Ford: strange engine shutoff

Anyone have some insight into this situation...?

95 Mercury Cougar, 3.8 V6, ~89,000 miles, the last ~13,000/6months of
which are mine. Had the car (don't know much about the history) checked
out and various repairs done upon buying it. One morning, after driving
for a few blocks, the engine shuts off while I am stopped at a red light.
No warning, no noise, just a shut off of engine. Expected results (warning
lights since key is turned, no power steering, brakes not effective, etc).
I manage to drift to the side of the road, car starts up perfectly when I
turn the key again. Hasn't happened again since (4 days ago), I've tried
as many various driving conditions as I could to reproduce. Tried things
like running all lights, window motors, defrosters, etc to see if the
electrical system wasn't producing enough current, highway speeds, city
speeds, slow speeds, quick accelerations, quick stops, etc. The day before
this happened was a road trip with ~300 miles in one day. The car has a
lot of "used car noise" (mild squeaks, groans and such) but nothing too
unusual for an aging city car. Only other things I can think of are that
the start occasionally takes a few tries (been doing that since I got it,
worse when cold/not used recently), and the transmission seems to be
taking *slightly* longer to shift into drive from park, reverse from
drive, etc, but not bad at all.

At the very least, I'm tring to get enough information to have a chance at
not getting ripped off at a mechanic's. I'm also not too worried if this
is a problem only possible while stopped at a red light, I just dont want
it to happen at street or highway speeds!

thanks,
Dave

This sounds like the usual bad ignition switch. Not the cylinder itself,
but the actual electrical switch in the column.

Been all sorts of issues from overheating and bursting into flames to what
you just described with the engine just dying.

See: http://www.flamingtowncars.com/

Not sure if it would apply to the Cougar, but at least it gives you an idea
of what may be going on.

-Steve

Dave <com> wrote in message
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