2002 Ford Thunderbird

THE CLUSTER LIGHTS HAVE GONE OUT ON MY 2002 FORD THUNDERBIRD. WHEN THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED I REALLY DON'T KNOW SINCE THE CAR IS MAINLY A SHOW CAR AND WHILE DRIVING THE CAR AT DUSK COMING BACK FROM A CAR SHOW THE CLUSTER LIGHTS DID NOT COME ON. WE PARKED THE CAR AND ONLY DROVE IT DURING DAYLIGHT HOURS. THEN THE FUEL SYSTEM QUIT WORKING SO WE HAD TO HAVE THE CAR TOWED TO A DEALER. AFTER DOING SOME RESEARCH I FOUND THAT THIS ISSUE COULD CAUSE HEADLIGHT FAILURE, TAILLIGHT FAILURE, TURN SIGNAL FAILURE, TILT STEERING WHEEL FAILURE, PARKING LIGHTS FAILURE, AND DRIVING LIGHTS FAILURE. WHEN DRIVING THE CAR AT NIGHT YOU CANNOT TELL HOW FAST YOU ARE GOING AND YOU ALSO HAVE THE RISK OF YOUR TURN SIGNALS, HEADLIGHTS AND TAIL LIGHTS GOING OUT. YOU CAN GOOGLE FORD THUNDERBIRD AND FIND INFORMATION WHERE OTHER OWNERS OF THIS CAR HAVE HAD SIMILAR EXPERIENCES. I BELIEVE THIS CAR NEEDS TO HAVE A RECALL SINCE THEY CANNOT BE DRIVEN AT NIGHT OR REALLY ANYTIME. WHICH IS A RISK NOT ONLY TO ME BUT ANY OTHER VEHICLE AROUND ME. I TOOK THE CAR TO A DEALER TO GET THE CAR LOOK AT AND FOR THEM TO RUN A DIAGNOSTIC TEST ON THE CAR AND THEY TOLD ME IT WAS A NETWORK PROBLEM AND IS VERY EXPENSIVE TO DIAGNOSE. HE SAID IT COULD TAKE HOURS TO DAYS TO FIGURE IT OUT CONSIDERING THE COMPUTER AND NETWORK SYSTEM ON THE CAR. THE SERVICE MAN ALSO TOLD ME THEY DID NOT LIKE TO WORK ON THIS CAR BECAUSE OF THIS ISSUE. HE ALSO STATED THAT WAS THE REASON FORD QUIT MAKING THIS VEHICLE. I HOPE YOU CAN SEE THE SAFETY ISSUES THIS VEHICLE CREATES. FROM SPEAKING WITH OTHER DEALERS FORD KNOWS ABOUT THIS ISSUE. THERE IS A WEBSITE ABOUT THE CLUSTER PROBLEMS IT IS : WWW.THUNDERBIRDSPECIALTIES.COM/2002-2005THUNDERBIRD-INSTRUMENT-CLUSTER-PROBLEMS/. THERE ARE SEVERAL OTHERS ON THE INTERNET ABOUT THIS ISSUE AND OTHER ISSUES WITH THE CAR.

THE DASHBOARD LIGHTS FOR SPEEDOMETER, TACHOMETER, TEMP AND FUEL GAUGES FAIL TO TURN ON WITH HEADLIGHTS. THE DIMMER SWITCH IS FUNCTIONAL SINCE OTHER LIGHTS FOR ODOMETER, RADIO, A/C FUNCTION CORRECTLY. FUSES CHECK OUT. CANNOT VIEW SPEED WHILE DRIVING AT NIGHT. THIS MAKES DRIVING AT NIGHT DANGEROUS. FORD DEALER CLAIMS THAT THE CLUSTER FOR THE DASH MIGHT NEED TO BE CHANGED. HOWEVER, NONE ARE AVAILABLE ANYMORE. THE CAR ONLY HAS 8237 MILES ON IT.

THE FRONT HEADLIGHTS HAVE CRACKED AND WILL NEED TO BE REPLACED SOON. IT IS NOT RIGHT THAT FORD WILL NOT COVER THIS AFTER THE WARRANTY. MY CAR IS A 2002 THEY CHANGED THE DESIGN IN 2003 SO IT IS OBVIOUS THAT THEY WERE AWARE OF THE PROBLEM. ALSO IT IS NOT LIKE WE TYPICALLY DRIVE THESE AS AN EVERYDAY CAR. MINE HAS ONLY 13,000 MILES. *NM

THE HEADLIGHT BRACKETS ON THE 2002 THUNDERBIRD CRACK AT THE REAR, WHERE THE HEADLIGHT ATTACHES TO THE FRAME WITH A BOLT. ALSO CRACKS IN THE ENTIRE REAR BODY OF THE HEADLIGHT... DESIGN WAS CHANGED IN 2003, FORD WILL ONLY REPLACE UNDER WARRANTY, AFTER WARRANTY FORD WILL NOT REPLACE OR ADMIT THIS IS A PROBLEM... THERE ARE OVER 280 MESSAGES AT WWW.THUNDERBIRDNEST.COM RELATED TO THIS PROBLEM. *JB