Throttle Body Pandemic of Ford Makes

[George]

Thats the TSB that Ford should have for reflashing. BTW, you can find lots of stuff here by using the search function. Even if you don't have a problem but thinking about a subject TBIRD related. You can probably find it here somewhere.

As for member of the year, I don't think they do that anymore, but thanks for your vote anyway.
George

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[Mino]

Transmission Update

Just spoke to the service manager. Apparently Ford issued a programming update(s) for the transmission. I may not have the latest which may be the cause of my problem. He's going to look into it.

Not sure why the PCMs are a bit difficult to get. Either they seldom if ever fail so they are not locally stocked, or they fail a lot thus keeping them in short supply. He did tell me that the last time he did have to order one he was told it would be a week or two, but received it in about 4 days.

 

[yrbamje]

Throttle body ...

George,
Do you suppose the Lincoln dealer would be more "up" on these problems or are they unique to Tbirds?
Jim

 

[George]

Absolutely Jim:
I switched about 4 years ago to Lincoln. Couldn't believe how much the Ford service department didn't know about our cars.
As you're probably aware the engine/drivetrain are Lincoln LS, so they have same/similar issues. Therefore more familiarity with the mechanical end.

 

[B.Burrell]

New member here.

Thank you all for your posts. I'm taking my bird in to the dealer in the morning well armed thanks to all of you. I have the dreaded "My wrench lite is on and I don't feel like moving" syndrome going on with my car. I think you might have saved me a lot of money and aggravation. I'll let you know what happens.

 

[york]

I am the original owner of a 2003 Thunderbird. I have had 5 coils go so far. In December of 2010 the car started running rough and the infamous wrench light came on. Due to my experience I immediately thought Coil.

I took it to a dealer in Troy MI and told them it was a coil (BTW I had 97K on the car!) They tested it add said the Coils were fine and that I had a throttle body problem P2107 and P2110. It cost $1000. The Service guy at the dealership said this was a BS problem and that Ford has had a lot issues with the 'throttle body' and it should have been recalled. He suggest I call Ford and complain.

I got two miles from the dealer when the car started running poorly and the 'wrench' light came back on. Back to the same dealer and now I have 07M07! Another coil. So after suspecting I had a coil problem, being told I didn't have a coil problem, I now have a coil problem! Ford was kind enough to fix the coil for free, but I don't think I had a 'throttle body'.

I called Ford and got nowhere. I am out $1000. I found this forum yesterday and I hope this information helps someone else.

 

[George]

First of all, WELCOME York🙂 Glad you joined us
If you have replaced any coils, Ford was giving rebates at one time but you had to produce the paid slips.
At the same time, FORD extended the warranty on all 2003-2005's TBirds, for COILS, for 10 years or 100,000 miles. So, the dealer or Ford was NOT being kind to you by fixing it for free. In fact, you are still covered for the next 3000miles.
The 07M07 is the letter that extended your coil warranty There is a copy on site if you use the search function above.
You may want top ask that dealer for your old parts back....😡just in case you really didn't need tha new parts

You may also want to buy an extended warranty, which is still available. Again, use the search and you'll find my recent posts.
Keep us tuned in please

 

[Quickdraw]

York,
That was a painful lesson but the thing to rememebr is it was the dealer, and not Ford, that messed up on the diagnostics and caused you to sink $1000 into the throttle body. I too dont believe in "coincidences" where they say its TWO major items causing a problem.

 

[BlueC5Kitten]

Wow...new to all of this T-bird stuff (my parents have an '03 that they love dearly, but don't drive nearly often enough...only 38K miles!), and was shocked when my dad tried telling me that his throttle body needed to be replaced becase it was messing up his carburetor.😱 I know a little something about cars and am pretty sure that his 2003 T-bird, being OEM would not have a carburetor problem. 😀

Needless to say, my Dad is not terribly mechanically inclined, so I started poking around online to see what I could find regarding throttle body problems. He just told me that they fixed it and it was only $600 for parts and another $175 for labour. That also didn't sound right for an entire throttle body assembly.

I'm concerned he's had the wool pulled over his eyes, though I know he has had 5 plugs replaced on COPs TSB, so should I just wait and see if it happens to him again before I confront the Ford dealership? He has a "road trip" to Austin from San Antonio coming up, and I really don't relish the idea of them having this limp mode kick in on I-35...the traffic there is bad on a good day and horrid on bad days...and my folks are in their 60s. Suggestions?

 

[George]

WELCOME to the forum Blue!🙂
If you did enough searching, by now you know that your 2003 has a COPS warranty extension to 10 years or 100,000 miles. If not see this thread:
http://forums.thunderbirdforum.com/showthread~t~3345~highlight~COPS+warranty.htm

I also believe you can get refunded for the past coils bought, if you have receipts, and had the work done by Ford or Lincoln dealers. In that warranty there is a fix as well, to stop water and/or oil from getting in the plug well which damages the coils. So if that has not been done, it should be.

You'll also find lots of data on Throttle bodies here by searching

Finally, I would urge them to use a Lincoln dealer as opposed to a Ford dealer, since the entire drive train is Lincoln LS. There are no other Ford products that use this drive train so the knowledge at those dealers is very low. Whereas, Lincoln dealers have seen these issues on TBirds and LS's over the years
Keep us tuned in to your results

 

[Phillip]

Sorry that I am posting so late on this thread, but I had the same thing occur on my 2005 T-Bird, and I had the Wrench appear, and I was certain it was a COPs problem, and the Ford dealership insisted it was a Throttle body problem. I was under an extended warranty, so I had them replace the Throttle body (with a $100 deductible, I think), and it was been working fine since then. My T-Bird had 43,000 miles on it at the time.

The dealership said that if I had the Engine Light come on, that would signify a COPs problem, and I never did get the Engine Light to come on.

Soooo, to make a long post shorter, the Ford dealership was correct in my case, in that it was not a COPs problem but rather was a Throttle Body problem.

 

[George]

That's good to know Phillip, thanks for posting that. BTW, did they have the throttle body in stock or did you have to wait like others?

 

[Phillip]

It was in stock, George, so I did not have to wait at all.

Also, to be precise, based on earlier posts by you and others, I went to a Ford dealership that also sold Lincolns (I say "sold", since they recently stopped their relationship with Lincoln and Mercury), given the T-Bird engine's similarity to Lincoln engines.

 

[George]

Phillip:
Glad the posts were of help to you. I have read where Ford is eliminating a lot of Lincoln dealerships and combining them with Ford dealerships, to cut costs.

 

[Alrhall]

COPs Fail Twice? Codes P2104, 2106, 2111 & 2135

Has anyone had COPs fail a second time. We had the COP problem about a year ago.
Now We get limp mode with Codes P2104, P2106, P2111 & P2135.
I read a lot about Ford Throttle Position Sensors (TPS) giving P2106 and P2135. I can replace that my self tomorrow for $70. However if it is COPs again I don't want to take a chance on it letting my wife down again.
She loves her Bird (I think I am #2), but this is dangerous
Any thoughts?

 

[Alrhall]

Tps tsb

Ford TSB on TPS Attached;

 

[dlm007]

I just had my 2003 Thunderbird in for service. The problem was limp mode. It was acting in the monring and I was able to turn off the car and when I restared it, the problem went away. The codes on the car were 2110 and 2107. There were no mis-fire codes which would point to the COP's. The codes pointed to the throttle body.
I told the Lincoln dealer that this is a typical issue with the COP's. I even printed out the forum messages and gave them to the service people. He said that unless the computer shows a mis-fire code, it is a throttle body issue. They cannot just change out the COPS's unless they get some type of error codes.
They replaced the throttle body. The bill was $800. I picked up the car and as started the car to drive home and the limp mode was back. I drove the car immediately back into the dealer.
Lincoln gave me a loaner and had the car for three days. When I picked it up Lincoln told me they replaced all the COP's and put another throttle body on the car. When they put the COP's under stress, they found the COP's to be failing.
I have had the car for 2 weeks and the limp mode came back again today. The codes are P0133 which says it is a oxgen sensor. The car is now back at the dealer to see what the problem is. I am driving another loaner.
I wanted to tell other people about this because I want you to be aware of getting a throttle body replaced when I believe it was the COP's all the time. Befroe you get the throttle body replced, see if you can get the dealer to stress test the COP's.
I will keep you posted with the new problem.

 

[Krazynkaty]

bout my 05 last year and about 6 months started getting the wrench and limp mode. i personally replaced the throttle body and throttle control module and was getting nowhere. in fact the problem was getting worse. took it to ford and told them what i had replaced and about the COPS being under warranty. they replaced all 8 and the plugs and gasket. car has never run better. according to the service guy, the gasket is the culprit. it leaks oil and gasses on the COPS and they foul out. cost me 120.00 for the plugs....a little pricey for plugs but i didnt have to do it and did i mention..........the car runs better than it ever has!!!

 

[George]

Welcome Mr. K and thanks for posting that. Glad to see the dealer was receptive and replaced all 8. They usually only replace bad ones, causing multiple visits, by owners, for replacements.

 

[Marianne]

I've been out on some other Ford customer forum Sites and this Throttle Body problem is pandemic throughout various models of Ford cars, from Mustangs to F150's, Escapes, Lincoln's ... you name it.

On another Ford owners forum they are logging compalints not only to Ford Customer Satisfaction but also to NHTSA.com, these guys are key to log a safety complaint with as they are the strongarm for getting Car makers to institute and carry forth car recalls.

I just one logged one on www.nhtsa.goc for my 04 Thunderbird as I was nearly rear-ended on the highway when this decelaration into limp mode occured. Look for the link for recalls, complaints and follow the steps, pretty easy and takes 5 minutes.

I know it is pain to log this stuff but this is out of hand and Ford needs to be called to the mat on this one!
Looking for the number to call Ford directly and log a complaint as well.
-tbird-gal

.So was your problem the throttle body?

Once it was replaced your Tbird was ok?

Or was it the coils?