Day started Great, but ended bad

[ryan's t-brd]

After a long winter and spring without my t-brd stored away for the winter, I finally got the chance to get it out last Sunday. Taking it's cover off, I found it in the same wonderful condition as I left it early last winter. Battery fully charged, tires great, wonderful. A turn of the key and that smooth sound and a wonderful machine comes to life. I pull it out into the sun, then walk around one more time to make sure everything is good.
A short trip into town and fuel it up with a fresh tank of premium. Paid for the fuel and jump back into my beauty. Thinking of taking the car to a local car wash for a hand wash, as I pull away from the fuel pump onto the street and stop at a red light. What do i feel a little missfire on a cylinder? Oh I'm sure it will stop shortly, 1 block later and it seems to be worse,,,, I begin to look for a drive to pull into, to check, but before I can do much, my instrument panel lights go on, engine dies, and I luckily roll into and empty parking lot. AAAHHHH? Well, that was a fun 10 minutes.
A call to a tow service and the wife for a ride ended my wonderful weekend. Haven't heard from the Ford dealership service center yet, but I'm pretty sure the fuel pump died, or that must be some real bad gas. It really sucked seeing my 02 on the back of the flatbed tow truck as it was being driven away. But, I still had the thought of Gosh that car looks sharp, even on the back of the tow truck.
Oh Well, life is full of potholes,

[5bird7]

Re: Day started Great, but ended bad

well, doesn't sound like coil problems. do let us know what the dealer finds out.

[texasbird]

Re: Day started Great, but ended bad

Dave,

I understand the need to keep these babies in good shape by not driving them on snow, ice, or the salt that is used to melt the stuff of winter, but I still believe parking any vehicle for extended periods does no good either. Hope it's not serious, and that you're back on the road in your baby soon.

James

[SixPac]

Re: Day started Great, but ended bad

Dave, know how you felt seeing your T-Bird on a flatbed tow truck. Been there, done that. It is a sinking feeling. Hope everything turns out O.K..

[Ediron]

Re: Day started Great, but ended bad

Look on the bright side, maybe the dealer will hand wash it.

[2K2BIRD]

Re: Day started Great, but ended bad

You said you filled up the tank with fresh premium. How much gas did you leave in the tank during the winter? If you left the gas level low, you may have had a condensation build up in the fuel tank that resulted in water contamination clogging the fuel filter.

Just a theory. Hope things work out well for you!

[ryan's t-brd]

Re: Day started Great, but ended bad

picked up my bird this afternoon. Mechanic said that the fuse blew for the fuel pump. He showed me the fuse which was a 15 amp. He said he looked up the specs. and that a 20 amp was suppose to of been installed when manufactured. Anyway he found nothing else, pump was good and no other problems. PAID my BILL, ouch,,,, for a fuse.
I got home pulled the books out and everything I find shows it should be a 15 amp, not a 20 amp fuse... A little confused to say the least.

[Nicky-The-Squid]

Re: Day started Great, but ended bad

picked up my bird this afternoon. Mechanic said that the fuse blew for the fuel pump. He showed me the fuse which was a 15 amp. He said he looked up the specs. and that a 20 amp was suppose to of been installed when manufactured. Anyway he found nothing else, pump was good and no other problems. PAID my BILL, ouch,,,, for a fuse.
I got home pulled the books out and everything I find shows it should be a 15 amp, not a 20 amp fuse... A little confused to say the least.

Can you and would you pinpoint the exact location where this fuse is. The fuse box is easy enough to get to and look in. We could compare to see what we have in that place a 15 or a 20. It would bother me if I put a 20 amp in place of a 15. Fuses are designed to be the weakest and least expensive link in the case of an electrical problem. I'm sure if something made the fuel pump spike it would also blow a 20 amp but that extra 5 amp spike for a second could challenge something. Maybe it was a slow blow 15 where it will take a few extra amps for a moment but not for very long. If that system was designed to run with less than 15 amps and yours is drawing lets say a steady 17 or 18 amps a 20 won't blow. That is not good. At the very least you may want to carry a few extra fuses just in case something made it blow in the first place. If the books say it calls for a 15 I would want a 15 in there and see what happens. Just tossing out my opinion.

[bottomtime]

Re: Day started Great, but ended bad

After a long winter and spring without my t-brd stored away for the winter, I finally got the chance to get it out last Sunday. Taking it's cover off, I found it in the same wonderful condition as I left it early last winter. Battery fully charged, tires great, wonderful. A turn of the key and that smooth sound and a wonderful machine comes to life. I pull it out into the sun, then walk around one more time to make sure everything is good.
A short trip into town and fuel it up with a fresh tank of premium. Paid for the fuel and jump back into my beauty. Thinking of taking the car to a local car wash for a hand wash, as I pull away from the fuel pump onto the street and stop at a red light. What do i feel a little missfire on a cylinder? Oh I'm sure it will stop shortly, 1 block later and it seems to be worse,,,, I begin to look for a drive to pull into, to check, but before I can do much, my instrument panel lights go on, engine dies, and I luckily roll into and empty parking lot. AAAHHHH? Well, that was a fun 10 minutes.
A call to a tow service and the wife for a ride ended my wonderful weekend. Haven't heard from the Ford dealership service center yet, but I'm pretty sure the fuel pump died, or that must be some real bad gas. It really sucked seeing my 02 on the back of the flatbed tow truck as it was being driven away. But, I still had the thought of Gosh that car looks sharp, even on the back of the tow truck.
Oh Well, life is full of potholes,

Look at my post (Bottomtime) in the ThunderBird Chat forum, no.#6, dated April 29, '09. It's very possible that with extended storage, the gas is/was bad...........

[taflocks]

Re: Day started Great, but ended bad

how much was the bill?

[ryan's t-brd]

Re: Day started Great, but ended bad

Here is the exact wording on the repair slip;
TECHNICIAN FOUND NO POWER TO FUEL PUMP. NO POWER TO FUEL PUMP RELAY, CONTINUED TO TRACE CIRCUIT AND FOUND FUSE # 4-18 AT BJB BLOWN. REPLACE FUSE. FUSE WAS 15 AMP AND SHOULD BE 20 AMP. CLEARED COMPUTER CODES P0300, P0301, P1283 AND SELF TESTED OK, FUEL PUMP CHECKS OK AT THIS TIME.

$140.00 PLUS $1.40 SHOP SUPPLIES.

Nick; I have not dug into the fuse block in the trunk to check that fuse, but I will after work today, and let you know. I had the same thought of grabbing several extras and replacing it with the 15 that the owners manuel says, it does concern me as well. I wonder if a 2003 or newer has the same rating of fuse as the 2002.

[JAB02LHS]

Re: Day started Great, but ended bad

I wonder if a 2003 or newer has the same rating of fuse as the 2002.

2004 owners manual

Rear power distribution box

fuse # 17-- 15A*--fuel pump

* = mini-fuse

[redbirdsal]

Re: Day started Great, but ended bad

$140.00 PLUS $1.40 SHOP SUPPLIES.

.

Yeeeoooowwww!!!

[tootpie]

Re: Day started Great, but ended bad

I just replaced the THIRD fuel pump in my 2002.1 under warranty in 06 and now again. Total miles 2800

[ArgonV]

Re: Day started Great, but ended bad

tootpie, you might want to check your electric. Something else is going on there killing your fuel pumps. Check the wiring for corrosion, cuts and bad grounding. Also check the fuse and fuse box.