Your 2002 Mercury Cougar uses mini-fuses to protect both the low- and high-amperage circuits. A mini-fuse has a translucent plastic body that allows you to inspect the filament within the fuse to determine if it is blown or not. Turn off all accessories and place the ignition switch in the "Off" position before removing the junction box cover. Use a fuse puller, pliers or your fingernails to remove the suspect fuse from the junction box. Pull the fuse straight out of the box and inspect the filament. If the filament appears broken, or the plastic body looks burnt inside and is screening the filament from view, insert a new fuse with the same amp rating straight into its slot in the box. Since the fuse is designed to protect the wiring, and not the actual device that it is powering, it is crucial that you do not replace a fuse with one that has a higher amp rating or you may cause severe wiring damage, and possibly even a fire within the vehicle.
The fuses are split between two locations: the central junction box located on the instrument panel just below and to the left of the steering wheel, and the battery junction box located in the engine compartment between the battery and the driver-side fender. The battery box contains mainly the high-amp fuses used to protect the engine and chassis wiring, while the central box contains mainly low-amp fuses for the passenger-compartment accessories. Access the central box by pulling down on the access lock lever, then rotate the box downward to reveal the fuses. Access the battery box by removing the cover. Exercise caution when working in either junction box, as there are fuses and relays in both that carry enough amps to cause serious injury.
