1992 Ford Thunderbird engine and engine cooling problems
27 owner complaints filed with NHTSA name the engine and engine cooling on the 1992 Ford Thunderbird — 15% of all complaints for this model year.
What owners report
“Left and right outer and inner rockers rotted. Bad design, no ventilation built in to dry moisture inside rocker. Therefore they rot till there is no more rocker, costing $700 per side to have a ford body shop to cut out and weld in new rockers.*ak”
filed Aug 20, 2002
“Head gasket- car began skipping and then white smoke came out of exhuast. I drove it home (3 miles). I pulled the spark plugs and found that the number 3 cylinder plug clean and wet. I did some research and found this to be a common problem with this motor and cylinder. Why won't ford help? I have…”
filed Jul 24, 2002
Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA. Reports are not independently verified.
Related service bulletins
Some engine assemblies with aluminum cylinder heads repaired in-vehile have been found to leak coolant and/or oil from the cylinder head gasket area. *tt
0214 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jan 21, 2002
Engine and Engine Cooling problems in other Thunderbird years
| Year | Reports | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 Thunderbird | 3 | 11% |
| 2004 Thunderbird | 5 | 15% |
| 2003 Thunderbird | 3 | 9% |
| 2002 Thunderbird | 24 | 26% |
| 1997 Thunderbird | 54 | 32% |
| 1996 Thunderbird | 65 | 28% |
| 1995 Thunderbird | 49 | 19% |
| 1994 Thunderbird | 61 | 20% |
| 1993 Thunderbird | 171 | 40% |
| 1991 Thunderbird | 14 | 13% |
| 1990 Thunderbird | 11 | 8% |
| 1989 Thunderbird | 13 | 10% |
Other reported problem areas on the 1992 Ford Thunderbird
Counts are unique NHTSA complaints naming this component group. Complaints are unverified owner reports; mileage is computed only from complaints that included a usable odometer reading.