Taken on its own merits, the eighth-generation Cougar was a fine little car; it's just the context that found it setting the wrong -- front -- paw on American soil. In its time, Cougar loyalists decried this car as yet another attempt to replace a great V-8, Fox-body rear-driver with a tiny, four-cylinder compact. After all, Ford had planned to do just that with the Mustang a few years prior, until enthusiasts rioted and they renamed the Mustang's potential replacement the Probe. But that wasn't exactly the case this time; the chassis that underpinned the previous Cougar had just run out of time, and Mercury's well-intended plan to save the Cougar badge landed it a fine little car that just wouldn't sell.
Park the Cougar on level ground, and get all four wheels up in the air using a floor jack and four jack stands. Crawl underneath and locate the bleeder screws on the backs of the brakes; they're on the back of the backing plates on the rear drums, and on the brake calipers up front. Use some brake cleaner and a rag to spray them all down and clean them. Then spray them with penetrating lubricant and allow them to soak. Cut a 12- to 18-inch length of clean, plastic tubing sized to fit the nipple on the bleeder valve.
Pop the hood and open the brake fluid reservoir. This car has two separate fluid circuits -- one for the front and another for the rear -- that must be bled separately. Fill up the reservoir with fresh DOT 3 brake fluid until it's about 1/4 inch from the top, and put the cap back on. Access the bleeder valve on the front, driver-side brake caliper.
Fill up your catch jar about a third of the way, lower one end of your tubing into the jar until the tip is submerged, and plug the other end onto the bleeder valve. Use a line wrench or six-point, box-end wrench to turn the bleeder valve screw a half or three-quarters of a turn to open it. Instruct your assistant to slowly depress the brake pedal until it goes all the way to the floor. Close the bleeder valve, and instruct your assistant to release the pedal.
Repeat this open-press-close-release cycle. Go back up to refill the fluid reservoir after every fourth cycle and top it off. Never let the brake reservoir run dry, or you'll suck air into the system and have to start all over again. After the third or fourth reservoir refill, you may notice the fluid coming out of the tube and into the catch jar looks different; likely cleaner, clearer, lighter in color and thicker, if your old brake fluid's been in the car for more than a few years. This is the new brake fluid. This wheel circuit is now flushed of old fluid.
Close the bleeder, and repeat this procedure on the other front wheel. It should take a bit less time and a few less cycles, since you've already introduced some new fluid into the system. Once you've bled both front wheels, you can go to the back wheels, starting on the driver side. If you're completely flushing the system, it may take 10 or more fluid reservoir refills and a quart or more of new fluid until you get clean fluid at the left-rear wheel. It has to go all the way down the car to get there.
Repeat on the right-rear wheel. This one should go much faster, since most of the system is already filled with fresh fluid. Before you wrap up, go all around the car and go through one more bleeding and refill cycle, just to make sure you've got all the old fluid and air out of the system. Finally, top off the reservoir with fluid to between the "MIN" and "MAX" lines, and lower the car.
Pump the pedal until it feels firm.
