i have a 90 cougar with the regular 3.8. i hear a sound like achain dragging when i accelerate. do i need higher octane gas?

if you put your foot in it does it down shift and stop making that clatter? my wife''s 93 vic makes a light clatter when the engine bogs lightly. taking it out of overdrive usually does the trick. If you''ve never run a bottle of fuel system cleaner through the car, you might try that. and if you haven''t changed the fuel filter, you should change that too.

your car should have the old mechanical link transmission (there will be 3 cables connected to the throttle body valve: throttle cable, cruise control, transmission cable. if you don''t have cruise control, then it will be 2 cables on opposite ends of the bracket. cruise models will have the cruise and throttle cable on the same side.) If you have the rubber/plastic grommet holding the transmission cable in place, you''ll need to replace it with the brass bushing and clip as noted here. You should do this regardless of what problems you''re having with the engine because if that plastic grommet breaks, that transmission will burn up real fast. Plus, the part is only about $8 (at least at the dealership I got it at).

I think you are just dealing with engine knock. Common causes are bad anti-knock sensors, O2 sensors, frozen EGR valve to name a few. Higher octane fuel or octane boost will help. But only as a band-aid.

THANKS BOTH OF YOU> I WILL TRY CLEANER>