Reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers, shown in full
Data refreshed
Our database holds 112 NHTSA owner-reported complaints for the 1991 Ford Thunderbird. Each one is a report filed by an owner or driver and published by NHTSA without most of them being verified. A complaint is not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. Narratives are shown exactly as filed.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
Showing 1–25 of 112 · page 1 of 5
LOSS OF HYDRAULIC BRAKE ASSIST ON SUPER COUPE. PEDAL BECAME HARD TO PRESS. BOTH BRAKE AND ABS ANNUNCIATORS ILLUMINATING. TROUBLESHOOTING INDICATES BRAKE PRESSURE SWITCH FAILING TO SIGNAL PUMP TO CHARGE SYSTEM OR ACCUMULATOR HAS FAILED. MASTER CYLINDER AND ABS SYSTEM ARE ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT AND THUS 24 YEARS OLD.
CRUISE CONTROL STOPPED WORKING. *TR
WHILE THE CONSUMER WAS DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY THE ACCELERATOR BECAME STRUCK. AS A RESULT THE VEHICLE CONTINUED TO ACCELERATE UNTIL THE BRAKE PEDAL AND EMERGENCY BRAKE WERE APPLIED. *AK *NM
PLASTIC BUSHINGS IN BOTH ENDS OF WINDSHIELD WIPER TIE-ROD COMPONENT HAVE WORN. CAUSES WIPERS TO MOVE LESS, SKIP, AND LOSE ABILITY TO CLEAR ENTIRE WINDSHIELD. TIE-ROD MAY BECOME DISCONNECTED FROM MOTOR END OR FROM WIPER END. CAR HAS LESS THAN 57000 MILES.*AK
DEFECTIVE HEADLAMP CIRCUIT BREAKER CAUSES HEADLIGHTS TO FLASH OFF AND ON REPEATEDLY. FIRST FAILURE OCCURRED WHEN CAR WAS 2 YEARS OLD, SECOND FAILURE IN THE LAST YEAR. CAR HAS LESS THAN 57,000 MILES. 1991 SUPERCOUPE MODEL HAS FOGLAMPS AS DO THE 1992 AND LATER THUNDERBIRD MODELS FOR WHICH A RECALL EXISTS.*AK
3.8L V6 ENGINE OVER-HEATED DUE TO HEAD GASKET FAILURE IN #4 CYLINDER. BOTH HEADS WERE REWORKED AND GASKETS REPLACED. AFTER REPAIR ENGINE STARTED STALLING. IDLE AIR CONTROL VALVE WAS THEN REPLACED. NOW THERE IS A FLUCTUATION IN OIL PRESSURE. PRIOR TO HEAD GASKET FAILURE, POWER STEERING PUMP HAS TO BE REPLACED.*AK
OVERHEATING AT FIRST THEN AFTER THE HEADGASKETS WERE REPLACED THE ROD BEARINGS FAILED WHICH ADDED ANOTHER 1200.00 TO THE 1645.00 OF THE FIRST REPAIR AND THE POWER STEERING PUMP WAS REPLACED AT THE TIME OF THE FIRST REPAIR.
HEAD GASKET FAILURE AT 73,000 ON MY 1991 TBIRD WITH THE 3.8 V6. LOOKS LIKE FORD IS TRYING TO COVER THIS UP! *NLM
HEADLIGHT FAILURE INTERMITTENT OPERATION. TS
PART TO REPAIR NOT AVAILABLE. DT
WINDSHIELD WIPERS FREEZE UP WHEN WIPERS ARE TURNED ON HIGH. THIS IS A SIMILAR DEFECT TO THE "NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER: 91V076000" PROBLEM I CAN NOT USE THE MY CAR WIPERS ON HIGH IN THE RAIN. *AK
ENGINE HAS BEEN REPLACED TWICE ALREADY AND NEEDS TO GO IN AGAIN BECAUSE OF HEAD GASKET BLOWING OUT. CONTACTED DEALER. *AK
WHILE DRIVING HEARS A LOUD BEEP COMING FROM FRONT OF VEHICLE. CAN'T ACTUALLY TELL WHERE BEEP IS COMING FROM. PLEASE ADD VIN. *AK
I AM IN A CLUB OF OVER 5,000 OWNERS OF IDENTICAL CARS AND FAILURES HAVE BEEN SEEN AS LOW AS 18,000 MILES TO MY KNOWLEDGE, AND NUMEROUS IN THE 60000 MILE RANGE ON WELL MAINTAINED CARS OF HEADGASKET FAILURE WHICH OFTEN CAUSES COMPLETE ENGINE FAILURE, IN MY CASE IT CAUSED TWO CONNECTING RODS TO FAIL, A CRANKSHAFT BEARING DUE TO OIL CONTAMINATION AND THE CRANKSHAFT AS A RESULT. THIS IS THE THIRD FAILURE ON MY VEHICLE, ONCE I WAS STRANDED ON A DANGEROUS DARK STRETCH OF I-95, ONCE IN THE RAIN AND AS A RESULT OF LOSS OF HEAT (HEADGASKET FAILURE SYMPTOM) I RAN A RED LIGHT AND PROCEDED THE WRONG WAY ON A ONE WAY STREET. *AK
IT LOOKS LIKE DUE TO THE WEIGHT OF THE INDEPENDANT REAR SUSPENSION THE REAR WHEELWELL WELDS AND FLOOR PAN APPEAR TO BE TEARING AWAY FROM THE CAR. *AK
THIS AUTO WAS A LATE BUILD THUNDERBIRD 5-91 IT HAS SOME 92 THUNDERBIRD SYSTEMS INCLUDING RECALLED FUEL LINES OF THE 1992 THUNDERBIRD. *AK
HEAD GASKET BLEWOUT WITH ANY WARNING OR PRIOR PROBLEM. VEHICLE HAS LOW MILEAGE, BUT MANUFACTURER IS NOT COVERING COST. *AK
AIR CONDITIONER GETS A COOLANT-TYPE SMELL AND THEN BEGINS TO BLOW HOT AIR. I HAVE TAKEN IT TO THE DEALER SEVERAL TIMES WITH THE SAME COMPLAINT, THE FIRST TIME BEING IN 1996. MOST OF THE TIME THEY CANNOT FIND ANYTHING WRONG. SOMETIMES, THEY REPLACE "O" RINGS, GASKETS, FREON, ETC. BUT IT STILL DOES NOT SOLVE THE PROBLEM. *AK
ANTIFREEZE IS LEAKING THROUGH OUT EXHAUST SYSTEM CAUSED BY BAD HEAD GASKETS. ENGINE OVERHEATED, BLEW A HEAD GASKET, AND LOST ANTIFREEZE IMMEDIATELY. FORD DEALER IS DENYING ANY PROBLEMS THEY MAY HAVE WITH THE GASKETS.*AK
WINDSHIELD WIPERS FREEZE UP WHEN THEY ARE TURNED ON HIGH. THIS IS A SIMILAR DEFECT TO THE "NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER: 91V076000" PROBLEM. *AK
I WOULD LIKE FOR THESE PROBLEMS TO BE FIXED. NO SAFETY DEFECT LISTED. *AK
ANTI-LOCK BRAKES AND BRAKE SYSTEM WARNING LIGHTS ON DASHBOARD COME ON. WHEN CONSUMER ATTEMPTS TO SLOW/STOP VEHICLE, THERE IS NO RESISTANCE BEHIND THE BRAKE PEDAL, AND IT GOES TO THE FLOOR. THIS HAS OCCURRED THREE TIMES; AT 15-20 MPH RANGE/ 20-30 MPH RANGE, AND AT 40-50 MPH RANGE. A PRIVATE MECHANIC STATED THAT ON A PREVIOUS VEHICLE WITH SAME DEFECT OCCURRED. THEY RAN A DIAGNOSTIC ON BRAKE SYSTEM AND FOUND NO DEFECTS, BUT REPLACED BRAKE SYSTEM WHICH REPAIRED DEFECT. CONSUMER HAS NOT DETERMINED WHETHER OR NOT HE WILL HAVE THIS DONE. *AK *SLC
ENGINE HEAD GASKETS HAVE BLOWN. DEALER HAS BEEN NOTIFIED.*AK NEW CYLINDER HEAD GASKET WAS INSTALLED AT CONSUMER'S EXPENSE. *YH
MAJOR FUEL LEAK WHEN FILLED. *AK
DRIVER'S SIDE SEATBELT STOPPED WORKING, CONSUMER IS NOT ABLE TO BE PROPERLY RESTRAINED.*AK
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.
Categories with enough reports to have a page of their own
Data on this page last refreshed .