thunderbird

Stay away from ANY non SC v6 thunderbird made between 1989 and 1997. The head gaskets fail.

gaj opined in news: snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:

Good choice .. they're good cars and because of the Headgasket problem, really cheap.

The V6 Headgaskets will fail... so look for one over 100kmile on which they've been replaced according to CarFax... OR buy one and have the HG's replaced with the good fel-pro's.

Also suggest buying a 50 buck trans cooler and installing it.

Other than (or i should say -AFTER-)the two problems, they're pretty reliable.

You forgot the chronic brake rotor warp and 96 and up 4.6 v8 intake manifold cracks.

Also the automatic tranny in the 1994 models are weak. The best automatic is in the 97 model year but then you have to put up with a Taurus instrument cluster and cheapening of the interior.

If your reason for looking for a v6 is fuel economy, 60 mph cruises on the highway net me 28 / 29 mpg with the 4.6 in my 95 T-Bird using 87 octane gas.

I had always heard the V-6 head gasket problems began in '94 when they changed the gasket material. My '93 is about to cross 100k with original ones - so far...

PoD

Paul of Dayton opined in news:_WPkb.2763$P% snipped-for-privacy@newssvr28.news.prodigy.com:

Ummm... "I dont think so, Tim!" I've had 2 93's... both have been changed. The first had bearing damage.. ran it 55 Kmiles anyway.

And it usually happens between 80 and 120.. you are halfway there.

Thanks for the tip - I'll keep a close eye on it. I'd like to keep the thing for a few more years.

PoD

We had a '94 T-Bird with the 4.6L V-8 engine and put 180k miles on it with absolutely no engine issues. Our son totalled it last spring or we would still be driving it. We would regularly see 28 mpg on the highway and 20-22 mpg in the city. This mileage is as good as a V-6 and you won't have the head gasket issues. The 4.6L is one durable engine. I strongly recommend installing a good transmission oil cooler for any '94 and up T-Bird. The transmissions in these cars tend to run on the hot side and will kill torque convertors every 75,000 miles if you don't. As for the brake rotors warping we had trouble with the original set but after replacing them had no more issues. I think allot of the rotor problems are causes from torqueing the lug nuts unevenly because after the replacement set was installed I made sure the shops torqued the lugs properly (i.e. I watched them torque the lugs with a torque wrench).

Overall the T-Bird is a great vehicle, IMO, and you get allot of car for the m> I am looking for a thunderbird less than 10 years old with a V6. What years