2002 Ford Thunderbird: check engine light

Filed May 11, 2017 · Engine · 31,000 miles · OH

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 ford thunderbird. While driving 60 MPH, the check engine warning indicator illuminated and the vehicle began idling roughly. The vehicle was taken to an auto parts store where the employee found that cylinders 3, 4, and 7 were misfiring, as well as a random misfire. The contact opened the spark plug well and opened the coil pack. The contact discovered that the spark plug and coil pack were covered in oil. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact later spoke to a dealer who stated that they would come pick up the vehicle if the contact decided to have it serviced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and stated that they could not assist since there was no recall. The approximate failure mileage was 31,000.

Filed Jun 6, 2016 · Acceleration, Engine · 30,000 miles · MA

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 ford thunderbird. While driving on the highway, the vehicle lunged forward and stopped accelerating. The vehicle independently began to operate normally afterwards; however, the failure recurred. The contact stated that the vehicle would not operate past approximately 35 MPH. After the failure recurred, the check engine warning indicator illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the coil on plug was defective and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The technician diagnosed that all eight vehicle coil on plugs needed to be replaced eventually. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 30,000.

Filed Jul 16, 2014 · Engine · 43,237 miles · PA

Re:2002 ford thunderbird at 43,237 miles the engine suddenly began running rough and misfiring.the passenger area immediately began to fill with exhaust fumes. The check engine light illuminated but did not flash to indicate a serious problem. Upon letting the top down the vehicle was slowly driven to a nearby ford dealership. The cylinder eight coil and spark plug were replaced which seemed to solve the problem. At 45,280 miles the same situation occurred and the cylinder six coil and spark plug were replaced. At 47,459 miles the same thing occurred yet again and cylinder coils two and three were replaced as well as four spark plugs. Despite the cost involved in the necessary repair work and the fact that all of the above incidents occurred well within the mileage of an extended warranty I maintained through ford motor company, the company advised that the time limit on my extended warranty had expired and the company is not willing to replace the remaining cylinder coils and spark plugs. I do not know if there have been carbon monoxide poisoning as a result of the passenger area filling with exhaust fumes when the engine begins running rough. I do know however that when an engine begins misfiring, raw gasoline pours into the combustion system and could cause a fire, I also know that carbon monoxide if not detected quickly can be fatal to human beings. I do not believe the above incidents are necessarily a warranty issue. They are however a health and safety issue. This problem appears to be systemic in nature and related to design problems of the 3.9l v8 engine utilized in the 2002 ford thunderbird. I recommend that ford motor company recall the 2002 ford thunderbird and replace all coils and spark plugs with reliable parts as I have been advised by a ford service employee that the replacement coils sometimes fail and must be replaced a second time.

Filed May 28, 2014 · Engine · 73,000 miles · CA

Driving 45 to 50 MPH, engine starts cutting out, running rough. Check engine light starts flashing which required the coil pack to be replaced by ford. This is a constant issue with this model and year ford thunderbird. It is an expensive repair and yet ford has not redesigned the coil pack for this car and the coil pack continues to fail time and time again. I'm just grateful that I was not on some remote highway stranded on the side of the road when this happened or trying to pass another vehicle. I consider this a safety issue. Why the 2002 thunderbird coil, spark plugs and connectors were not covered under the recall of the 2003-5 is beyond me. Ford did an injustice to 2002 owners of the thunderbird by not accepting that they had an issue with the car and I would like to see this issue remediated.

Filed Aug 7, 2012 · Engine · 45,000 miles · CA

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 ford thunderbird. The contact stated that immediately after starting the ignition, the check engine warning lamp illuminated and the engine misfired. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed that the ignition coils and the spark plugs needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure who did not offer any assistance since the vehicle was not included on any recalls. The failure and current mileage was 45,000.

Filed Feb 23, 2012 · Engine · 4,500 miles · TX

This is a copy of a thunderbirdnest.com forum members complaint, which there are several others reporting the same condition. I could not say it better so im using it. This could be real scary in heavy traffic, especially on the highways. I am writing to hopefully prevent a dangerous and serious situation. I own a 2002 ford thunderbird. This particular car and others like it have defective ignition coils which could cause the car(s) to become involved in accidents. The coils are prone to cease functioning at any moment, thus causing the engine to suddenly and rapidly lose power. This is dangerous at best at low speeds, and deadly at highway speeds. The ford motor company has issued a letter stating that 2003-2005 thunderbirds can have their coils replaced at no cost to the owner. However, they have failed to include the owners of 2002 models in this action. The result of this is that 2002 owners cannot afford to have their coils replaced due to the expense (between $1500 and $2500). This places thousands of cars on the road that endanger not only their own occupants, but those of other vehicles as well. Since ford has acknowledged that there is a problem with the coils (the 2002 uses the same as those being replaced for free), I implore you to use whatever influence you might have to rectify this situation. Many potential deaths could be avoided if ford would simply include the 2002 model thunderbird in the list of approved vehicles for coil replacement at no cost. I personally own a 2002 ford thunderbird myself and only have approx. 4,500 miles on it. This week I started my vehicle and experienced this same issue with the vehicle miss-firing. I also have a check engine light coming on. I immediately had it checked and the test detected the #5 cylinder is misfiring. My vehicle has never seen rain or snow. Why can't we get ford to do something?

Filed Mar 12, 2008 · Engine · 76,000 miles · TN

Tl*the contact owns a 2002 ford thunderbird. While driving 5 MPH, the service engine light illuminated after the vehicle had been serviced for its 30,000 mile routine maintenance. The dealer stated that the manifold gasket leaked oil onto the coils and spark plugs. All of the failures needed to be repaired. The failure mileage was 76,000 and current mileage was 76,050.