Searching for a Bird - 0 for 2 with issues.

[cobrar1339]

Today I drove an 03 Black Bird 38k that looked good condition wise. However I was very disappointed in the way the car drove, rode, shaked. I am looking for a car to give my Dad for his 80th, but don't want to give him a car he has to chase repairs on.

I know the owner of the dealership. Should be able to get them to fix any know issues or recommendations from this forum.

Tried to drive a 03 Red one last weekend but the battery was dead. When finally jumped, ran just awful. Not good enough to drive, so I passed. This car had 60k on it. Likley the COP issues i have read about. The black car ran fine eng wise.

Impressions with soft top up - Black car

Jumpy shakey chassis. Just not solid at all.
- Cowl Shake pretty obvious
- Rear end chassis noise, thumping.
- Steering noise like a low high pitched rub when driving slow in a lot.

Brakes - Numb
-Pedal feel was not good at all
-Required excessive effort
- Reminded me of cold race pads or a failing power booster. Perhaps aftermarket pads that are not platform specific.
-Tried to warm up the brakes a bit, but made no difference.
Very concerned here. Dealer said it had new brakes.

Trans - Eratic


Please tell me this is not how it should be , and what it needs to be fixed. I really can't believe it could be this way on purpose. Have had plenty of Fords.

Also, anyone in the So Cal Area around Corona, Anaheim Hills, Chino Hills that could take me for a ride in a car that works like it's suppose to?.

[Jim Young]

Re: Searching for a Bird - 0 for 2 with issues.

there is an addative that should have been added to steering fluid.. easy fix .. guess prior owner didn't complain about that since TSB explains the issue.
thumping in rear are the ( I will call them suspension struts) the bearings wear and you should get the dealer to replace those since they are $200.00 if you have it done.
Suspect the tires are not balanced and front end out of alignment... I have owned 2 towncars, 2 continentals, and a host of other cars. I am 72 and my T-Bird is the most fun car I have had. has 43,000 miles on it, and runs like a sewing machine, and I never go any place where it does not draw a positive comment. Maybe you should try another dealership.. sounds like that car has had some body work .. :(
Jim

[5bird7]

Re: Searching for a Bird - 0 for 2 with issues.

Impressions with soft top up - Black car

Jumpy shakey chassis. Just not solid at all.
- Cowl Shake pretty obvious
- Rear end chassis noise, thumping.
- Steering noise like a low high pitched rub when driving slow in a lot.

Brakes - Numb
-Pedal feel was not good at all
-Required excessive effort
- Reminded me of cold race pads or a failing power booster. Perhaps aftermarket pads that are not platform specific.
-Tried to warm up the brakes a bit, but made no difference.
Very concerned here. Dealer said it had new brakes.

Trans - Eratic


Please tell me this is not how it should be , and what it needs to be fixed. I really can't believe it could be this way on purpose. Have had plenty of Fords.

Also, anyone in the So Cal Area around Corona, Anaheim Hills, Chino Hills that could take me for a ride in a car that works like it's suppose to?.

Here's some other areas to check besides Jim Young's suggestions:

severe Cowl shake -very rare to hear that on an 03. would also check to see that the cross member bolts are all tightened to specs (46#) and tires inflated to specs (30psi) -- may be very over inflated. Those are both simple checks/fixes.
There will be a small amount of cowl shake over rough surfaces as it is a convertible but it shouldn't be severe.


Brakes - sounds like a definite problem as brakes are very good on these cars, very little effort needed to stop car. Do check the power brake booster, as ours had developed a leak and I caught the leak in time for it to be covered under warranty before we ever developed a brake problem with our 02. whatever, I've rarely seen anyone complain about a brake problem here so the problem on that car is very uncommon.

Erratic transmission btw - Some(many!) of the 03s seem to have a tranny shifting problem until it gets fixed right. - if the E code is showing on the dash instead of the gear that the tranny should be in at the time, there have been several things that have come up that may fix that. 1 - have a "reflash" of the computer done 2- do a search here on the E code or error code for transmission as some have had to have some part replaced in the transmission. 3- fluid may be low for some odd reason (these are permanently sealed transmissions)

IMHO: That car sounds like it needs a lot of attention. I would just keep looking.

[007Cruiser]

Re: Searching for a Bird - 0 for 2 with issues.

Keep looking. This is not typical of our cars.

[cobrar1339]

Re: Searching for a Bird - 0 for 2 with issues.

Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks guys !!!

The black car had no body work issues that I could see, all the vins were still tagged to panels, so not replacement panels. One small chip, but in a spot you had to look for. Would buff out good IMO. The Red car was a mess though.

So glad to hear this was an abnormal experience. Sent the dealer your ideas list. He was grateful and said he would put his guys to work. Said he drove it himself to day and was also very concerned. Sounds like easy fixes to me. Just need to know what to look for like you guys do.

Any So Cal folks. OC Anaheim Hills, Corona, Chino , Riverside that have a good example I can call or hitch a ride in some weekend?. Don't see many at Cars and Coffee these days. Would be willing to trade for a ride in my 05 FGT.

Dad's Birthday is coming up in Nov, so I have a little time to shop if an owner here has a good example for sale soon.


Thanks Again.

[5bird7]

Re: Searching for a Bird - 0 for 2 with issues.

You're welcome, W, from all of us. There are good cars out there that have been kept up. Still lots with very low miles. If I lived closer, I'd take you up on that offer (but I also have a couple of local friends with FGTs).

[ScottyNeutron]

Re: Searching for a Bird - 0 for 2 with issues.

Most residual shaking can be eliminated by having the tires balanced with the Hunter Roadforce dynamic balancer. This did the trick for me. MUCH better than regular balancing at the tire shop. Now it's smooth-sailin'!

http://www.gsp9700.com/pub/features/how-3.cfm