While driving my 1996 Cougar this past September, which has only 40,360 miles on it and is stored most of the year for the purposes of collecting and preserving the vehicle indefinitely, at low speeds I noticed the obvious sign of coolant and the smell of coolant coming from up under the hood. I then shut the vehicle down right away and discovered coolant running onto the ground below. Now, being of an experienced nature with automobiles and using close observation of the problem it appeared to be emanating from the front of the intake manifold. I then discovered after the fact that these 4.6 liter engines are notorious for this intake cracking problem, so now I will be purchasing an upgraded and improved intake for around $223 that is designed as a replacement for this defective manifold. I then had my vehicle towed to my place of residence at the cost of around $100 question is? why then am I one of those owners that were not given the opportunity to get a covered replacement when it is very apparent that my year 1996 Mercury Cougar should have been included in the 4.6 engines recall. This could have been a disastrous situation damaging or shortening the life of a well cared for engine. The intake manifold is simply not a component that should fail, I realize that this doesn't apply to every component on a vehicles engine but it does and should apply to this component because of the importance of this part, since the potential cost incurred to an owner if it overheats the engine could be quite high and this is completely solvable by proper component design as is well proven with good designs in the many automobles produced in past years.

- Farmington Hills, MI, USA

1996 Mercury Cougar V6 3.8 liter engine. Head gasket failure. This engine has never overheated. Roughly 80,000 miles. $1200-1500 estimate for repair.

- Woodbridge, VA, USA

I purchased my Cougar in 1996 brand new. I have been it soul owner since the date of purchase. On November 23, 2004 I was driving to work and about half way there my low coolant light came on. There was no other signs that my car was in trouble, no overheating on my temperature gauge, so I continued to work, parked the car. Before I started the car I added a gallon of antifreeze and it seemed to drain out so I added another gallon, it did the same. I immediate called my mechanic before starting the car. He told me to start the car and when I did I looked under the car and all the antifreeze was pouring out fast. I shut off the car and had it towed directly to my mechanic. He has informed me that the manifold has cracked. I have had this item periodically checked since I received the recall information in 1998. Each check has assured me that this manifold was in good shape. Now I find out that the recall will not cover the replacement of the manifold. This is going to cost me $1100 to fix. I think it is very unfair that Ford will not continue to honor the recall since they know that this plastic manifold will not hold up for the life of the car. This is my first major issue and I am very disappointed in Ford policy. I bought my Cougar in good faith and I love my car very much. Because I take care of my vehicle I missed the cutoff time by four months and now it will cost me dearly. Why weren't vehicle owners informed of the cutoff times? I was given the impression this recall would be honored in good faith for the life of the vehicle.

- Fostoria, OH, USA

Replaced weak motor mount.

- Iowa Park, TX, USA

Engine idle pulley replaced.

- Iowa Park, TX, USA