I pulled out from a stop sign on the way to the grocery store and all of a sudden I heard a loud bang from the engine compartment.
And then a loud poping sound that increased /decreased with the engine rpm. At first I thought I blew a header gasket . But after I limped home and had a chance to look under the hood I could see the coil over the # 7 plug flopping around . It blew the spark plug right out of the cylinder. I had my local dealership change the plugs back in August at 60,000 miles so I had it towed there. They are denying that they had anything to do with it . They are claiming that if it wasn't installed properly that it would have blown out within a week after they changed the plugs . The service writer also commented that this is a known problem with the 5.4's.I called Fords customer service line and complained and at this time I am waiting for them to respond.

 

There is, I think, at least two threads already started on this. One of which is very long (100+ posts); I think the author of that thread was Feefer.

I've got a 4.6 in an '02 and have not had this problem (knock on wood), but I did inquire about it at Flat Rate Tech and they said that they've seen it happen to 4.6, 5.4, and the V-10. So I don't think this is just a 5.4 problem.

Good luck with your situation.

 

Fords customer relations department sided with the dealership stating that since the dealership looked at the truck and could not find anthing that they could have done to cause this to happen that I would be responsable for the repair . The repair quoted was to replace the entire head at a cost of $2700.00. They must think that I must be crazy. If they think that I am going to let them replace the head after this when they couldn't even change the plugs .

 

Sorry to hear that, I just got done replace my plugs 2 mos. ago. I will follow up on it soon. Anyway, Since your dealer nor local Ford rep. wasn't able to help you. Your next course of action should be with your State Attorney General's Office: Consumer Protection Division and file a complaint on the dealer and the Ford themselves. As you may know, this problem is well known amongst group here and perhaps within Ford co., that's why if you read upon the latest news on the 2004, 5.4 liter engine tech spec., They (Ford) have changed the threading on the spark plug. If I were you, I would include some supporting documents from this site, as well as new engine info. and CC them to the Consumer Protection Division and to the local Ford Rep. center. Besure not to deal with the dealership at this time since they have washed their hands off of this case. You will be more effective dealing with CPD and with the local Ford rep center. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

$2700????? WTF!!!!!! id tell them to throw in a new block for that price.

 

Hi K

Sorry for your headaches..As you've found out your kinda screwed for the time being. Either you have it fixed or you dont have a truck to use.

The red flag to me was....if your told by the svc. writer that this is a "known problem" with the 5.4L....so what does that mean? Thats a hell of a thing to tell a customer...Geez! Was he just trying to make you feel better? No, im not saying they did bad work...its just the "known problem" i dont understand.

There could be something to this...not enough threads in hole?

Trucks out of warranty....but as y2k mentioned...you have somethings you could do. Meantime..you need it fixed and running.

Good luck...OT

 

K,

I've read many posts on this subject. Thankfully, I haven't had this problem with my '98 4.6l. (still stock and haven't changed the plugs )

The "new" thing I see in this thread is that there is now a tension between Ford Motor Company and their dealers.

The dealer,who replaced the plugs, says basically "it's not our fault". It's a "known" problem. Which means it is a "design" or "manufacturing" problem in their opinion.

So which is it FORD? Did you design or manufacture these engines in such a way that they fail prematurely? Or are your dealerships reinstalling the spark plugs in a negligent way?

These are tough questions for a company whose products I've enjoyed for many years. But I'd like to know the answers.

Bill

 

My trucks in the shop right now getting a new motor put in cause of blown out plugs.Both of my heads have blown plugs out and it was cheaper to buy a new motor than just do the heads. Plus im getting a 3 year 36000 mile warranty also. Costing me 4500 installed

 

Hi all,

Unfortunately, a "known problem" that Ford has refused to acknowledge, or provide any technical assistance for.

Interesting to hear they may have fixed the thread depth problem in the 2004 model. Would I buy one, without Ford's official recognition and resolution of this problem and some demonstration of "Quality being Job 1", standing behind their product?

Not a snowball's chance in Hades......

Kaoliver, please read the thread referenced above, and add your account.

Chris

 

Not sure that this will help but I changed out my plugs about 1 month ago and opted not to put platinum plug back in. My son the mechanic told me that they burn hotter but since I don't race the thing I should just put standard resistor plugs in. I noticed during the plug change that the platinum plugs only have about 1/2 inch of threads on the plugs while the standard resistor plugs have about 1 inch of threads. I’m no mechanical engineer oh wait a minute, yes I am a mechanical engineer, and that would make a great difference in holding the plug in place.

Just something to think about.

 

Luckily I have'nt experienced the dreaded plug blowout .............. yet. I would think that the amount of thread area in the softer aluminum heads would be more critical than the threads on the spark plug themselves.

If one type of spark plug has more threads than another it will either go further into the cumbustion chamber or has a thicker compression washer.

 

I'm not a mechanical engineer so I know a lot more about mechanical design. I worked as a machinist in a high precision machine shop for years so my view of engineers is jaundiced. It's clear to me that the plug holes do not have enough depth. Cnnsequently it takes only a tiny amount of extra torque to shear or damage the threads in the heads. At inital assembly on the line there can be many malfunctions with air operated torque wrenches. With deeper plug holes, more threads, the margin of error is greater. The fact is, aluminum is soft, even the hardest kinds. I have stripped enough threads to know. Short of a design change in the heads, such as adding weld material when welding up the holes, I would be very carefull when installing new plugs. In addition to anti-seize, which tends to eliminate galling in the aluminum, DON'T over torque the plugs, not even a tiny bit.
Regards, Nial

 

Man, I feel your pain... If I had a $2700 repair pop up my truck would be sitting in the garage for a few weeks... If your going to bite the bullet and have the head replaced, you might shop around and see if you can get a better price from somewhere else besides the dealership. $2700 sounds like quite a bit. (For less than a grand more if you could do the swap yourself you could drop in a brand new engine.) If I was you, I would call the owner/general manager of the dealership you bought your truck from, and explain your case as reasonably as you can, and ask him to call Ford on your behalf to see if he can get you any help. Genarally speaking he will get a more favorable response from Ford a lot quicker than you will. I've gone this route before after speaking to the service manager, regional rep, customer service, 'priority' assistance, then the COO's office and getting absolute no where. Called the GM of the dealership I bought my truck from, and he called back the next day with an offer from Ford to pay half of my bill ($1300 on a $2600 bill.) If you decide to go this route, do everything you possibly can to show that this is a factory DEFECT that Ford is aware of. If you can persuade either the GM or Ford of this you've atleast got a shot at some type of a settlement. If not, it's all on you...

 

Hi Ka

Have you got a course of action planned? Dont leave us hanging as you can see we are venting alittle here, but not without good reason.

No, i havent had that problem "yet" Im seeing more "yet" or "not yet" here. Geez...just thinking what would i do?

Feefer...you must have read spec. on new 3V 5.4L for 04? I know very little about engine design pro/cons. However i can read. I did pick up on some key words used is describing that engine. Yes it is all new...also appears its still a "modular design" New block/ heads etc..(re read)...seems Ford is trying to do better for all kinds of reasons. Again...time will tell.

Point is..after reading those specs...theres no way i would buy an 03 with 5.4L. I would wait for the new 04. As ive said before...its a crap shoot with Ford...some do ok/some don"t. I realize theres a bigger picture here(sales/competition etc)...but couldnt help but think someone at Ford may also have thought about previous engine problems? Dont know how big a problem...public forums are a minority...what about all the others we dont hear from? JMO!
No, im not paranoid "YET"

Good luck...OT

 

Sorry for the long post but here's where I'm at guys. I called the dealer monday afternoon and again spoke with the service writer and expressed that I couldn't not beleive that after purchasing 2 brand new vehicles and 1 used vehicle from them in the last 12 years that they & ford were treating me like this . I told them that I would be down to pay the diognostic charge and pick the truck up later that afternoon to take it somewere else.

I had a guy with a rollback meet me at the dealership went in to pay my bill told them that I needed the keys so the guy with the rollback could load up my truck. At this point the service writer asked me to stick around for a couple of minutes that they wanted to talk to me before I left.

He went some where for about 5 minutes and came back with a couple of printouts . He said that they cound't beleive that ford didn't offer me any assistance with this so they had did some checking around and said that there is a program that ford service writers can use for special circumstances with vehicle's that are out of warranty that are less than 6 years old with less than 100000 miles and for repairs over $2000. I think it was called a po6 program. He showed me the printout but wouldn't let me have a copy of it because he said he wasn't even supose to show it to me.

The program works like this. The customer has to pay at least $495 then Ford pays them up to $2000 towards the repair. After the vehicle is repaired its covered with a powertrain warranty until its 6years old from the time it was orginally titled or hits 100000 miles .

They also said they would write this up as a warranty repair so that it would lower the cost and I wouldn't have to put out to much more than the $495.

Well I guess it paid off being persistant and to show up with the rollback to take the truck out of there. I still don't feel that its right that I have to pay part of this but at this point its better than putting out $2700. The dealership still will not admit that the work they did changing the plugs had anything to do with this.

They said I should have my truck back by friday or monday so I'll let you guys know how this turns out.