Purchased my '94 Thunderbird LX on June 15 this year. It's the first Ford I've owned. It's got a 4.6 V8 and almost has 65K actual miles. Bought it at the local GM dealer and it was on their lot for about two years and according to the trip odometer, only driven 272 miles during that time. Mice made two nests of sound insolation in the the trunk! :frown2: Had the interior/trunk professionally cleaned/disinfected.
The car needed new tires, battery, front disc rotors (warped-pulled to the right) and pads. Have cleaned the battery cables and MAF sensor, cooling system flushed (old antifreeze was rusty), replaced the air, fuel filters and PCV valve, oil changed (Valvoline 5W30), replaced the drive belt. There was only 1/8 gas in the tank when I bought the car. Put STP Super Concentrated Fuel Injector cleaner in the tank when I filled the tank with 87 (w/ 10% Ethanol). Live in Western Nebraska and most gas stations have Ethanol.
Have only got to drive the car about 80 miles and it's been acting up part of that time. Love driving the car, but sometimes as it wants to shift at about 30mph, the tach goes up to about 3-4K rpm and then it goes back down to about 1100 prm. One time when driving at about 30-40 mph, the tach went up to 4k rpm and then back down to where it was at 30 mph. That startled me for sure! Of course, the car never had any shifting problems during the test drive before I bought it! During the test drive I checked the transmission fluid and it looked good and red and smelled normal. If it had not been, I would not have bought the car.
Was unable to get a hold of the former owners, so I don't have any service records. The engine oil looked good before I had it changed. The fuel and air filters had been replaced before. Am sure that the transmission has not been serviced. The undercarriage looks dry.
Took my Bird to a mechanic to see why it's not shifting right sometimes. He got it to mess up after it got warmed up and said that it probably needs transmission work, but he's not familiar with Ford automatics. :frown2:
Am going to get the transmission serviced first. Is it required to get a Motorcraft brand tranny filter?
The owner's manual says that it takes MERCON AFT. Have currently read that Ford now recommends MERCON V. But have read that the MERCON V is synthetic and MERCON isn't and you're not supposed to mix them. Is that correct? Does the torque converter have a drain plug to completely drain the transmission along with the pan?
I have a feeling that the transmission shifting problems could be something other that the transmission. Could it be an electrical problem? Or since the gas tank was only had 1/8 gas in it, could the fuel pump have gotten hot and it could be a fuel pump problem that seems like a tranny problem? Or could a mouse have chewed some wires that go to the tranny and that's what the problem is? Is the "J Mod" required to do on the transmission? Should I have a tranny cooler installed? If so, what is the current recommended one to use? There are no transmission shops in my town and the closest one is about 90 miles away. Am physically unable to do any of this work myself.
Certainly do not want to throw parts at the car in trying to resolve the problem. I'm not giving up on the car as I dearly love it. Have got too much invested in it now... Bought it so I wouldn't put so many miles on my GMC Pickup going to work. The "check engine" light is not on and the OD light isn't on, unless I push the OD button on the shift lever (as per the owner's manual). According to the owner's manual, it's got the OBD II system. Have a "Car MD" engine code reader and hopefully it will work on this car.
Hope someone on the forum can help me out with this problem and steer me in the right direction. Am at wits end on what to do next. :| Thanks.
The car needed new tires, battery, front disc rotors (warped-pulled to the right) and pads. Have cleaned the battery cables and MAF sensor, cooling system flushed (old antifreeze was rusty), replaced the air, fuel filters and PCV valve, oil changed (Valvoline 5W30), replaced the drive belt. There was only 1/8 gas in the tank when I bought the car. Put STP Super Concentrated Fuel Injector cleaner in the tank when I filled the tank with 87 (w/ 10% Ethanol). Live in Western Nebraska and most gas stations have Ethanol.
Have only got to drive the car about 80 miles and it's been acting up part of that time. Love driving the car, but sometimes as it wants to shift at about 30mph, the tach goes up to about 3-4K rpm and then it goes back down to about 1100 prm. One time when driving at about 30-40 mph, the tach went up to 4k rpm and then back down to where it was at 30 mph. That startled me for sure! Of course, the car never had any shifting problems during the test drive before I bought it! During the test drive I checked the transmission fluid and it looked good and red and smelled normal. If it had not been, I would not have bought the car.
Was unable to get a hold of the former owners, so I don't have any service records. The engine oil looked good before I had it changed. The fuel and air filters had been replaced before. Am sure that the transmission has not been serviced. The undercarriage looks dry.
Took my Bird to a mechanic to see why it's not shifting right sometimes. He got it to mess up after it got warmed up and said that it probably needs transmission work, but he's not familiar with Ford automatics. :frown2:
Am going to get the transmission serviced first. Is it required to get a Motorcraft brand tranny filter?
The owner's manual says that it takes MERCON AFT. Have currently read that Ford now recommends MERCON V. But have read that the MERCON V is synthetic and MERCON isn't and you're not supposed to mix them. Is that correct? Does the torque converter have a drain plug to completely drain the transmission along with the pan?
I have a feeling that the transmission shifting problems could be something other that the transmission. Could it be an electrical problem? Or since the gas tank was only had 1/8 gas in it, could the fuel pump have gotten hot and it could be a fuel pump problem that seems like a tranny problem? Or could a mouse have chewed some wires that go to the tranny and that's what the problem is? Is the "J Mod" required to do on the transmission? Should I have a tranny cooler installed? If so, what is the current recommended one to use? There are no transmission shops in my town and the closest one is about 90 miles away. Am physically unable to do any of this work myself.
Certainly do not want to throw parts at the car in trying to resolve the problem. I'm not giving up on the car as I dearly love it. Have got too much invested in it now... Bought it so I wouldn't put so many miles on my GMC Pickup going to work. The "check engine" light is not on and the OD light isn't on, unless I push the OD button on the shift lever (as per the owner's manual). According to the owner's manual, it's got the OBD II system. Have a "Car MD" engine code reader and hopefully it will work on this car.
Hope someone on the forum can help me out with this problem and steer me in the right direction. Am at wits end on what to do next. :| Thanks.