Picked up this 2002 dirty Bird....

[350xfire]

My mother in law bought this car in 2002 straight from the lot. She put 115,000 miles on it and it has been parked for about 1.5-2 years. I bought it with the hopes to hand it down to my daughter when she turns 16 in a couple of years but, until then, I will drive and enjoy it. The car is filthy from sitting in the barn but I believe she will clean up just fine. It is a Deluxe Model. I already cleaned the interior and was very impressed with how clean it is. MIL has never removed the hard top so I am looking forward to seeing how the soft top looks. The car drives good and strong and started pretty good after charging the battery. A couple of things need help. First the A/C does not cool. The heater works. They had it diagnosed as a leaking o-ring but I have to get in there and confirm. Second, the door locks do not work. The lights flash when you operate them and the horn honks when you press the button twice but the locks do not go up and down. I have to get in there and check things. When using the door switch on the door, both locks do not work but I can hear the actuators trying. Other than these two items, the car seems solid. I will probably work on cleaning her up this weekend and doing some paint polishing. Will post more pictures soon. Looking forward to learning more from you guys. I know these cars are severely undervalued by most people but I think they are neat pieces of "history".

 

[Kalounda]

My mother in law bought this car in 2002 straight from the lot. She put 115,000 miles on it and it has been parked for about 1.5-2 years. I bought it with the hopes to hand it down to my daughter when she turns 16 in a couple of years but, until then, I will drive and enjoy it. The car is filthy from sitting in the barn but I believe she will clean up just fine. It is a Deluxe Model. I already cleaned the interior and was very impressed with how clean it is. MIL has never removed the hard top so I am looking forward to seeing how the soft top looks. The car drives good and strong and started pretty good after charging the battery. A couple of things need help. First the A/C does not cool. The heater works. They had it diagnosed as a leaking o-ring but I have to get in there and confirm. Second, the door locks do not work. The lights flash when you operate them and the horn honks when you press the button twice but the locks do not go up and down. I have to get in there and check things. When using the door switch on the door, both locks do not work but I can hear the actuators trying. Other than these two items, the car seems solid. I will probably work on cleaning her up this weekend and doing some paint polishing. Will post more pictures soon. Looking forward to learning more from you guys. I know these cars are severely undervalued by most people but I think they are neat pieces of "history".

Some of the electronics on these cars are a little finicky. I would suggest that, if the battery was still in the car when you charged it, to dis-connect it, leave for a few minutes, and re-connect.

 

[The Flash]

better watch the cam timing chains, most need replacement at 120K to 130K miles.

 

[Tomstoy]

My mother in law bought this car in 2002 straight from the lot. She put 115,000 miles on it and it has been parked for about 1.5-2 years. I bought it with the hopes to hand it down to my daughter when she turns 16 in a couple of years but, until then, I will drive and enjoy it. The car is filthy from sitting in the barn but I believe she will clean up just fine. It is a Deluxe Model. I already cleaned the interior and was very impressed with how clean it is. MIL has never removed the hard top so I am looking forward to seeing how the soft top looks. The car drives good and strong and started pretty good after charging the battery. A couple of things need help. First the A/C does not cool. The heater works. They had it diagnosed as a leaking o-ring but I have to get in there and confirm. Second, the door locks do not work. The lights flash when you operate them and the horn honks when you press the button twice but the locks do not go up and down. I have to get in there and check things. When using the door switch on the door, both locks do not work but I can hear the actuators trying. Other than these two items, the car seems solid. I will probably work on cleaning her up this weekend and doing some paint polishing. Will post more pictures soon. Looking forward to learning more from you guys. I know these cars are severely undervalued by most people but I think they are neat pieces of "history".

Congrats on your purchase. I would advise you to make sure the services are up to date, like the infamous "Timing Chain".. Other than that good luck with a beautiful find.

 

[constable]

I have a hard time understanding WHY you would want to start a car without first changing oil & filter & then check the consistancy of the gasoline in the tank andf filter. And then (of course) the coolent and belts>>>>>NICE WAY TO BLOW AN ENGINE.....

 

[Waltbird]

A bit of a buzzkill there constable. Your words are true, but snarkiness after the fact doesn't change what's already done.

350xfire, enjoy you ride as we all enjoy ours. Merry Christmas to all.

 

[Angietheman]

A bit of a buzzkill there constable. Your words are true, but snarkiness after the fact doesn't change what's already done.

350xfire, enjoy you ride as we all enjoy ours. Merry Christmas to all.

Enjoy your barn find. It’s worth putting it together and driving it

 

[350xfire]

So is the timing chain issue related to the tensioners wearing out or does the entire timing chain need replacement? The guides don't look like a horrible job to do, the chain, probably is... What kind of money is involved in complete replacement?
Thanks

 

[Frankie the Fink]

I suspect the chain just gets stretched over 100,000 miles and the tensioners can't compensate....worth changing it vs grenading an engine. Get yourself a good OBD scanner and see what codes you come up with; the only problem I've had was the FEM module (now fixed) and that part is unique to the 2002 year. The door lock actuators and power locks aren't that tough to replace if that's your problem - been there done that. Buy anything you can that's generic off Rockauto, the dealer prices are nearly triple...

 

[The Flash]

The chain secondary tensioners are a problem, all plastic breaks. there is a NEW design.
It is both the chains and the guides that wear out. The problem is you can't see how much it is worn until you take it off and if you wait too long the chain and guides will be so worn they may jump a gear tooth and then the piston hits a valve or two. then it is big $$$$ repair.
3.9 update tensioner video;

Jaguar 4.0 engine chain removal:

 

[Frankie the Fink]

Outstanding video presentations...!

 

[350xfire]

OK, so really the root cause is the tensioners... Not the chain. If that is the case then it doesn't look that bad. I would take the opportunity to replace valve cover gaskets, plugs and COPs at the same time. I was just hoping it wasn't really the chain. That does look like lots of work!
Thanks for sharing.

 

[Tomstoy]

I would think if i went to all the trouble to replace the tensioner my luck would be afthe I got everything back together the old Timing Chine would take a cr-ap 10 miles down the road, This is why you do it ALL AT ONCE. I would also do the Water Pump, Thermostat and Thermostat Housing. That's if they more weren't done recently. Does anyone else have a take on this??

 

[350xfire]

I

I would think if i went to all the trouble to replace the tensioner my luck would be afthe I got everything back together the old Timing Chine would take a cr-ap 10 miles down the road, This is why you do it ALL AT ONCE. I would also do the Water Pump, Thermostat and Thermostat Housing. That's if they more weren't done recently. Does anyone else have a take on this??

I was afraid you guys would say that... lol!

 

[Tomstoy]

I


I was afraid you guys would say that... lol!

I’m sorry but that’s way I look at it. The same if the the Tensioner goes out and you have 90,000.00 miles on the car/chains, I would REPLACE EVERYTHING. The same thing if I buy a car with close to 90k or over and no one knows anything about the car, a big service would be required. To include a Timeing Chine replacement.

 

[350xfire]

Got to play with the Dirty Bird today. Washed it and did some cleaning under the hood. Went through and tested lights, climate control, cruise control, steering wheel controls, stereo, etc and everything except the noted stuff (locks and A/C cooling) worked great. It does sound like there is a relay clicking when trying to unlock and lock the doors so may be the actuators are bad. What are the odds both actuators are gone? Seems like this would be unlikely. I will be pulling the door panels off to investigate. Also, the car does have a bit of a rough idle. I would venture to guess a COP is bad. No engine light though. I do hear a bit of a whistle around the intake so I hope it's just the erratic idle causing the change in tone rather than some type of leak.

The paint needs a good polishing up. Has a lot of clear coat surface scratches that need to be removed. Any recommendations on a nice compound or polish to do this with? I tried the Ultimate Compound and Ultimate Polish but those are taking too long. They do make the paint better though. I need something with better cutting ability. I am using a random orbital polisher for this job.

Anyway, the car is looking pretty decent.

Thanks

 

[Dynorafter]

I agree wholeheartedly. I spent many a year turning wrenches, the last few as a service manager of a F/L/M dealership, and to open it and not replace is simply asking for trouble - or in the case of a garage, a comeback. "Pay me now or pay me later"...

 

[BIRDSALL]

Best wishes and welcome to the Thunderbird experience.

 

[350xfire]

Project Dirty Bird is on... This weekend I drove to mother in law's house and picked the Bird up. She made the 1.5 hour drive back flawlessly doing about 75 on the highway. I washed and started polishing the paint and did not get what I wanted. The paint really took on some shine with Maguire's 100 polish. I also tried some Ultimate Compound and Ultimate polish. While I did add some much needed shine, I still have a lot of surface scratches that I am sure can be buffed off. I was using a DA polisher with various foam pads. Is my next step to go full on rotary buffer?

She was running a bit rough due to the lovely P300 and P302 codes- the COPs. I went ahead and got the passenger side without ,much effort. Used the Amazon COPs and NGK Irridium plugs. She is now purring like a kitten. Once I get a proper wrench to get on the driver side, I will tackle that one. Just that one dumb bolt by the brake booster.

Wife and I managed to pull the hard top off and reveal the soft top, which was covered in dust and crap from now being used in 18 years. I did have to leave it up a while getting warm to be able to stretch it shut. I vacuumed and washed it and it looks like new.

Also, polished on the wheels some. I originally thought they were damaged but it turned out it was just brake dust. After some chrome wheel cleaner and some elbow grease. They look great. Just need to get the 3" polisher and give them a once over.

Next, I need to tackle door lock actuators and check the brakes and flush the fluid as I think the pedal feels soft...

Here are some pics.

 

[Frankie the Fink]

The actuators and door sensor switches are standard across that era Ford lineup and carid or rockauto has them for 1/5th the price of the dealer...yours prob have gummed up lube in them from the car sitting. I changed mine in both doors and there is a tutorial on here about how to get the door cards off. I think maybe the paint on these cars was less than great from the factory - my Torch Red '02 has swirls and the paint is thin, mainly on the trunk to the point that there are clearly some places that I'm reluctant to buff, replaced the FEM and fixed the A/C and that's the only issues with the car in my 15 months of ownership so far. I plan on driving it until I don't want it anymore. For what I paid, and only 19,000 miles when purchased, I'll worry about timing chains a long time from now as I'm putting about 5,000 miles/year on it. At that point, the car will either be a collectible and worth an expensive repair, or, a just an old car that might best be sold for parts. Not losing sleep over it right now.

A Porter-Kable buffer and Mequiar's Ultra-Glaze are a good, low risk way to try to buff your paint and bring it back where you can.

You should change the cabin air filter too - its prob as grungy as you can imagine.