1990 Ford Thunderbird SC 3.8 Supercharged from Finland

Summary:

A very poorly built automobile

Faults:

Blown head gasket.

Motor mounts.

CO2 sensor.

Supercharger.

Radiator.

Harmonic balancer.

Intake manifold leak.

Dented piston.

Rod bearing.

Cruise control doesnt work.

A/C doesnt work.

Automatic seat belt got stuck on the drivers side.

Sunroof leaks water.

Oil pump failed.

Odometer got stuck at 115 000 miles.

Front brake discs were twisted had to turn them and now they are shaky again.

Thermostat failed.

Fuel pressure regulator was bad.

The car idled way too high.

Power steering leaked fluid.

Door hinges are bad.

The paint is wearing off.

General Comments:

This car is fast and has a lot of torque and it handles well.

Other than that I dont recommend it for anyone.

Everything that can go wrong has happened with it.

When I bought it the car had blown head gaskets so I rebuilt the engine. After driving for 600 miles the oil pump failed so I had to put yet a new engine in it. I drove about 1000 miles with the new engine and now it´s not working again.

Also, the engine is terrible to work on because of the supercharger and all of the electronics.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 20th April, 2008

20th Feb 2009, 19:24

If you rebuilt the engine, why would the oil pump have failed? A new to you engine is not a new engine.

1990 Ford Thunderbird SUPER COUPE 3.8 from North America

Summary:

Quick fast a real looker!

Faults:

Need air conditioner re-charged.

Just put new tires nON vehicle.

Arm rest are now WEATHERED on leather interior.

General Comments:

Love this car! fast and very red with moonroof. turbo-charged and takes off right at start. smooth riding not aware of speed glides. now ready to sell just sitting. mileage is great especially with cost of gas today.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 8th November, 2005

10th Nov 2005, 21:11

The Supercoupe has a supercharged 3.8 V6, hence the name Supercoupe. The Turbocoupe is the one with the turbo.

1990 Ford Thunderbird Base 3.8 V6 EFI from North America

Faults:

Brakes were bad. Had to replace rotors

Rear brakes had a rattle. Rebuilt them

Had a coolant leak on top of engine. Turned out that coolant temp sensor was not tight.

General Comments:

This is an amazingly comfortable car and handles extremely well in corners.

I love the look of this car. The lines are very nice and pleasing to look at.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 28th March, 2005

1990 Ford Thunderbird SC 3.8 Super Charger V6 from North America

Summary:

High performance high maintenance poor mans luxury car

Faults:

1. There was an electrical problem in the ignition that caused all my interior electrical equipment to go and and it shorted out my power brakes.

2. I had to rewire the entire stereo system because one speaker shorted out.

3. To change the SC oil I had to remove the SC, which took 4 hours, and all the gaskets and the oil were special orders.

4. Drivers side window is off the track.

5. AC compressor will not turn on. Even after I charged it.

6. Auto headlights don't work.

7. Blower motor is weak.

8. Drivers door hinges need to be replaced.

9. Key will not turn all the way back so I cannot put the car all the way in park.

General Comments:

The SC has more power than the 5.0 but is a very high maintenance car and is vary hard to work on. A normally simple thing like changing the plugs and wires requires you to remove all the air intake tubes. And took me a total of about 4 hours to do.

I love the power. I topped it out around 140 in less than half a mile. it does a 10 second 1/8 mile. 110mph in a 1/4.

Very comfortable car. 10-way dual power seats.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 19th August, 2003

27th May 2007, 10:19

There is a much simpler method to change the supercharger oil than removing the entire supercharger, as you claim to have done.

There is an inspection screw at the front bottom edge of the supercharger, next to the pulley 'snout'. Remove the screw and evacuate the oil with a suction gun, and refill with 6 oz of synthetic supercharger oil.

Ford recommends replacing the oil every 100,000 miles, but I do mine once a year... just to be safe. It only costs about $12 for a 4-oz bottle, so $24 once a year doesn't seem like too much.