Core grade headlight door actuator for your Mercury Cougar that will need rebuilding (servicing the seal). Two are required per car, one per headlight door.
Ford part # C7WY-13A167-B.
*NOTE* These actuators are prone to failure in two common areas. The first being the small circular upper shaft seal. Often the reason this seal fails is that the "accordion" style dust boot that covers the shaft will fail. This causes contaminants to enter and work as an abrasive between the shaft and seal. When the shaft seal goes bad, you will find your headlights not raising very fast or not at all. Also, the internal diaphragm seal is sometimes prone to failure. If you use a vacuum tester on your bottom vacuum port and find it does not hold 5 inches of vacuum for prolonged periods of time, then this unit is most likely your problem.
If you continue to run your Cougar with this problem, you are running with a constant vacuum leak. This may cause confusion as to why your 1967-68 Cougar does not idle well, lacks performance, and or fails to achieve 19-21 mpg with a stock 289 or 302. The actuators may be a good place to start looking. Dyno tests consistently show a 5-7 HP increase after headlight vacuum leaks are repaired.
Check out this video
Check out this video