2002 Ford Thunderbird: misfire or rough idle

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 Nov 23, 2015 · Engine · 30,000 miles · PA

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 ford thunderbird. While driving at 60 MPH, the vehicle began to drive abnormally while the misfired warning light illuminated. The contact could not describe the failure in great detail. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the valve cover gasket and coil pack failed and need to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired twice, but the failure was persistent. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 30,000.

Filed Sep 8, 2014 · Engine · 10,200 miles · OH

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 ford thunderbird. While driving 30 MPH, the vehicle sputtered and misfired, and a warning light illuminated. The vehicle had not been diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer informed the contact that the vehicle was not included in any recalls. The failure mileage was 10,200.

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 Jun 23, 2013 · Electrical · 72,000 miles · CA

Ignition coils malfunction replacement needed. Engine misfire at lower speeds.

Filed Nov 9, 2012 · Engine · 37,000 miles · FL

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 ford thunderbird. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle began to misfire. The failure became progressively worse. After a period of time, the vehicle stalled without warning. The vehicle was taken to a dealer for diagnosis where the contact was informed that the valve cover gaskets failed due to heat and caused oil to flow into the spark plugs and coils. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for repair. The failure mileage was 37,000 and the current mileage was 38,000.

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 Sep 23, 2011 · Engine · 24,000 miles · FL

Coil and plug failure in traffic - my car experienced intermittent stalling in traffic and misfiring on the highway.luckily, I was able to start the ford car and move me and the ford car out of harms way.ford recognizes the issue with the 2003 and in may of 2008 ford covered the 2004 and 2005 thunderbirds but is ignoring the 2002. I had two of the eight coil on plug assembles replaced and I am concerned that any one of the next six will again fail on the road.

Filed Oct 12, 2010 · Engine · 35,000 miles · FL

No particular events leading to failure, just mileage (about 35k). Problem is ignition misfires - not consistent at all but causes nearly complete loss of power, stumbling, particularly on acceleration (on ramps, passing, etc.). The problem is intermittent - at times causes loss of power, engine stalls and shuts down completely, at other times causes inability to accelerate or even hold constant speed. Nothing has been done to correct problem except having misfire codes cleared from time to time (when car runs long enough to get to a service station). Ford has acknowledged identical problem for identical engine in 2003-2005 thunderbird and lincoln ls, and covers cost of full repair(customer satisfaction program 07m07). Ford extended the warranty on 2003-2005 vehicles to cover repair (replace cam cover gaskets, spark plugs and coils on plugs), but for some reason did not include the 2002 models. Complaint has been registered with ford customer relationship center, but they claim they can't extend warranty to 2002 models and they can't communicate complaint to engineering or management staff.