Analysis of a high mileage 2002 Thunderbird.

[edward301]

Last September I bought a 129k mile T Bird to store for parts for my two 2002 T Birds that are
low mileage. Today I decided to go through the car and look for any issues so I knew the
overall condition of the car. The car is tired from being parked outside, and who ever worked
on the car did not bother to put everything back together properly, but otherwise the car is
in very good condition.

The lower bolt for the valve covers is missing on each valve cover, so that tells me the cops have
been worked on. I will say the car sat for 5 weeks, but it did start right up. Thought the battery
would be weak.

No oil leaks, ball joint boots good, looks like there were all replaced some time ago. The thermostat
housing looks original, and no cracks. AC looks like it is starting to leak some, but works. I hooked up
a code reader, and only came up with a code P0442, a small evap leak. Thought there would be more
codes. Check engine light was not on either.

Engine idles great, good, smooth, and strong. Transmission shifts great also. Dash lights, and shifter
lights do not work, do not know if lights are burnt out, or if FEM is starting to go bad. Everything
else the FEM controls, works fine. Even radio works, top goes up and down good. To my surprise
the hydraulic fan works perfectly, is not even leaking. Thought with this many miles it would at
least be leaking, but not yet.

Found a place to store car at my warehouse inside, so going there soon.

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[Bond007]

Sounds like you found a winner.😎

 

[Frankie the Fink]

I'm not surprised.......the instrument/shifter lights are almost 100% guaranteed to be the FEM, and the guy that fixes those just doubled his repair price. There is a cheap workaround to get the lights going but you aren't going to be driving this car anyway it seems... After a year of owning a 2002 now I'm gonna say the weakest systems in the car are the electronics components; the mechanicals seem to be pretty reliable...

 

[Lyman1234]

Mine has 245K (2004) and runs and drives like new. Excellent condition inside and out, has been well maintained, new trans about 18k ago, and radiator a little while later. Other than that still the original rag and floor mats. No tears, worn areas, minor spider in hood paint front left front of hood, but other than that still runs like a champ. Will never get rid of this car, love it too much.

 

[edward301]

One thing people forget about electronics is the electrolytic capacitors are only designed to last 12 years. Now in good conditions
capacitors will last longer, but in average everyday conditions they will begin to fail after 12 years, sometimes earlier.

Heat is the biggest enemy of capacitors, either from to small a capacitor, to much current, or a hot environment. In the old
days capacitors were big, and full of bad chemicals, but they lasted forever. The newer chemicals do not do as good a job,
plus capacitors were shrunk to fit in much smaller electronics.

I think I am going to pull the FEM on this Bird, and see if I can find the issue, obtain the transistors, and fix myself. Will take
pictures and post here, once I get around to it.

 

[NicholasK]

Last September I bought a 129k mile T Bird to store for parts for my two 2002 T Birds that are
low mileage. Today I decided to go through the car and look for any issues so I knew the
overall condition of the car. The car is tired from being parked outside, and who ever worked
on the car did not bother to put everything back together properly, but otherwise the car is
in very good condition.

The lower bolt for the valve covers is missing on each valve cover, so that tells me the cops have
been worked on. I will say the car sat for 5 weeks, but it did start right up. Thought the battery
would be weak.

No oil leaks, ball joint boots good, looks like there were all replaced some time ago. The thermostat
housing looks original, and no cracks. AC looks like it is starting to leak some, but works. I hooked up
a code reader, and only came up with a code P0442, a small evap leak. Thought there would be more
codes. Check engine light was not on either.

Engine idles great, good, smooth, and strong. Transmission shifts great also. Dash lights, and shifter
lights do not work, do not know if lights are burnt out, or if FEM is starting to go bad. Everything
else the FEM controls, works fine. Even radio works, top goes up and down good. To my surprise
the hydraulic fan works perfectly, is not even leaking. Thought with this many miles it would at
least be leaking, but not yet.View attachment 10161View attachment 10162View attachment 10163

Found a place to store car at my warehouse inside, so going there soon.View attachment 10159View attachment 10160

I'm a novice, what is "FEM"

 

[Frankie the Fink]

One thing people forget about electronics is the electrolytic capacitors are only designed to last 12 years. Now in good conditions
capacitors will last longer, but in average everyday conditions they will begin to fail after 12 years, sometimes earlier.

Heat is the biggest enemy of capacitors, either from to small a capacitor, to much current, or a hot environment. In the old
days capacitors were big, and full of bad chemicals, but they lasted forever. The newer chemicals do not do as good a job,
plus capacitors were shrunk to fit in much smaller electronics.

I think I am going to pull the FEM on this Bird, and see if I can find the issue, obtain the transistors, and fix myself. Will take
pictures and post here, once I get around to it.

The old capacitors did not last forever either. I deal a lot with vintage car radios. Many of the capacitors start to leak over the years and fail. Especially the wax versions.

The worst thing you can do with these cars is to not drive them enough.

 

[Bond007]

I'm a novice, what is "FEM"

Front Electronic Module

 

[NicholasK]

I'm a novice, what is "FEM"

Front Electronic Module

Thank You.

 

[edward301]

The old capacitors did not last forever either. I deal a lot with vintage car radios. Many of the capacitors start to leak over the years and fail. Especially the wax versions.

The worst thing you can do with these cars is to not drive them enough.

The small version of the old capacitors lasted about 20 to 30 years. However in old motors, and ac units I have pulled
capacitors that were 40 years old, and they were still good. If mounted upright, they did not leak.

Just recently I replaced some 1971 Chrysler Airtemp ac units that were 47 years old, they had finally gone bad,
the capacitors checked good.

The old wax capacitors were mostly ruined by heat also.

 

[edward301]

The FEM is an electronic switch box mounted to the left of the brake, behind the trim piece. It controls about 20 or so
functions in the T Bird.

Here is a photo, the silver box with many wires attached to it.

 

[Frankie the Fink]

If it were my car and it was relegated to a parts car I would pull that FEM and send it off to be repaired as a "hot spare" to put on the shelf. for your other two birds. The 2002 FEM is a one-year-only part, 2003-2005 are different and not compatible and the 2002s are getting hard to find and it is a high failure item; it controls lighting power steering along with several other critical functions.

 

[Bond007]

Sounds like Edward will be doing that but attempting his own FEM repair. Perhaps we’ll eventually have him as a repair option for others.

 

[Frankie the Fink]

That would be wonderful as the middle-eastern guy that does them has doubled his price and has serious communication problems...
I have a "hot spare" 2002 FEM on the shelf he repaired last December before the price jump.

I suspect there are only a few high-failure parts in the FEM, mostly related to lights and steering and the repair is pretty straight foward - somebody, somewhere on here mentioned a MOSFET component. I don't know for sure...

 

[Spike Kavalench]

Last September I bought a 129k mile T Bird to store for parts for my two 2002 T Birds that are
low mileage. Today I decided to go through the car and look for any issues so I knew the
overall condition of the car. The car is tired from being parked outside, and who ever worked
on the car did not bother to put everything back together properly, but otherwise the car is
in very good condition.

The lower bolt for the valve covers is missing on each valve cover, so that tells me the cops have
been worked on. I will say the car sat for 5 weeks, but it did start right up. Thought the battery
would be weak.

No oil leaks, ball joint boots good, looks like there were all replaced some time ago. The thermostat
housing looks original, and no cracks. AC looks like it is starting to leak some, but works. I hooked up
a code reader, and only came up with a code P0442, a small evap leak. Thought there would be more
codes. Check engine light was not on either.

Engine idles great, good, smooth, and strong. Transmission shifts great also. Dash lights, and shifter
lights do not work, do not know if lights are burnt out, or if FEM is starting to go bad. Everything
else the FEM controls, works fine. Even radio works, top goes up and down good. To my surprise
the hydraulic fan works perfectly, is not even leaking. Thought with this many miles it would at
least be leaking, but not yet.View attachment 10161View attachment 10162View attachment 10163

Found a place to store car at my warehouse inside, so going there soon.View attachment 10159View attachment 10160

Good info, thanks for sharing!

 

[marvinlee]

The old capacitors did not last forever either. I deal a lot with vintage car radios. Many of the capacitors start to leak over the years and fail. Especially the wax versions.

The worst thing you can do with these cars is to not drive them enough.

My '05 has 21,500 miles on it, 9000 of which came after I bought it eight years ago. Besides replacing the airconditioning compressor, it has only had routine scheduled maintenance and is--so far--problem free.

 

[1984shovelhead]

yes some of the old caps are definitely a crapshoot.On the other hand I have some vintage audio ppieces over 40 years old while most likely out of spec still working well enough to not cause any issues.Agree non use of anything with a motor or electronics probably worst thing for them.

 

[edward301]

I did pull the FEM and sent off for repair cost $395.00 back in mid 2020. Works great, car is still doing perfectly, it is way
to nice now to use for parts, so hoping I can enjoy this car, and keep intact.

It will sit for 5 to 7 weeks, and it always starts right up, and does not leak any fluids. If the exterior paint was not
so worn, it would be in near perfect condition.