Hey, I have an 88' Mercury Cougar with a 3.8 in it, i just went out to start it and it seems like the idle is real rough and slow. When i give it a little gas it seems like the engine is working real hard. It just started doing this. What the heck is wrong with this thing?

 

thats hard to tell with the little info you gave....did you just get gas?..could be a ton of things.....cracked dist cap or even comdensation in it.. dirty fuel fiter,bad plug(s) ,air filter clogged tons of things

 

could be some bad gas with water in it, try adding some "dry gas" to the tank and see if this helps any.

 

Sounds like maybe a bad MAF, and or IAC. When you gas it does it hesitate to get power. Also does it stall at all? Unplug youre MAF and see if anything happens.

 

Well like the guys on here already said.......check your spark plugs, add some gas treatment.....I would personally do all those things and also get your oil changed...My GT did that on me...I took a trip across country and went a few weeks after without changing my oil and it did the very same thing....But remember...First check the spark plugs...and if it's been a while i would change them...Next add some type of gas treatment to your fuel....One more question...Is there smoke? If so..what color?