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| CARE | Concept | Memorabilia | Photos | Facts | | Links | Events | Guestbook | Homepage | Site Map | |
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CARE
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Problems!?
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| Have you said this?
What's going on? |
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| Coil-On-Plug, C.O.P.s, ignition coils. Engine running
rough? "check engine light" blinking? You may be having a coil-on-plug
problem. Good news for 2003 owners
as Ford has extended the warranty for this problem to 10
years or 100,000 miles. Update: June 2008:
Parts of this warranty have been extended to the 2004 and 2005 Thunderbird
as of May
20, 2008- Have your dealer check the OASIS report for your tbird..
This STILL does NOT cover the 2002. Take part in www.thunderbirdnest
c.o.p. discussions in the tech forum there.
There have been a few reports that what had felt like a transmission
problem cleared up when the C.O.P.s were fixed.
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| Traction Control & ABS LIGHT stays on - 1st suspect is the sensor itself - check TBN thread - Traction control light will blink when in "use" | |
| Trunk Latch not working? check this TBN thread for some solutions | |
| Dead Battery? happening Frequently? Battery Issues | |
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Sort of a Recall or Customer Satisfaction Program - issued January 2005 - This is a transmission fluid problem affecting the 2004 and many 2005 T-birds. This Customer Satisfaction Program was extended thru December 2005. |
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Does your car feel rather shaky? Have you checked the tire pressure? recommended psi from Ford is 30 psi though up to 35 psi is ok. Remember to check pressure when tires are cold. A problem occurring with a few early 02 cars - severe cowl shake. This has been discussed on the TBN with pros and cons. Some have found loose cross member bolts and tightening to specs solved the problem. [ed. note - I'm hearing more and more complaints about cowl shake from 04 owners. I'll go back to the old note I had here that says - tighten up those cross members - the torque specs is 46 ft lbs. The bolts supposedly are loc tite bolts but with the number of owners & would be owners complaining about shakes, that's the place to start looking at after the tires have been checked for proper inflation or damage. The t-bird should not shake. |
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| Recall issued on certain 2004 models. [link off site] This Recall was released June 29, 2004. This is a driver's seat issue that affects those built from December 15, 2003 thru January 20, 2004. See your dealer if your 2004 T-bird was built within this short time period. This is a safety recall so must be fixed. It also affects some Taurus and Sables built during this same time frame. If your car was affected you should have gotten a letter from your dealer. If you feel your T-bird was involved in this recall but you haven't heard from your dealer yet, contact your dealer's service manager and have them check to see if your t-bird was really involved. If so, then they'll schedule an appointment for you. | |
| Is your Hardtop scratching the paint on your T-bird's rear deck?
Keep area clean, both body panel and rubber seal. You'll still get
some rub marks from the rubber. Ford's solution: Many 2002s, all
2003s and all 2004s and all 05s, with hardtops, were shipped with
mylar tape sets in the trunk for your placement on the rear deck area.1W6Z76202W30-AA
but
this has been updated with a new kit:
Ford is going with an improved version of the tape which is packed in
the later edition 2004 trunks. Part number is 4W63-76202W30-AA
Read more about it on the TBN . Meanwhile there are aftermarket
solutions The new strips became available sometime January 2004.
The Stainless Steel solution has apparently been nixed due to problems
keeping it on and more scratching. There is an aftermarket vendor
making SS strips.
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| Hardtop Rattling?
Here's a TSB out on the subject: Here's one of the culprits, there are several.
The above fix (June 03) did not fix our rattles though ours can be attributed to the handles. UPDATE February2004: Let our top sit off the car for several months and put it back on. It doesn't rattle anymore, so the seals may have needed to rest?? Update 2: March 2004: There is another solution that is being tested by owners. Update 3: After about a month on the car, the rattles started coming back this spring. Hardtop came off anyway for the spring weather. Some have reported rattle caused by rear shelf of hardtop vibrating
against body or stored softtop.
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| Hardtop rattle behind the Driver? - check to see if the "link" that covers the hole for the pin in the hardtop has not "disappeared" | |
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Select Shift transmission - affects some 03s built from Nov 18, 2002 thru March 2003 - Error code appears, shifting does not "feel" right. See your dealer. Symptoms usually occur at around 3000 miles but can show up anytime. |
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Problem with battery going dead? Hopefully, you've seen your dealer by now. If you have recently used the rear window defroster, that may be the reason - see your dealer!!. |
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| Wear on unusual spot on softtop of early 2004s - Some owners have noticed a wear spot on their softtop even though softtop has been stored. see your dealer - there is a fix. | |
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6CD changer - some CDs may get stuck. A solution that works sometimes - Turn it off and let the system cool down before trying to eject CDs (usually means shutting off the car). If that fails then see your dealer. Do not use CDs with paper labels, odd shapes or with a scratch protection film. Mark your homemade CDs with a permanent marker. Some have found that Sony CDs are the best for homemade CDs in these units. |
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| 02 boot too unwieldy? - try the much softer 03/04/05 boot which folds in 4ths and stores in the rear cubby hole of your trunk or get the aftermarket solution listed on the accessories page | |
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Something to remember about problems that have been reported - they are few and far between. |
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| Recalls on the 2002:
1- Seatbelt recall - affects cars built from April 2001 to late April, 2002. |
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| 2- Emissions recall - 2002 T-birds affected built between February 13, 2002 & April 19, 2002 - see your dealer. - must be fixed in order to sell car in some states. | |
| Recall on the 2004: Driver side Seat recall - 2004 T-birds built between Dec. 15, 2003 and Jan 20, 2004 | |
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---------------------- Listing of TSBs |
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