yellow one pictured above): This is probably the last major milestone this car will hit. Birth date was 3/26/01 so... Avg 35 miles/day or 12,684 mi/year. A little more impressive since I was assigned to submarines for nine of t...

Thermostat wont cause high revs. You are getting excessive air flow from somewhere. Assuming the new IACV was NEW, and assuming that it is fully functional, the next likely problem is a vacuum leak. Since its intermittent, and apparently temperature related, Its probably not going to be a very obvio...

There's no shortage of amazing driving roads in and around Virginia, that would be a great opportunity for you. And because the weather is generally very mild in that part of the country the roads are usually in pretty good shape too.

Great! You can sell it to me when you leave so I don't have to ship one!

LOL. The Blurple cars are gorgeous when they're in great shape. I had one for about a year that I hoped to restore but had to give up on that one. I ended up giving that car away for free because I needed it gone in a hurry. I'm here because I'm hoping to import a Puma to the US in a few years so I ...

Congrats on the new old car!
I've got about 23 combined years of Cougar ownership myself LOL

It sounds like you need to find a wiring manual to figure out what all of those circuits have in common, and to do some circuit checks to see if its a wiring problem. The free and fast check is to check all of the big connectors on the wiring harnesses attached to the PCM to see if anything is loose...

How long is the UK going to allow you to keep driving combustion engines?

Here's a chart from a general Ford PCM book. The Puma isn't specifically discussed in this book but the IACV stuff is probably universal.

Yes, clean and test the idle air valve. There are plenty of video's on tube for testing. Those things last a long time but they do eventually fail so it wouldn't be unusual. Actually, testing might be inconclusive for you since it apparently only fails when cold... Try cleaning it. If that doesn't w...

So to be clear, it IS warming up, you just have an idle speed problem?

This is a question I struggle with every day on my 2001 Cougar. I bought it new and the car means a lot to me but financially it makes zero sense to try to fix the rust. I've been keeping it parked for the last couple of winters hoping to prolong it's life a little bit but I'm going to be forced to ...

Agree with all of that . This is either a bad idle air valve, a vacuum leak, or both. As far as the plugs go, this era Ford ignition systems can be finicky and its best to replace wires and plugs at the same time. Coil too if you can justify it, just to be sure. Coils tend to show degradation first ...

Try jumping from the known good battery directly to the starter, bypassing the installed battery cable.
The battery cable can corrode inside the insulation to the point of not passing enough current, and this is about the right age to start seeing that.

My primary interest is in the added strength and corrosion resistance. Ive lost a wheel before and if I can lessen the likelihood of doing it again, I'm for it. If I were to do any significant power-adders I would appreciate the added insurance, especially given our 4 small lugs design. I would thin...