New 1995 TBird Owner...

[Leonidas]

Hi folks,
Just bought myself a 1995 Tbird LX 4.6 with approx 189,000 miles (I say approx because the odometer doesn't work and it stopped at 189K.
Anyway, I got the car for next to nothing (ok, nothing) and have been going through it finding out what it needs to get back on the road.
It was parked for years and years under a tree so needed a good cleaning inside and out. Now it's clean there are a new things I have found that do need repairs so I'll just list them and any help anyone can give me would be muchly appreciated. 🙂

- Key stuck in the ignition and won't come out.
- Speedometer and odometer do not work (rev counter, fuel, battery, oil, temp seem to work fine)
- Right turning green arrow on dash doesn't work, although the turning signals themselves work (Left one works fine)
- Lights to illuminate gauges does not work at all
- The automatic climate control doesn't work. You can set the temp and see the outside temp, but fan motor doesn't work (whether you set it on Auto, Low or High) and none of the other functions work either (defrost, a/c, floor, vent etc) When you turn the fan on you can hear it groan for about half a second and then it stops completely. Would a bad fuse be the cause or something much more sinister?
-Low coolant light constantly on when engine running even though the coolant overflow tank is full. (bad sensor?)

Everything else so far seems to be ok which is surprising. The engine runs and sounds beautiful, the car shifts slowly (no tranny fluid in it, so I'll put some in, hopefully that'll solve that problem). The thing needs new brakes too. The rotors are rusted over pretty bad to that's on the to-do list. I'm impressed the car has 4 wheel discs. I didn't realize that until I was washing it...

It's a really nice car and I'd hate for it to sit around any longer and eventually go to the crusher. Anyway, any help anyone can give me to get this old car back on the road would be great. I'll get some pics of it up later.
Cheers. 🙂

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[92 TBird]

Can you possibly use a powerful magnet to get the key out? Please put some transmission oil in!! I'm guessing a fuse or bulb on the right ticker but I'm no mechanic!

 

[Leonidas]

Put a whole bottle of tranny fluid in and, wow, what a difference. Shifts perfectly now. Actually added more coolant and the warning light went away, so that was good. No luck so far with the key or the climate control system.

 

[1TrueGambit]

You can replace the ignition lock fairly easy not a problem, but check under the steering wheel column look for a white knob type deal and if there is push it in and turn the key back and see if this works some came with the idiot button so the keys don't get left in the ignition one of mine has this feature and dash the bulbs are likely the problem on the turn signal did you check the dimming switch for the instrument cluster lights? and the blower fan sounds like it's needing to be replaced it's not hard at all to do I have a couple few of these so I'm pretty familiar with them

 

[Letitflow]

Please post some pics of the 95. Thats a cool model year. Cheers! 😀

 

[Leonidas]

Dang it, I forgot to post pics (although she's not terribly pretty in her current paint peeling state...)
Anyway, the car is running conventional 10-30 oil because she's a little smokey and I figured having a slightly thicker oil may keep some of the oil in the engine rather than losing it out the tailpipe. Would it be worth switching to 5-30 oil for the winter? I'm in NC, so the coldest it should get consistently will be low to mid 20s at night. An oil change is approaching so I'm trying to figure if it's worth changing weights. Thanks!

 

[Leonidas]

Here's a pic of my TBird. The keyless entry control module has gone bad and I need another one. I can't seem to find another for this 95 4.6 on ebay, but there seems to plenty of these OEM modules for 95 Mustangs and Contours. Can either of these keyless entry modules for other 95 Fords work with the Thunderbird, or does the module need to come out of another TBird?