1988 Ford Thunderbird Base from North America - Comments

Power steering rack seems to only be leaking while the weather is particularly cold, which doesn't seem to surprise a few mechanic friends of mine. A national garage chain replaced the pressure hose for the steering fluid leak, but it is coming out of the boot on the steering rack so that will need to be replaced. This can be much less costly to replace if you go to a local parts dealer and can do the work yourself or with help. The difference from approximately $256 for part plus $150 return fee until you bring in the rack taken off the vehicle to what I paid which is $89 for part plus $30 return fee.

So far, the only other major problem with the vehicle was thought to be a head gasket (a very costly job at most garages-even though they cost $20) or even maybe the catalytic converter. The vehicle would run for 5-7 minutes just fine, but would begin to hold back on power. I could barely get the beast to move over 45 miles per hour on the open road. Turns out that even though I had checked the oil on several occasions and once thought I even over filled the oil when adding 1 half bottle of stop leak fluid it was leaking out of the loose dip stick tube and there was no more oil in the engine.

4 quarts of oil later it runs quite nicely, which goes to show that the old warnings of at least changing it regularly really can help save the life of your car.

Lastly, in the on going saga of the vehicle's dark secrets, including a pile of corn infested with small maggots behind the back seat and in the trunk, a little elbow grease and ingenuity can be very gratifying and inexpensive.

Even though I really do not know for sure how the vehicle has been treated over the years and the body isn't perfect, I can still tell that this baby has a lot of life left in it.

The Thunderbird has 175,000 miles on it and was definitely not garage kept, but will still drive remarkably well.

It also is a very comfortable drive with plenty of room to stretch out behind the wheel.

I don't know about you, but if I found maggots in a car I had just bought, it WOULD be a junker!