NHTSA Complaint #10610942 — 2002 FORD THUNDERBIRD

RE:2002 FORD THUNDERBIRD AT 43,237 MILES THE ENGINE SUDDENLY BEGAN RUNNING ROUGH AND MISFIRING.THE PASSENGER AREA IMMEDIATELY BEGAN TO FILL WITH EXHAUST FUMES. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ILLUMINATED BUT DID NOT FLASH TO INDICATE A SERIOUS PROBLEM. UPON LETTING THE TOP DOWN THE VEHICLE WAS SLOWLY DRIVEN TO A NEARBY FORD DEALERSHIP. THE CYLINDER EIGHT COIL AND SPARK PLUG WERE REPLACED WHICH SEEMED TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM. AT 45,280 MILES THE SAME SITUATION OCCURRED AND THE CYLINDER SIX COIL AND SPARK PLUG WERE REPLACED. AT 47,459 MILES THE SAME THING OCCURRED YET AGAIN AND CYLINDER COILS TWO AND THREE WERE REPLACED AS WELL AS FOUR SPARK PLUGS. DESPITE THE COST INVOLVED IN THE NECESSARY REPAIR WORK AND THE FACT THAT ALL OF THE ABOVE INCIDENTS OCCURRED WELL WITHIN THE MILEAGE OF AN EXTENDED WARRANTY I MAINTAINED THROUGH FORD MOTOR COMPANY, THE COMPANY ADVISED THAT THE TIME LIMIT ON MY EXTENDED WARRANTY HAD EXPIRED AND THE COMPANY IS NOT WILLING TO REPLACE THE REMAINING CYLINDER COILS AND SPARK PLUGS. I DO NOT KNOW IF THERE HAVE BEEN CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING AS A RESULT OF THE PASSENGER AREA FILLING WITH EXHAUST FUMES WHEN THE ENGINE BEGINS RUNNING ROUGH. I DO KNOW HOWEVER THAT WHEN AN ENGINE BEGINS MISFIRING, RAW GASOLINE POURS INTO THE COMBUSTION SYSTEM AND COULD CAUSE A FIRE, I ALSO KNOW THAT CARBON MONOXIDE IF NOT DETECTED QUICKLY CAN BE FATAL TO HUMAN BEINGS. I DO NOT BELIEVE THE ABOVE INCIDENTS ARE NECESSARILY A WARRANTY ISSUE. THEY ARE HOWEVER A HEALTH AND SAFETY ISSUE. THIS PROBLEM APPEARS TO BE SYSTEMIC IN NATURE AND RELATED TO DESIGN PROBLEMS OF THE 3.9L V8 ENGINE UTILIZED IN THE 2002 FORD THUNDERBIRD. I RECOMMEND THAT FORD MOTOR COMPANY RECALL THE 2002 FORD THUNDERBIRD AND REPLACE ALL COILS AND SPARK PLUGS WITH RELIABLE PARTS AS I HAVE BEEN ADVISED BY A FORD SERVICE EMPLOYEE THAT THE REPLACEMENT COILS SOMETIMES FAIL AND MUST BE REPLACED A SECOND TIME. *TR