Vehicle Data Hub

1997 Ford Thunderbird exhaust system problems

23 complaints about exhaust system have been filed for the 1997 Ford Thunderbird, which is 10% of all its NHTSA complaints. It is the 3rd most reported problem area for this model year.

At a glance

Complaints
23 10% of this year's complaints
Typical mileage
65,000 miles 12 complaints with mileage
Crashes and fires
1 and 1
Injuries and deaths
1 and 0

Source: NHTSA owner complaints

When exhaust system problems show up

Exhaust system complaints by mileage, 1997 Ford Thunderbird Complaints by odometer reading in 20,000-mile steps. The median is about 65,000 miles. 0k to 20k miles: 0 complaints 20k to 40k miles: 1 complaints 40k to 60k miles: 3 complaints 60k to 80k miles: 4 complaints 80k to 100k miles: 3 complaints 100k to 120k miles: 1 complaints 120k to 140k miles: 0 complaints 140k to 160k miles: 0 complaints 160k to 180k miles: 0 complaints 180k to 200k miles: 0 complaints 200k+ miles: 0 complaints 040k80k120k160k200k miles Typical: 65,000 miles
Based on 12 complaints that include mileage. 33% were reported before 60,000 miles. The amber marker shows the median: half of these complaints happened before that mileage.
View the numbers
MileageComplaints
0k to 20k miles0
20k to 40k miles1
40k to 60k miles3
60k to 80k miles4
80k to 100k miles3
100k to 120k miles1
120k to 140k miles0
140k to 160k miles0
160k to 180k miles0
180k to 200k miles0
200k+ miles0

What the data shows

Of the 12 exhaust system complaints that report mileage, the median is about 65,000 miles, and 33% were reported before 60,000 miles.

These complaints mention 1 crash, 1 fire, 1 injury.

What owners wrote

I was driving my car to pay the power bill. I had made a complete stop and then turned left up the road about 4/10's of a mile when I pulled into the parking space I noticed white steam coming from the engine compartment. I opened the hood a the engine was covered in antifreeze. I called for a tow hoping it was a blown hose or at worst a head gasket. So I didn't drive it further to prevent further damage. The dealership looks at it and says it is a cracked intake manifold.

Reported at 70,600 miles, July 2004 CrashFire

Per consumer vehicle is not part of the owner notification for the intake manifold coolant leak # .97m91, but vehicle is experiencing the same failure.

Reported at 60,000 miles

Other problems reported for the 1997 Ford Thunderbird

Exhaust system problems in other years

  • 2005
  • 2004
  • 2003
  • 2002
  • 1997
  • 1996
  • 1995
  • 1994
  • 1993
  • 1992
  • 1991
  • 1990

Exhaust system problems across all Ford models