Plastic intake manifold failure on a 1996 ford thunderbird v8. Part failure was preceded by a "check engine light" and "low coolant" light. Turns out that ford had put out "service bulletin" in 1999 and followed up on it in 2001 on this issue (97m91) yet they never notified any owners. Cost of repairs for this part will be around $1,000 yet ford will not do anything willingly to rectify the situation. Failure of part could lead to catastrophic engine failure if not corrected.
1996 Ford Thunderbird engine complaints
Page 2 of 3: complaints 11 to 40 of 65, newest first, as owners wrote them.
1996 ford thunderbird 4.6l v8 motor failure of plastic intake manifold. Driving home under normal conditions and check coolant light came on. Duaghter said she had thought she smelled burning coolant for several days prior. Took to mechanic and he pointed out the crack in the intake manifold. Said this was a very common problem with this motor. Paid over $900.00 to have repaired with upgraded part. Told by mechanic that recall issued but expired about 6 months prior to repair.
Coolant fumes/odor was coming inside the vehicle while driving at any speed. Consumer inspected the vehicle and found a crack in the intake manifold. Consumer notified the dealer, who informed the consumer that this vehicle was not covered under a present recall.
1996 ford thunderbird 4.6l 281cid v8 motor failure of plastic intake manifold. Driving home under normal conditions and check coolant light came on. Wife said she had thought she smelled burning coolant for several days prior. Took to mechanic and he pointed out the crack in the intake manifold. Said this was a very common problem with this motor. Paid over $800.00 to have repaired with upgraded part. Ford motor co. Has been aware of problem for years and issued a recall for taxis and police vehicles but recall does not cover privately owned vehicles. Car has approximately 114,000 miles.
I was told that their is a recall on my 1996 ford thunderbird for a faulty intake cooling manifold. Can you please confirm this. I do not see it on your recall list.
While driving consumer noticed smoke coming from the front of the vehicle. Consumer was able to maintain control of the vehicle, and drove it to a body shop. Mechanic determined that the intake manifold was cracked and needed to be replaced.
Vehicle's intake manifold cracked on 1996 ford thunderbird.*mr the vehicle intake manifold failed and was replaced under recall. About one year after the intake manifold was replaced the consumer started smelling antifreeze inside the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the shop where the consumer was told that drops of antifreeze could be seen by the water pump and that it needed to be replaced. After it was replaced the consumer continued to smell antifreeze. It was later determined that the manifold cracked again and that the antifreeze had soaked the first two cylinders causing them to misfire. The consumer was responsible for replacing this manifold.
Problems with the intake manifold on 1996 ford thunderbird.*mr the vehicle's intake manifold cracked. The manifold was replaced, free of charge, with another plastic manifold due to a recall. Approximately a year after the manifold was replaced the consumer started smelling anti-freeze inside the vehicle. It was later determined that manifold cracked again and anti-freeze soaked the first two cylinders which caused them to misfire. The consumer is seeking reimbursement.
In febrruary 2003, my 1996 ford thunderbird 4.6l started spewing what I thought was smoke from the engine compartment. I was just at my driveway and pulled in. After opening the hood I realized it was not smoke but coolant that was being sprayed all over the hot engine. I had the car towed to friendly ford in las vegas, nevada, where I had bought the vehicle, and after some discussion, they replaced the intake manifold under a tsb. On 6-2-04, some 16 months later, the intake is again leaking. After doing some research, I found that the part they put on the car is not the recommended part as stated in a letter from ford motor company in flint, michigan,dated december 2001. The part which ford states is the replacement part is f6az9424aa. The part listed on the repair invoice is f8az8424aaa. The part actually installed on the car has a part number of ae9424ca. I talked to the service manager, dennis eich, at friendly ford on 6-22-04, who stated that the part number doesn't matter, they don't need to install the part recommended by ford in the letter, and because the part is out of warranty now they won't fix it correctly. I unfortunately am not alone in this problem. My research, via the internet, shows numerous complaints of the same problem. This is a manufacturers defect which should be subject to a full blown recall and ford should be required to repair the vehicles with the recommended parts.
While driving 40 MPH vehicle stalled. This caused loss of steering and brakes. Vehicle was towed to the independent shop, and mechanic did not know what was wrong with the vehicle.
The consumer's 1996 ford thunderbird completely broke down due to the failure of the plastic intake manifold. *ph the vehicle was purchased new and the consumer wasn't given prior warning that this existed. The defective part was on the vehicle between the dates of may 1996 and february 2004. The manifold was found cracked. Ford motor issued program #97m91 in re to vehicles built with the plastic manifold. The consumer requested reimbursement. *sc
Head gaskets failed ruining my cylinders as well while driving on the highway with my children. Barely got the car home with a cloud of white smoke. I cannot afford to fix this the car has been sitting for almost 1 and a half months, and I still owe 5900 dollars on it. I have to ride my bike to work over 3 miles each way and rent a car for the weekends costing me a fortune. I believe they need to pay for my engine to be rebuilt especially after reading all the articles of how the 3.8 litre v6 engine has failed continuously throughout the years and ford has known it. I love fords and have never drove anything else. I am in a serious bind and need help for something that failed due to a defective part. Thank you for listening and I hope ford gets the message. Derek haugh
Cracked plastic intake manifold that caused a major coolant leak.
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.
My complaint is about the cracked intake manifold currently sitting in my 1996 thunderbird 4.6l although I can find only a little bit of information on this matter regarding recalls; class action suits; and free of charge replacements; I am very interested in finding out if there is actually anything like that happening and to file my complaint and/or join any other consumer who is having the same problem on any class action suit.
Intake manifold cracked behind the alternator leaking anti-freeze all over the place. Consumer found a tsb regarding the problem. *la the consumer felt that ford should continue to replace the part(s) until the vehicle is fixed. The intake manifold had been replaced on two occasions and may be on it's third. (the first replacement was covered under recall) *sc
Defective plastic intake manifold. Never notified of any recall concerning defective intake manifold. Ford says it's not covered. I paid to have it fixed and they replaced it with another plastic intake manifold -- the link below shows over 250 other consumers complaining about the same thing. Http://www.public.fotki.com/trsi/ford_intake_recall/
The 1996 ford thunderbird's head gasket blew and transmission is slipping. It has been using water since we bought it from the dealer.
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.
After the recall for the coolant system was performed the defect recurred ( recall # 99b29 ). The coolant system ran warmer than normal, but didn't boil over or out and only leaked when the engine was off. *nlm
While driving at any speed or at an idle the vehicle experienced a power serge or loss of power (tsb 870197). *nlm rpms jumped from 500 to 1100 at idle. *tt
Engine surge at idle and loss of power/ problems with oil and intake manifold crossover. *mr ph
Vehicle stalled and made a weird noise. Due to oil pump being defected. Now the engine needed to be replaced.
Consumer started vehicle while parked in garage. Placed gear in reverse with foot applied to brake and car suddenly accelerated, in reverse, crashing into closed garage door. Consumer turned off ignition, restarted car and placed gear in drive to move forward. Vehicle suddenly accelerated again crashing into forward wall of garage. Incident caused over $7000 in damage to vehicle and $4000 damage to consumer's home. Vehicle's engine had previously surged without warning while driving. Dealer inspected was not able to determine cause. Ts
Consumer states head gasket failed and needed replaced, consumer asked ford to extend the warranty like they did with the 1994 and 1995 models with the same problems, however ford declined.
Blown head gasket--engine coolant leaks--as these engines have a documented history of being defective
The vehicle stalls during rain storms, consumer stated that this is a very dangerous situation because the sudden loss of power causes loss of power brakes and power steering, consumer is asking for reimbursement for repairs.
Head gaskets failed on 1996 ford thunderbird 3.8 liter, v6 engine. Car under 5 years old with less than 50,000 miles. Ford would not cover full cost of repair even though an extended warranty has been issued for the same engine/same problem in other models.
Blown engine due to head gaskets at 58528 miles.
Engine check light was illuminating on dashboard. Contacted dealer, dealer has determined that head gasket was leaking fluids onto oxygen sensor, causing engine check light to illuminate. Also, note head gasket needed to be replaced.
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