Manifold/header/muffler/tail Pipe problems of the 1996 Ford Thunderbird

The contact owns a 1996 Ford Thunderbird. The contact was driving 30 mph when he noticed an abnormally strong coolant odor. The contact then inspected the vehicle and found that the antifreeze intake manifold had failed. The intact manifold was cracked and causing antifreeze to spill. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer to be diagnosed or repaired. The failure and the current mileage was 60,000.

Defective intake manifold. Ford replaced once, free of charge @ 48,523 miles. Cracked again @ appx. 95,700 miles. Ford refused to replace free of charge. Replaced one defective manifold with one that was just as defective. There was a class action suit on this manifold, it was so bad.

- the contact wanted to have repair done to 1996 Ford Thunderbird, however service bulletin #97m91, dated Jan 19, 1998 (NHTSA item number: 605621) expired and Ford charged for the repairs. The mileage at the time of the failure was 80000. The contact said that the service bulletin was for the intake manifold. The contact wrote to Ford. The refused to honor the service bulletin. Updated 2/6/2007 -.

Defective intake manifold on 1996 Ford Thunderbird. The car only has 84,450 miles on it! cost was $1002. 02 to repair. Why is the consumer being charged for this costly repair when this is a known defective part from the Ford motor company?.

Intake manifold cracked. This part was made out of nylon and is a known defective part installed at the factory. Ford motor company refused to reimburse stating that there was a customer satisfaction action in 1996. Since the problem was due to a known defectivepart I think it should be covered for life of the vehicle. Later Ford redisigned the part using aluminum instead of nylon.

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.

1996 Ford Thunderbird 4. 6l 281cid v8 motor failure of plastic intake manifold. Driving home under normal conditions and check coolant light came on. Wife said she had thought she smelled burning coolant for several days prior. Took to mechanic and he pointed out the crack in the intake manifold. Said this was a very common problem with this motor. Paid over $800. 00 to have repaired with upgraded part. Ford motor CO. Has been aware of problem for years and issued a recall for taxis and police vehicles but recall does not cover privately owned vehicles. Car has approximately 114,000 miles.

I was told that their is a recall on my 1996 Ford Thunderbird for a faulty intake cooling manifold. Can you please confirm this. I do not see it on your recall list.

While driving consumer noticed smoke coming from the front of the vehicle. Consumer was able to maintain control of the vehicle, and drove it to a body shop. Mechanic determined that the intake manifold was cracked and needed to be replaced.

1996 Ford Thunderbird 4. 6l v8 motor failure of plastic intake manifold. Driving home under normal conditions and check coolant light came on. Duaghter said she had thought she smelled burning coolant for several days prior. Took to mechanic and he pointed out the crack in the intake manifold. Said this was a very common problem with this motor. Paid over $900. 00 to have repaired with upgraded part. Told by mechanic that recall issued but expired about 6 months prior to repair.

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.

Coolant fumes/odor was coming inside the vehicle while driving at any speed. Consumer inspected the vehicle and found a crack in the intake manifold. Consumer notified the dealer, who informed the consumer that this vehicle was not covered under a present recall.

The consumer's 1996 Ford Thunderbird completely broke down due to the failure of the plastic intake manifold. The vehicle was purchased new and the consumer wasn't given prior warning that this existed. The defective part was on the vehicle between the dates of may 1996 and February 2004. The manifold was found cracked. Ford motor issued program #97m91 in re to vehicles built with the plastic manifold. The consumer requested reimbursement.

Cracked plastic intake manifold that caused a major coolant leak.

Defective plastic intake manifold. Never notified of any recall concerning defective intake manifold. Ford says it's not covered. I paid to have it fixed and they replaced it with another plastic intake manifold -- the link below shows over 250 other consumers complaining about the same thing. . Read more...

My complaint is about the cracked intake manifold currently sitting in my 1996 Thunderbird 4. 6l although I can find only a little bit of information on this matter regarding recalls; class action suits; and free of charge replacements; I am very interested in finding out if there is actually anything like that happening and to file my complaint and/or join any other consumer who is having the same problem on any class action suit.

Ford recall not honored - intake manifold. . Read more...

While driving consumer noticed smoke coming from under hood, took vehicle dealer who found manifold had cracked.

Leaked coolant due to crack in manifold,,did not signify overheating.

In October of 1998 vehicle was repaired under a recall for the intake manifold. Currently, the vehicle overheated due to a crack in the intake manifold. When the intake manifold is replaced, the old style is used which is why the consumer believes it fails again. Consumer feels Ford should reimburse him the cost of repairs.

Intake (plastic) cracks ;leaving family and I stranded on 30 mile stretch of highway with no houses or business. Towed to station and fixed recalled intake. Taxi cost home and back 2 days later to retrieve car soon started having heater coil leaks and overheating;antifreeze causing headaches. Almost $1000. 00 to replace 30 dollar part(dash board and console removed and air condition unit disconnected and recharged) dealer took cost of next 2 replacement heater coils and it still needs 4th;no heat;still leaks antifreeze inside car. Intake manifold(plastic) cracked again;overheated and burnt me this time also causing serious damage to car;very costly which I guess we the consumer will have to bear. How many complaints does it take?.

Both cylinder heads and intake manifold failed causing coolant light to come on and off while driving. Nlm.

Intake manifold cracked behind the alternator leaking anti-freeze all over the place. Consumer found a TSB regarding the problem. The consumer felt that Ford should continue to replace the part(s) until the vehicle is fixed. The intake manifold had been replaced on two occasions and may be on it's third. (the first replacement was covered under recall).

Engine surge at idle and loss of power/ problems with oil and intake manifold crossover. Ph.