Hey everyone, my boyfriend told me I shoud sign up and here I am. I have a 1999 Mercury Cougar and when I turn it on it spits out black smoke. My boyfriend said I need to reset my ECU and I don't know how to do that. He said it might be something else and that I should ask here. Any suggestion would be great. Thanks!

 

Wassup, perhaps it's because it's a Mercury.... haha j/k... You really should set it on fire, collect insurance, and buy an Integra or something.. I really don't think resettin the ECU is gonna do the trick but you can try it if you want... Since i don't have a clue how to work on a Mercury the easiest way to reset the ECU is just pull the negative battery cable for a few mins.. Let it chill then put it back on... Your ECU should be reset and you can see if you notice a difference.. Have fun

 

Yea, I'm her boyfriend and on cougarnuts.com (I know it sounds really funny) they didn't know squat. I posted this up a long time ago and didnt get anyhting. Someone told me reseting the ecu can do the trick cause it redoes the sensors and since black smoke is a sign of not proper air/fuel I figured that might do it I have yet to try it though. Any other help? Thanks

 

Bump

 

You're probably running rich, which means one of your oxygen sensors is probably bad. Check your haynes manual for the location of them or try and pull a "check engine code" out of your Ford and see what the car tells you.

Is this smoking intermittent or does it do it all the time? Only at W.O.T.? The more detail the better.

 

yup, check up on that O2 sensor of yours.... does the cougar have any mods done to it.. you getting and check engine codes?? but id check the O2 sensor,


[Modified by baonest, 10:41 PM 11/19/2002]

 

No mods and it is smoking at all throtle positions, idle and wot. I am gonna reset teh ecu this weekend. Thinking the cold weather might make it look worse than it is. I only see her car after it first starts up and we drive to her house.