Consumer Complaint Detail

FORD / THUNDERBIRD / 1996

Recalls
0 Injured
Investigations
0 Death
Complaints
No Fire
Components - Details
NHTSA Complaint Number: 004285338 Incident Date: Jun, 01 2004
Consumer's City: LAS VEGAS Consumer's State: NV
Vehicle Transmission Type: AUTO Manufacturers Name: Ford Motor Company
Model Name: THUNDERBIRD Model Year: 1996
Vehicle Involved in a Crash: No Component's Description: Engine and engine cooling:exhaust system:manifold/header/muffler/tail pipe
Vehicle Involved in a Fire: No Persons Injured: 0
Vehicle's VIN#: 1FALP62W0TH Date added to File: May, 25 2021
Date Complaint Received: Jun, 22 2004 Complaint Type: IVOQ
Incident Reported To Police: No Purchase Date: Mar, 24 1997
Was Original Owner: Yes Anti-lock Brakes: Yes
Number of Cylinders: 8 Date of Manufacturer: -
Was Vehicle Towed: - Description of the Complaints: 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.*ak