you dont need to. just put in park
you definitely has to put the emergency break on ill tell you what happens when you put it in park,.....you will go to the front and have a car crash.
I take it out of park and put it in gear first and then release the emergency brake
Has to be in park with the emergency brake on, or maybe they would turn off if you just tripped the switch on the emergency brake without actually engaging it. That way it wouldn't have to be in park.
Yes, there is a cable that runs to the rear wheel brake drums.
set the emergency brake
All cars have a neutral gear and all cars will start in neutral. It is recommended by all vehicle manufactures that the car's transmission be left in either park or neutral and that the emergency brake be set. If the vehicle has an automatic transmission, then PARK is the safest gear, but most cars have manual transmission and no park gear, so the safest gear is NEUTRAL with the parking brake engaged.
99% of all park-brake switches are located near the park-brake mount. In the 99 cougar, you will need to remove the console as a whole, and you should see a normally closed switch, that gets depressed when the park-brake is down.
not using park brake is usually the problem for this try setting park brake before you take foot off brake when you park, so as vehicle does not move try using park(emergency) brake before you put car in park
the transmission
either the park brake is engaged whilst the ignition switch is on or the brake fluid in the reservoir is near empty.
Take it to a dealership or reputable mechanic. That question is too vague to answer as the park brake has many components.
by pulling up on the emergency brake their should be an adjuster below the handle i think it is a 10mm nut