I’ve owned two Tempos (I didn’t learn the first time): an '84 and an '89. Yuck. If I play my cards correctly, I’ll never own a Ford car again.
Unfortunately we have a '97 Ranger, but so far it hasn’t been too crappy. If I could, I’d convince auntie em to trade it in for an Element. (Love those damn things. About as practical as you can get for an SUV-ish vehicle. Ugly as sin, but great interior design.)
It gets worse. The recall does NOT cover my vehicle. I called Ford and a local dealer and they both told me that according to my VIN I’m not part of the recall program.
I started calling local parts dealers. One guy told me he had the part for $250 against the dealer’s $400 - 600. And here’s the kicker – even though it’s a brand new part, it’s still made of plastic!!
*Don’t these effing morons ever learn!??? *
Shoot me. Shoot me now.
Davmi
I owned a 1994 Ford Money Hole (aka Probe). It was red and sleek and looked nice and was in the repair shop every other month. The name probably should have given it away. Got rid of that and bought a Honda Accord and now I am happy.
The only problem I’ve ever had with Ford’s were the transmissions (auto). Except for one, every single Ford I’ve owned had tranny trouble. That one was a '69 LTD I had in HS. 390k miles and the only thing replaced were brakes at regular intervals, other maintenance, and a radiator. They knew how to build them back then. (Wow, I do sound old!) When my Sable dies I’m going back to GM. Why I ever went with a Ford in the first place… :smack:
There used to be a message board frequented by Ford mechanics (think the url was blueoval.net but I’m not sure) who’d happily tell you how you could get recall work done on your car if it wasn’t covered by Ford (or what you could do that would work better than Ford’s solutions if the recall wasn’t possible).
I owned a '73 Pinto, and it was pretty good. A nice Bosch engine which never gave me trouble and started right up on -20 degree Illinois mornings. I also never had to worry about tailgaters. 
Finally sold it to an exterminator company, but never got to see with a big dead bug on the roof.
Since then I’ve been protected from buying Ford cars by their dealers. The ones I’ve been to in several states have decided they know which car I can have, and aren’t really interested in what I think. I did find one decent salesman, but when I didn’t hear from him for a few weeks I discovered that he had been fired. (For listening to me, I suppose.) The last time I looked for a car I got this insane desire for a Mustang, nipped in the bud by a dealer who decided I was not worthy of test driving one. Sounds like he did me a favor.
My father was and is a loyal Ford customer, but they lost me.
Of course, the OP is not wishing death on Ford. He’s just speaking German. What he’s saying is ‘The, Ford Motor Company, The!’
[sub]I hope someone didn’t already post that.[/sub]
Hold on people. A plastic thermostat housing? Are you sure it wasn’t painted alluminum? And why would a thermostat housing (plastic or not) cost $250/600? I wonder if the OP has diagnosed the problem correctly and/or has the right part figured out…
Also, the thermostat is on the outside of the engine on the intake manifold. How can steam get into the interior of the auto if that’s the case?
The air intake for the blower isn’t in the engine compartment is it? I never thought they were.
I’m not doubting the skills of the OP, it just sounds wierd to me is all. I would have assumed a heater core problem at first.
Oh, it’s plastic all right. Some kind of nylon/plastic compound. The intake manifold is behind the thermostat housing but still part of the unit. Don’t ask me why. Here’s a link to one on eBay. It’s a new model with an aluminum bit for the thermostat. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7955979878&category=36474&sspagename=WDVW
How the “steam” got in the car, I don’t know. I’m just lucky, I guess :rolleyes: If I could get my digicam to work, I’d post pix to amaze and confound all of you with. In fact, that might not be a bad idea…
Davmi
My most hated car ever was a '98 Sable. It had some kind of major electrical malfunction that caused random, annoying shit to happen all the time. The interior lights down by the driver’s and passenger’s feet would stay on even when the car was running (had to finally unscrew the bulbs), I’d put a window down and it would refuse to go up, the speakers worked intermittently. After owning it a year, the door seals were all loose and I heard a loud roar of wind when I drove over 20 mph. As it was still under waranty, I took it to the dealer’s service department regularly and they could NEVER find anything wrong with it. (They did fix the door seals but the same thing happened again less than a year later.) All the crap that was making my driving life miserable never occurred when they had the car. They thought I was some kind of car-hypochondriac. So I was half furious at Ford for making such a defective piece of shit and half furious at the service dept for not taking my problems seriously. I should have been wholly furious at myself for buying the goddamn thing in the first place. Never again. I unloaded it just before the 3 year warranty expired. So I offer a hearty “hear, hear!” to the OP’s “Die, Ford Motor Company.”
Signed,
now contented Toyota and Hyundai owner