88 thunderbird
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88 thunderbird
Does anyone have experiences with this car? It has the 3.8 liter engine. It has 79 k on it. And it has been in a garage for a few years but we had it checked out by a mechanic. And is this car better than the 1985 toyota tercell that I am driving? Also this car would be a lot safer than the toyota wouldn't it? thanks fordguy101
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From: VA BEACH. but am from IL
I had an 87 thunderbird. I loved it.the ride was nice and had plenty of power.my mom hit a deer head on and it faired better then most cars. Just had to replace the hood and fender. I dont see why it wouldnt be safe. they are built tough and can handle alot of beating. I got rid of it in 2000 after having it since 1989. the only problem i had with it from owning it was the trasmission lost overdrive and the deer hitting it. I wish i never got rid of it. I'm looking for an 87/ 88 Turbo coupe though to replace my car i have now
Good luck with it. they are nice cars.
The 87/88 years are different from the 86 yrs.
Good luck with it. they are nice cars.The 87/88 years are different from the 86 yrs.
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Joined: Dec 2002
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From: Effingham,IL USA
one very big problem with the 3.8 is they blow their head gaskets. its almost gauranteed that will happen. those engines are good except for that.but once you change em your ok. the ford 3.8 with alum heads has always had problems with coolant leakin into the engine from the head gaskets. ive seen brand new minivans under warranty limping into the shop with so much coolant goin thru the engine it wouldnt hardly run. they recalled a bunch in the 90's for it. the stock gaskets just werent up to the task of sealing well.but once they are changed with good fel pro replacements and as long as the heads arent cracked, it is a dam good engine, especailly since they went to multiport in 88.just keep the coolant changed and flushed out to prevent the aluminum from gettin ate up by corrosion. i love the aero shape of the 87 88 coupes. they look like a bullet-really low coef of drag. they are very well built, safe, get decent gas mileage, most are loaded with options, plus they look cool, great cars!
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From: Oak Harbor, OH
Yes, I agree with old trucks. I keep hearing people complain about head gaskets. Use the steel core gaskets and they aren't a problem. If it's a S/C keep the boost under 12lbs and all will be good.
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Thanks guys for all your info. So the head gasket's on the 88 Thunderbird Coupe is a big problem, huh? If I bought this car, do I dare try and drive it with the current head gasket or will I have to get it replaced right away? Are they expensive to replace? My grandpa currently owns this car and bought it brand new back in 88. It only has 73,000 on it and has not been driven very hard. The only thing I am concerned about is that the car has alot of rust on it underneath the car from sitting in a garage; otherwise there is hardly a speck of rust on it. Is all this rust underneath the car going to create alot of problems? I sure would appreciate as much info as you could give me. I am trying to persuade my parents into letting me buy this car from my grandpa and give my 85 Toyota Tercel to my little brother. I attend a college 4 hours from my house and want a safer car to drive in the city. Thanks again for all your help.
Andy,
Andy,
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From: Oak Harbor, OH
At most it will need floor pans. They can be bought aftermarket. My best friend had an '87 that he put over 100k on with no issues other than the cats all plugged up on him.
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From: VA BEACH. but am from IL
The turbo coupe Thunderbird in 87/88 didnt really have a problem with headgaskets. It was the 89 to 93 SUPERCOUPES that had the real problems. I had the 87 with no problems. My husband had an 90 35th anniversary ed thunderbird Supercoupe. Those cars were horrible for head gasket trouble. After getting rid of it in february the guy that bought it had it for 2 months before they blew. the car only had 90,000 miles on it and was in decent shape but the head gaskets cant hold up due to the BOOST the supercharger puts on on the supercoupes.
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The car I am talking about is the 1988 3.8 liter v6 Thunderbird Coupe base model. It seems like there was a little confusion about what kind of car I was describing so I wanted to clear this up. Is this the car everybody is thinking of that has head gasket problems? I appreciate all of your help.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com
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From: VA BEACH. but am from IL
The 89-93 thunderbird SUPERCOUPES are the ones with all the head gasket problems. I have never heard of any headgasket problems on the 87-88 model years. Now yes the 3.8 v6's dont hold up well in the 89-93 SUPERCOUPES for the fact that they have too much boost for the gaskets to hold. but since you are looking at A NON SUPERCHARGED v6 88 thunderbird there shouldnt be a bit of problem with them.
heres a link that says 2 recall/problems with them. http://www.internetautoguide.com/aut...nderbird/base/
heres a link that says 2 recall/problems with them. http://www.internetautoguide.com/aut...nderbird/base/
Last edited by FoxyFord83; Jun 4, 2005 at 11:13 PM.
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From: Roseburg, OR
Actually, it's not just the Supercoupes, it's the entire 3.8 line up until '96. The Supercoupes have a different cooling passage design that makes them actually LESS prone to gasket failure than the N/A motors.
The NA motor has the coolant passages very close to the fire ring of the gasket, and with stock gaskets, coolant will eventually seep out to that ring and weaken it.
I had an '83 Bird with a 5.0 and it had over 200k on a very tired chassis, still was a good car. I currently have a '90 with a 3.8 and have 85,000 on it, great car too.
As for safer, I would say that's a definite yes, having seen several Fox Cougars and Tbirds after an accident. IMHO, '88 is the absolute best year for the Fox cars, simply because they pretty much had the bugs worked out by then (it's the 5th year of the compact Fox 'Bird platform).
You might try http://www.tccoa.com (Thunderbird Cougar Club of America) and read up over there.
The NA motor has the coolant passages very close to the fire ring of the gasket, and with stock gaskets, coolant will eventually seep out to that ring and weaken it.
I had an '83 Bird with a 5.0 and it had over 200k on a very tired chassis, still was a good car. I currently have a '90 with a 3.8 and have 85,000 on it, great car too.
As for safer, I would say that's a definite yes, having seen several Fox Cougars and Tbirds after an accident. IMHO, '88 is the absolute best year for the Fox cars, simply because they pretty much had the bugs worked out by then (it's the 5th year of the compact Fox 'Bird platform).
You might try http://www.tccoa.com (Thunderbird Cougar Club of America) and read up over there.
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From: Missouri
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I LOVE Thunderbird, i had 2 1982 Birds, and id buy another 80s bird in a heartbeat, i had one with a 4.2 V8 and one with the 3.8 V6 the 3.8 seemed to be a better engine, and hell yeah its better than ANY toyota
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