Thinking About Getting A T-bird Any Pointers

[STINKINLINCOLN]

Im thinking about getting a t-bird and I was wondring if anyone could help me out I would like to know as much as possible on the car gas millage what think could go wrong and the most common thing that can go wrong on this cars ?

[RickwithaTbird]

my 96 3.8L gets about 28 mpg highway, and 19 mpg city. I usually get about 320 miles per tank. Common problems with t birds are the MAF, (I believe some were recalled for it though) and many people get a trans shudder at cruising speeds, which gets worse over time but is solved by a trans and torque converter flush. Ive heard some years have troublesome head gaskets but I cant recall years/models, maybe someone else here can tell you that, and I believe the O2 sensors commonly go bad, but I dont know if that is normal for any make/model because I never talk or read about other cars.

[thunderbird muscle]

This cars are really realiable.

there is a problem with the 3.8 blowing headgaskets. My T-bird is a 95 with a 4.6V8 with 106,500 miles on it and I've never had any major issues with it except for the MAF sensor. My tranny has never had any problems except to shift to soft(lol)

Just look through the forum and see what has been said.

Also visit tccoa.com for a lot of helpful tips.

[STINKINLINCOLN]

Thanks You Guys The Oe That Im Thinking Of Is A 3.8 V6 1995 Are There Any Good Mods I Can Do To It

[flewthecoupe]

go to www.tccoa.com. Do a search, read the forums, then ask some questions, in that order. There are many, many things you can do it depending on how much you'd like to spend. Some of them will spank a stock 5.0 or 4.6 and are still NA.

[solaris=amazing]

BTW, i have a 95 4.6, whats the problems with the MAF exactly?? Signs??

Also, these cars are beautiful cruisers.

[STINKINLINCOLN]

Thanks for all your guys help the deal tha I had made has fail threw so I can not get the car shitty I was looking forward to doing all kind of mods to it to
thanks again

[thecackster]

Ya i have a 93 what are the signs of MAF problems

[danford1]

The MAF sensor problem is it gets dirty. It causes spank knock and other problems. Very easy to replace or clean from time to time. It is held in by two tamper proof torx screws. You need the torx bit with the hollow tip unless the car is older and just has phillips screws. Remove it and CAREFULLY clean the two tiny wire looking things. Use a Q-Tip and windex or plain water. Don't use brake cleaner or carb cleaner or anything strong as it eats the coating. Clean the wires (actually thermistors) after the car has been sitting awhile so they aren't hot. They should be cleaned cold.
The way they work is the heat up to 200 degrees. The air flowing over them cools them off. They tell the computer they are cool and the computers knows air is flowing over them so it allows the injectors to squirt more fuel. When you hammer it, they cool fast as a lot of air flows over them, the computer has to react fast to add fuel.
When the MAF sensor gets dirty, it doesn't cool off as fast when air flows so the computer doesn't react as fast. The car spark knocks until the MAF cools down and the computer tells the injectors to squirt harder.
Cleaning eliminates that instantly. The reason the MAF gets dirty is because your air filter is dirty, not sealing well or something like that. Also if you add a K&N filter with a lot of oil on it, the MAF sensor will get coated with oil which keeps it from cooling down as fast. Knock is the result.
Keep it clean or replace it if it keeps causing trouble. They are about $80 at NAPA so be careful when cleaning it ! I hope this helped.
Cheers,
Danford1

Originally Posted by thecackster

Ya i have a 93 what are the signs of MAF problems

[RickwithaTbird]

i dont have a knock, but would that cause slow acceleration alone? and, that was excellent info btw. oh, and is there any spray that can be used to clean it? Im afraid of breaking it. And about carb cleaner, would I want to use that on my 96? Ive read the instructions on them when i was at the store, but I was never really sure about it. thanks

[thunderbird muscle]

If it seems like your car has no power at all when you hammer it then it is a possibility that it is a bad mafs but it could be other things. They don't always knock when the mafs bad. If you know anyone with a computer that can read your car it can tell you if your masf sensor is working right.

[RickwithaTbird]

would that be the same computer autozone uses? if so, then it didnt say anything about the maf, just PO156 and PO161.. and that was AFTER i replaced my O2 sensor... so now im pissed. apparently my problem was electrical.. not in my sensor, so i wasted my 70 bucks. and oh yeah.. when i hammer it... no power. sometimes i get power, but heres how that works... I floor it, then the RPMs shoot up as high as 5000, but the car doesnt speed up until it catches and its like a little boost (and sometimes it squeals the tires). If I dont floor it the RPMs never shoot up, its only when I stomp it that it does that.

[thunderbird muscle]

The computer I'm talking about is a Ford computer.

[RickwithaTbird]

oh, yeah i dont know anybody with that. how much are they and how useful are they for the broke, novice level DIY'r mechanic?

[thunderbird muscle]

Go see a pro you won't be able to afford one unless your ritch.