1996 Ford Thunderbird engine problems
58 complaints about engine have been filed for the 1996 Ford Thunderbird, which is 20% of all its NHTSA complaints. It is the most reported problem area for this model year.
At a glance
- Complaints
- 58 20% of this year's complaints
- Typical mileage
- 79,000 miles 21 complaints with mileage
- Crashes and fires
- 0 and 1
- Injuries and deaths
- 1 and 0
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
When engine problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 0 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 1 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 3 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 7 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 6 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 1 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 0 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 2 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 1 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 21 engine complaints that report mileage, the median is about 79,000 miles, and 19% were reported before 60,000 miles.
These complaints mention 1 fire, 1 injury.
What owners wrote
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.
Vehicle stalled and made a weird noise. Due to oil pump being defected. Now the engine needed to be replaced.
Other problems reported for the 1996 Ford Thunderbird
- Brakes 55 complaints
- Wipers, windshield & visibility 21 complaints
- Exhaust system 19 complaints
- Transmission 16 complaints
- Lighting 15 complaints