Our family has three 1996 mustangs, one with a manual and two with automatic transmissions. We have had all three of them blow the head gasket on them, one at a year, one at three years, and one at four years. Now, I have found out recently that ford offered a free replacement on the gaskets, for an extended 7 years, and would like to warn others that they are very likely to go out, and to let them know to "remind" the ford dealer about this issue. I paid to replace three of them, and feel that the ford dealer should have alerted me to the fact that they were under warranty, and therefore not charged me.
1996 Ford Mustang engine complaints
Page 2 of 4: complaints 11 to 40 of 84, newest first, as owners wrote them.
I have a 1996 ford mustang lx. I was driving my car at night and I had it on cruise control and it blew up.I took care of my car and checked the engine and the antifreeze before I leave my house.I gave my car a 15 minute warm up period before I leave my house.the engine overheated and blew up due to faulty engine gasket. I have had to change the starter,the water pump(2x), radiator, and pistons because of that. I am very mad at ford and I told them so in dearborn mi. I will not buy a ford in the future and I tell everyone that asks me about my bad experience w/ this car and I tell them to not buy ford cars or trucks. Thank you for reading this.
Consumer was complaining about plastic intake manifold. It just didn't stand up to the heat that was created when in use. Consumer made several attempts to get this resolved. However, the consumer had not received any assistance from the manufacturer. *ak
I purchased a 96 mustang gt 4.6, in 1998 and in 2001 the plastic intake manifold cracked so I did some research into this problem and it turns out 90% of all 96 and 97 mustangs with the junk plastic intake manifold cracked. I call my local ford dealer and it costs 904.00 that is outrageous. Why was there never a recall and why do you charge such an un comprehendable ammount of money to replace it????
2 years after complete engine replacement, my mustang has blown another head gasket! I had to have my 96 ford mustang engine (v6) replaced because of a bad head gasket, and after replacing the engine, which cost me $3000.00 at the time, two years later am now looking at replacing another head gasket, in a newer engine, and looking at another $2000 in repairs. This is ridiculous. Something has to be done about extending the warranty to cover other models of ford vehicles beside 94-95.
Consumer was unable to start vehicle. Dealerships mechanic determined that the problem pertained to an intake manifold leak. The problem was not resolved. *ak vehicle originally lost power at 55 MPH, vehicle didn't restart. Vehicle was towed and found that one valve was leaking and head gasket was blown. Vehicle has 100,000 miles on it.
My wife bought a used 1996 ford mustang v-6 two years ago still under factory warranty. Recently, the car began leaking a significant amount of oil. The ford dealership in crestview, florida (hub city ford) told us that the leak was from the timing chain cover and the manifold cover. They also said that the problem had been fixed under a recall at 30,000 miles. The problem, however, wasn't really fixed and we were informed that we would have to have this $600 service done every 30,000 miles and that ford had no plans to address this issue further. Obviously, the recall was completely bogus, as the "fix" was merely temporary. Any auto manufacturer that intentionally is aware that it's recall efforts failed is completely misguided. It is ludicrous that a major $600 service every 30,000 miles or less be acceptable. Thank you for your time.
My 1996 ford mustang head gastkets have gone out. My car has 87000 miles on it. I have heard that many 95 mustangs have had the same problem. I bought my car a year ago and I beleive that the problem was not completly fixed in the newer models. I was told that because my car is a 96 it was not covered by ford, they informed me that the new models have been fixed and that the head gastket failure was due to my "excesive wear" on my car.
My car's cooling system was draining fluids, and when I took it in to the dealership to get checked out, they told me the head gaskets as well as the front timing cover gasket needed to be replaced. It cost me $2500 for the repairs necessary. There are about 12 or 13 complaints of a similar nature for the same model and year (1996 ford mustang), but since this engine was installed on other models and years, who knows how many others have suffered from the same problem.
The engine cracked without warning. The dealer was notified.
Blown head gasket destroyed engine due to defective parts installed at the manufacturer.
Engine front cover gasket issues. My 1996 v6-3.8l with approximately 57,000 miles required a new front gasket cover. This is the same issue owners of 1994-1995 models had and filed suit against ford for and won.
Vechicle overheats resulting in the covergasket failing, causing fluid to leak into the engine compartment was not noticeable right away as had oil chage the week before and the mechanic did not notice any problems. This has caused us to replace all the gaskets costing us $600.00 then when drove one day vehicle suddenly began making gurgling noise and the temperture gauge went hot and now the whole engine needs to be replaced as the overheating had caused more problems than we first thought. We feel this is a serious problem with this ford product and would like to be reimbursed.
Consumer states her auto is running hot, and she has taken the auto to 4 mechanics and each has said that this part has been on recall. She also states that her air condition and defroster does not work. She also said she was told that the 95 and 96 has been recalled for this problem. Ts
Engine overheated, lost power, no heat from heater, oil and coolant mix in radiator. Towed to ford service center. Diagnosed as head gasket failure. Estimated cost to replace engine $4200 including labor. Contacted ford customer service in michigan but they are so far unwilling to help.
While driving the vehicle the consumer smelled smoke, consumer states that it smelled like wire burning. Consumer opened the hood of the vehicle, and fire came from the front end of the vehicle. There were injuries. There were no warnings. Please provide any further information.
The vehicle has a v6 engine which the coolant leaks, they continuously have to replace the parts in the engine. The transmission has been replaced also. Consumer states that she was told by the dealer that this will have to be done every two years. Please provide any further information. Nlm
Head gasket failure. Which may have caused other engine problems. I can't get another mechanic in town to touch it. So I have to take it to the ford dealer to get it repaired, at a cost of $1,400 or even a new engine.
Engine head broke, causing a leak.
Contacted dealership prior to failure about overheating problem and ford head gasket history, but they did nothing then and will not cover in warranty.
Vehicle began losing coolant at 58000 miles, blown head gasket, this is a recurring problem with several ford models and company refuses to acknowledge.
I have had several reoccurring problems including 2 transmission failures. The transmission is an aod automatic, and it still doesn't shift correctly. If passing gear is engaged, then car's rpms shoot up and it shifts down to too low of a gear. I have replaced 2 water pumps that were leaking. I have replaced a sway bar that broke while driving down a flat road. There is a whinning sound that comes from either the pulleys or the crankshaft. In hot weather the car will act like it is running out of gas when accelerating even when the tank is full. The brakes are very poor even with new pads and the rotors resurfaced, they fade especially when braking must be done quickly or at higher speeds. There are also many rattles that come from various bady panels and the trunk when driving.
Recall notice was not sent to our address and b class recall is expired. However this just became a problem with our car. Related problems are as follows. Heater giving cold air, timing chain cover rusting, 1 or more gallons of water daily is leaked out thru gasket after driving. Constant overheating and feared overheating damages to motor may occur or engine fire as a result of such severe motor overheating.
While driving, vehicle suddenly began making a gurgling noise and the temperature gauge rapidly went hot, vehicle is in need of an engine, consumer feels this is a manufacturing defect and is requesting reimbursement.
There was clanking noise when engine was turned off/overheated.
Engine continues to stall and overheat have had 2 engines replaced because of this has seen dealership several times and there has been no resolution
My ford mustang broke down on my way to frederick, md. In december of 2000. I had already taken it in to crystal ford for a recall on june 8, 2000. The recall program no. Was 99b29. They said they fixed the problem, which was a leakage of engine coolant at the head gasket. On my drive to frederick in december, the mustang began to overheat and proceed to break down promptly thereafter. The result of the overheating was a cracked engine due to a thrown rod. My vehicle was towed from frederick to laurel to my mechanic who informed me that the cracked engine was due to a engine coolant leakage. I then had my vehicle towed to crystal ford so there mechanics could look at it. The service person, [xxx], called me to let me know the engine threw a rod which was due to an engine coolant leakage problem. I wrote letters to ford customer service and the service rep for the area and both denied any assistance to fix my vehicle. The damage done to my vehicle is definitely related to the recall and the engine coolant problem at the head gasket yet ford refuses to fix the vehicle. Please help me in anyway you can with this problem. Thank you very much for your time and effort with this problem. Sincerely, [xxx]. *ak parts of this document have been redacted to protect personally identifiable information pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
Before I puchased this car, I had a ford escort with the same problems with the o2 sensors. At that time it was my understanding that the parts and labor were covered under a federal warranty. This dealership says it's not.
Blown head gasket, front seal, and cracked timing cover. Ford did not cover head gasket repairs though this is a known problem.
Went to dealer 11/99 about shudder- changed belts, etc. Still shaking- tear down 7/00.
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