general problems of the 2003 Ford Thunderbird

While making a u-turn in a culd-e-sac at 5 mph, the wrench light came on. I can only reach a speed of 40 mph now. I am afraid to turn the car off until I get home.

Car sputtered and misfired causing partial power loss and speed loss. Problem is ignition coils. Have now had to replace a total of three during two similar events. Two dealers failed to inform me of extended warranty on this known problem.

I was accelerating to merge onto the highway at full throttle and the engine shut itself off. I pulled over to the shoulder and turned the ignition off and restarted it and continued to my destination. This has occurred several times over the last few years, and it is only getting worse and more frequent. Sometimes the limp home light (wrench) comes on. I must turn the ignition off and back on to make the car work. I have had all 8 coils replaced and this did not fix the problem and it still occurs today. I checked the codes and it did say it was a forced shut down. I unfortunately do not remember the code number.

The first incident happened on 6/12/12 when the engine started sputtering and missing and then went into a "limp mode" and would only accelerate no more than 15 mph. After taking it to the shop they determined that the ignition coil on cylinder #8 was bad and replaced it for $270. The second incident happened 9/7/13 and left my wife stranded on the side of the road. After doing reasearch on the internet, I found out that Ford had issued a 10 year/100,000 mile extended warranty for all 2003, 2004, and 2005 Thunderbirds to replace the defective ignition coils. Ford has recogonized that this part is defective and is a safety problem, but since it has not been recalled, and I did not know about the extended warranty, they are charging me $1,200 dollars to replace 7 ignition coils. Looking at the Ford Thunderbird forums on the internet reveals that this is a common problem and should be recalled so owners can have them replaced, since Ford has acknowledged that there is a defect.

Driving on a 1,850 mile trip. Car engine repeatedly shut off on light acceleration from complete stop. Motor light and wrench light illuminated. Put can in neutral and re-started. Wrench light DE-illuminated, motor light stayed on. Acceleration could barely be attained to keep engine running up to 45 mph. After that speed, can ran somewhat normally,. Entering an expressway at very low speed with minimum acceleration became the only way to continue the trip. Very dangerous. Went to a Ford dealer on route. Because I was from out of state he agreed to work me in for service that day. However, after I described the problem, service writer refused my request to put car on their diagnostic machine. He agreed to change the fuel filter only. Dealer would do no other work. Told me I would have to leave it several days. I tried two tanks of fuel with a stoddard solvent injector cleaner. At home. I researched the problem. The ignition coils and throttle body are indicated. I have had both ignition coils replaced. 18,000 miles ago. Replacement for both was not free. This condition is absolutely dangerous and has no lead up symptoms to warn you. I have barely avoided being rear-ended several times as I tried to make it off the expressway. Local Ford dealer is trying to avoid scheduling my Thunderbird for repairs. A recall of the defective components is necessary. A check of the internet web sites indicate this is predominant with all Thunderbirds of this vintage.