good news day

[bgl]

Well, another day, another snow storm. What to do. Checked with the local Tires Plus guys about getting the Bird in for a check-up. They were surprised I would take it out in this weather, but nice to get the problems fixed for summer is my idea. The shopping list was to include new exhaust tips and new tires.

Once on the hoist, I asked if they could check the exhaust system since we have been having problems with fumes in the cabin. Sure enough, in the clamp section, Ford installed a tin-foil like buffer underneath the clamp. Blow-by was evident. Took the clamps off, and put on some "guck" to seal underneath the clamp. Funny this was not discovered before. This, together with new tips, and replacing the valve cover gaskets, should address any exhaust smell problem--I hope!

I purchased Uniroyal tires. Nothing fancy, just tires. They should last a long time. My stock tires only went 27,xxx, but the Tires Plus guy said Ford put on some very low-end tires, and these should do much better.

I am hopeful to get some enjoyable miles from this car, as it has been kind of a money pit for the miles driven. I have stuck about $3K into a car I have driven it 6K miles. It has also been a downer with the hardtop on to smell fumes, particularly at idle and under acceleration.

Any way, I am very optimistic about the upcoming driving season!

[Gobird]

Re: good news day

Strange your original tires only lasted 27,000+ miles while mine lasted for over 60,000+.

[redbirdsal]

Re: good news day

That is good news Bruce! I hope all your troubles with your Bird are over, and that you can begin to really enjoy your ride now!

-

[00mustng]

Re: good news day

....O.E.M....Michelin Pilots are hardly low end..are your Uniroyals V-rated?....curious as to what you were charged for the valve cover gasket replacement, as I understand, this is a labour intensive proceedure?......

[Sandman]

Re: good news day

My daughter got 54K on the original tires and they still had about 5k left when she replaced them last week. Who ever owned your Bird before you sure must have did some aggresive driving.

[bgl]

Re: good news day

If I remember the numbers correctly, the guy at Tires Plus told me that the tires had a 300 rating or something to that effect. He said if he ordered Michelins for me, they would have a 600 rating, and would be very good tires, unlike the ones that came from the factory. The Uniroyal, if I remember right, was a 400 rating. At any rate, he did not seem surprised that my factory tires were shot at 27K. The Uniroyals were quite a bit cheaper than the Michelins, as you might expect. I tried to confirm these numbers, but he is gone for the day.

The valve cover gasket for one side was somewhere between $400 and $500, and I am thinking closer to $500--actually I think it was real close to $500. It was this summer, so I don't remember exactly. All I know is that the year before (2009), it would miss. The Ford garage said that two COPS had corrosion, so they cleaned them up, and it seemed to run good. This year (2010), it was not running well again, only this time, it was the valve cover gasket. Once again, the COPS were malfunctioning due to the oil.

As I mentioned, I hope to have the bugs worked out so it will be fun to drive.

Hope this helps answer the questions.

[Ol'Dave]

Re: good news day

?? does your 02 ONLY have 27K on her. If so, tire prob was from SITTING. If you have more, then the Original Owner changed the OEM to a lesser rated Michelin.

[bgl]

Re: good news day

I looked at an '02 at a local Ford dealer today. Same issue as mine: 20K and the tires are close to shot.

[007Cruiser]

Re: good news day

Th tire ratings that you refer to are meant for comparison within the same brand. A 400 rated Uniroyal will not have the same life as a 400 from another manufacturer.
http://www.michelinman.com/help/tires/utqg-ratings/

[Rondor]

Re: good news day

Where did you find your exhaust tips, and are they longer? Things may be a little different there but here there is no way I would let somebody at a tire store under the hood of my car.

[V8 Cat]

Re: good news day

I have never had a set of Michelins that lasted less than 40,000 miles, and I've had a bunch of them on personal and company cars. In fact I was so impressed with the Michelin Pilot Sports on the Tbird that I bought a set of them for my SC300. I thought Ford really went first class with these OEM tires as they are V speed rated. Ford could just have just as well put a cheaper H speed rated tire on the Tbird and put a "chip" in to hold the top speed down to say 120 MPH. I may not drive the Tbird 145mph which I think it is capable of, but it is nice to know it can do it. The Lexus SC300 I have is also capable of 140-145 mph and came with V speed rated tires from the factory.

[bgl]

Re: good news day

I called Tires Plus and talked to the gentleman again so that I could get the description down a bit better. This is the description of the tire on my car: TPC spec--300. The 300 number signifies treadwear and is used for comparison, but maybe not between tire brands (see above post)? The Michelin tires he could have ordered would have been non TPC spec 600--which he said are good tires.

Now, I don't what all this means, except that to me it means the tires installed on my car were not very good.

The Uniroyal tire is a 440 treadwear.

Tires Plus folks did not need to go under the hood for these projects--the hood never came up.

The old tips will come off, and these will be welded on. They are angled as opposed to level on the end, and I think he said they are 9" long. They should end where the car ends--at least that is what I asked for. They are on order, so will know more later.

[Sandman]

Re: good news day

Bruce, what's the reason you are replacing the tips? Do you know what the diameter of the new ones are?

[bgl]

Re: good news day

Hi Ron

It was one of the items that I was suspecting could be causing exhaust fumes in the car, since they do not go past the end of the car. Plus, there is the cosmetic side, in that I like the looks of more prominent tips. Otherwise, I have left it stock. Really wanted to keep it stock, but I want to think I have eliminated every possibility of ever having to deal with fumes in the car again. If I heard right, they are 1 7/8. I told them I did not want some bazookas sticking out the rear, so I think they are the same diameter. They are going to be welded on just like the stock units. I do now know what they cost.

[lmartun]

Re: good news day

I may not drive the Tbird 145mph which I think it is capable of, but it is nice to know it can do it.

It's capable of 145mph alright. White knuckle time.

Anyway, I learned something today, I did not know the Michelin tires are V-rated.

LM