6 Year Checkup

[Bruce]

Last friday I took my 03 Thunderbird in for an oil change and filter and told them to check antifreeze, battery, belts, tires, hoses, etc. since the car is now 6 years old.
Well the good news is that they did not find anything that needed to be replace, however, they did recommend putting in a new fuel filter.
Now good for another 6 years and 15K.

[MATBird]

Re: 6 Year Checkup

How many miles do you have on it Bruce?

[FritsB]

Re: 6 Year Checkup

I think it is 15K George

[Bruce]

Re: 6 Year Checkup

14,141 and if the weather holds for this weekend mileage will go up probably another 2 to 3 hundred.
What I am excited about is normally if a car sits around a lot then you pay the price for other things happening that are not associated with mileage. The bill was $136.42.

[Treken]

Re: 6 Year Checkup

Hi, my mechanic suggested to me that the plugs should be changed at least once every 5 years. If not, they may cease up and may not be able to get them out. He said he has come across that before and it is not good. Not sure how true it is, but I had mine done after the 5 years, along with gas filter and air filter.

[Leroy]

Re: 6 Year Checkup

The Ford recomended replacement for the fuel filter is every 30K miles, and spark plugs every 100K for the Thunderbird. I would check for gas fumes under the hood after a fuel filter change periodicly, as some aftermarket filters have been found to leak. I haven't heard of plugs being ceased up due to age of the engine. But if you do have them replaceed, be sure they use platinum tiped plugs and they are torqued in at the proper ft. Pounds. Over tightening or under tightening could cause a plug to blow out. Ford has had this problem with some of thier other aluminum engines. I would recomend any plug replacement be done by a Ford dealer, especially if your under a Extended Ford warranty. Leroy

[Sumerbird]

Re: 6 Year Checkup

The Ford recomended replacement for the fuel filter is every 30K miles, and spark plugs every 100K for the Thunderbird. I would check for gas fumes under the hood after a fuel filter change periodicly, as some aftermarket filters have been found to leak. I haven't heard of plugs being ceased up due to age of the engine. But if you do have them replaceed, be sure they use platinum tiped plugs and they are torqued in at the proper ft. Pounds. Over tightening or under tightening could cause a plug to blow out. Ford has had this problem with some of thier other aluminum engines. I would recomend any plug replacement be done by a Ford dealer, especially if your under a Extended Ford warranty. Leroy

Hi Leroy, its nice to see your looking out for your fellow Birds of a feather.

Sumerbird

[steelblue5505]

Re: 6 Year Checkup

Hard to believe there would be fuel fumes under the hood from changing out the fuel fillter leaking fittings or not.
The fuel fillter is not under the hood. It is located behind the left front wheel splash shield see below last bullet:

2005 Thunderbird Workshop Manual
DESCRIPTION AND OPERATION
Procedure revision date: 06/25/2004

Fuel System [IMG]file:///C:/tso/tsocache/ATHOME_3140/S5D~us~en~file=adobe.gif~gen~ref.gif[/IMG] Printable View (63 KB)

The vehicle:

• is equipped with a multiport fuel injection (MFI) system.
• uses separately controlled fuel injectors mounted to the intake manifold for each cylinder.
• has fuel injectors that are supplied with pressurized fuel from the fuel delivery module through the jet pump transfer module, through the fuel injection supply manifold.
• has a fuel injection supply manifold that is controlled by the electronic fuel delivery module which is enabled by the powertrain control module (PCM).
• uses an electronic returnless fuel system.
• has a dual-container (saddle type) fuel tank, each half equipped with a fuel level sensor.
• has a fuel transfer pump in the left fuel tank half to supply fuel to the right, which contains the fuel pump module that supplies fuel under pressure to the fuel injection supply manifold.
• has an inertia fuel shutoff (IFS) switch, located behind the driver side left foot kick panel, which shuts off the fuel in the event of collision.
• has a fuel system filter, located behind the left front wheel well splash shield.

[Chuck]

Re: 6 Year Checkup

I changed my fuel filter on Friday - was relatively easy, took the bird on it's 2009 maiden voyage on Sunday, had her up to 105, no problems at all, no fuel smell, no leakage

[Treken]

Re: 6 Year Checkup

The Ford recomended replacement for the fuel filter is every 30K miles, and spark plugs every 100K for the Thunderbird. I would check for gas fumes under the hood after a fuel filter change periodicly, as some aftermarket filters have been found to leak. I haven't heard of plugs being ceased up due to age of the engine. But if you do have them replaceed, be sure they use platinum tiped plugs and they are torqued in at the proper ft. Pounds. Over tightening or under tightening could cause a plug to blow out. Ford has had this problem with some of thier other aluminum engines. I would recomend any plug replacement be done by a Ford dealer, especially if your under a Extended Ford warranty. Leroy

Ya, changing the plugs is not an easy job. First you have to take a few parts off just to get at the plug covers. Even the covers is not that easy, one bolt is in a place that you almost need a special wrench that you will not have. Count on more time than normal, for this to be done. I personally don't think they will get ceased either, especially the way they are covered up and practically inside the engine, but I always changed plugs after 5 years (if I still owned the car that long). Not planning on letting this one go for a long time yet, if at all. The 1996 Tbird will be the first to go before this one.

[Dallasblackbird]

Re: 6 Year Checkup

14,141 and if the weather holds for this weekend mileage will go up probably another 2 to 3 hundred.
What I am excited about is normally if a car sits around a lot then you pay the price for other things happening that are not associated with mileage. The bill was $136.42.

I had to go look at my 03. It has 14,143 on the meter. Speaking of spark plugs, I was in a parts store the other day and a fellow was trying to buy a special tool to help him get a broken plug out of his Ford pickup. Don't know the year, but the store owner said certain Ford engines were a real problem when removing plugs. He said, "I recommend you take Fords to the dealers for plug changes, otherwise you will have problems." I don't know how much truth is in that statement, but I do keep hearing from different places that some plugs do seize up.

[z06bigbird]

Re: 6 Year Checkup

Newer Ford trucks have a problem with plugs seizing in the heads. If the Ford mechanic breaks a plug or two, the dealership charges by the hour to remove the broken plugs. Some truck owners have seen bills of $2000.

Since the TBird engine was developed by Jag, I doubt that it has the same propensity as the truck plugs to seize.