1996 Ford Thunderbird: engine overheating

11 of the 233 complaints about the 1996 Ford Thunderbird describe engine overheating.

owner complaints: 11
of this car's complaints: 5%
typical mileage: 64,018
recalls: 0

Is there a fix? 29 service bulletins cover this area of the car. See below

Engine overheating by model year

1997
13
1996
11
1995
14
1994
11
1993
27
1992
2
1991
5
1990
2

What owners say

Filed Jul 14, 2007 · Body, Engine · 20,000 miles · NC · 1 injury

Intake (plastic) cracks ;leaving family and I stranded on 30 mile stretch of highway with no houses or business. Towed to station and fixed recalled intake. Taxi cost home and back 2 days later to retrieve car soon started having heater coil leaks and overheating;antifreeze causing headaches. Almost $1000.00 to replace 30 dollar part(dash board and console removed and air condition unit disconnected and recharged) dealer took cost of next 2 replacement heater coils and it still needs 4th;no heat;still leaks antifreeze inside car. Intake manifold(plastic) cracked again;overheated and burnt me this time also causing serious damage to car;very costly which I guess we the consumer will have to bear. How many complaints does it take?

Filed Jan 20, 2006 · Engine · 127,000 miles · AZ

Dt*: the contact stated the intake manifold cracked and caused the vehicle to overheat without prior warning. The vehicle was seen by an independent repair shop. The repair shop personnel suggested the manifold cracked due to the composite plastic used in manufacturing. The manifold was replaced with an after market manifold made of metal material.

Filed Jan 12, 2004 · Engine · 46,582 miles · CA

In october of 1998 vehicle was repaired under a recall for the intake manifold. Currently, the vehicle overheated due to a crack in the intake manifold. *ak when the intake manifold is replaced, the old style is used which is why the consumer believes it fails again. Consumer feels ford should reimburse him the cost of repairs.

Filed Jan 12, 2004 · Engine · 145,000 miles · MI

Cracked plastic intake manifold that caused a major coolant leak.

Filed Jul 8, 2003 · Engine · 64,018 miles · IN

Ford recall not honored - intake manifold http://www.bigclassaction.com/class_action/ford_manifold.html upon acceleration, smoke came out of under hood & I believe engine light came on. It all happened so quickly. Made it to the nearest lot, where I could pull off the road. All coolant leaked out. Had to call for tow. Mechanic did coolant pressure test, and showed only leak was at back of engine. Had to pull transmission to get to it. Water pouting out back of engine but no freeze plug blown, traced backward to intake manifold crack that never showed up on intial pressure testing. I was charged over $750. For repairs. Called dealer to check on warranty (expired 1200 miles earlier) and recalls. Said there were none. Just recently discovered the recall at an autozone website, and contacted dealer about it. He said to send in original receipt & ford would reimburse. They gave me the runaround, and finally said the claim was denied because I should've taken it to a ford dealer/service. Since the warranty was expired, & I knew of no recall, I saw no reason to spend the extra money ford mechanics charge, so I went with the other private mechanic. Ford's argument is that I should've gone to ford mechanic, and mine is that ford should have notified me of the recall, especially when I asked them. At least they should reimburse me for something they should have taken care of. I bought the car in 2000, recall was in 1999. Dealer or someone should've notified me of the recall.

Filed Mar 25, 2002 · Engine · SC

Blown head gasket--engine coolant leaks--as these engines have a documented history of being defective

Filed Jan 20, 2001 · Engine · CT

Timing chain cover gasket replaced under recall in 2000 , suppose to stop coolant leak, but mechanic now reports the problem is head gasket, common to ford's 3.8 v6.

Filed Aug 9, 1999 · Brakes · NY

Brake rotors overheat and warp. Three times since new. Shakeing sterring wheel.

Filed Apr 26, 1999 · Engine · AZ

Leaked coolant due to crack in manifold,,did not signify overheating.

Filed Aug 27, 1998 · Fuel system · CA

Driving vehicle when it started leaking coolant. No overheating. Vehicle towed home. Next day at dealer & intake manifold repaired due to a crack. Vehicle started to get worse. Vehicle died. Engine check light came on. Moisture on spark plugs & ignition wires.

Filed Dec 30, 1996 · Brakes · MO

Brake rotors overheated, causing rotors to warp.