Here is an update on the longetivety of bigcerts. My 5.4 blew a plug 18 months ago at 75000mi. I read about the bigcerts and had a speed shop tear down the top end and send the heads to a machine shop for certs in all 8. Added Schneider towing cams and JBA headers to the 4.56 gears I had previously installed for towing and hotd@m the little pony puller became a dragster. (my lovely wife thinks that those mods were just routine repairs for towing) 90000mi now and going strong. Thanks to syncmaster for all this info. Those bigcerts are great.

 

here is a artical from a local news paper Newsday wheels section advise:



https://www.f150online.com/galleries....cfm?gnum=6340

 

Can't read it. Can you give publication name/date?

 

News on the California class action lawsuit.

http://www.blueovalnews.com/2005/leg...gs.ca12aug.htm

 

I am in an arbitration with Ford over the cost of repairs for a blown spark plug on my vehicle f250 superduty 2002 4x4 pickup gas. We have submitted hundreds of blowout reports on these vehicles but the arbitrator is saying that these don't help because there is no proof that these all involve the same engine or cylinder head. How can I show that all of the engines and cylinder heads are the same? Can I do some kind of parts check to show that the same part no. is used for all of these vehicles? I have to submit something by Tues (9/27) and would appreciate any ideas/thoughts anyone can give me. Thank you. .

 

I will tell you up front that ford will never admit there is a problem with the triton engine, if they did it would cost them millions of $$$ . They very quietly and carefully slipped in a design change in 2001 or 2002 when they doubled the number of threads in the spark plug holes. If you are very patient and persistant you might end up having to pay $500.00 of a $3500.00 repair.
You also better make sure they installed the newly designed head and not the older poorly designed head(only 5 spark plug threads.)

Another angle you might try is contact the insert company, at www.timesert.com , they designed and sold the insert for the ford trition engine. The "BIGSERT" it is only used in the ford trition engine. When I talked to them a year ago they told me they sell about 2100 inserts a year. That means alot more than 2100 fords are poping their spark plugs a year.

I think the best argument is pointing out the design change they have made to the heads especially if they now installed the new improved head on your motor now.
here is a link that shows the old type and new type of spark plug.
https://www.f150online.com/forums/li...kplug_faq.html

here is a link to the sparkplug/ head design change
https://www.f150online.com/forums/sh...003+spark+plug

Good luck, and please let us know how you did.

 

I read some where they sold over 8,000 inserts this year.

check out this site for a little info about the plug blow out. clicky here.

 

Hi, read this in the paper today.

Detroit Free Press article September 28, 2005:
AUTO INDUSTRY REPORT: Ford faces recall request

September 28, 2005

Ford Motor Co. faces a California lawyer's petition to U.S. safety regulators seeking the recall of about 17 million vehicles, including F-Series pickup trucks, because of a spark plug flaw.


The complaint from Donald Ricketts of Santa Clarita, Calif., would lead to the biggest-ever U.S. recall if one was ordered by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which disclosed the petition on its Web site Tuesday. SUVs, pickups, Crown Victorias and Mustangs sold in the 1997-2004 model years had spark plugs that can come loose and fly through the hood, Ricketts claimed.


The petition was filed less than three weeks after Ford recalled 3.8 million vehicles, a year's worth of sales, to fix a cruise-control switch that can overheat and cause fires. That recall, the fifth-largest ever in the United States, included the same vehicles and model years as Ricketts' petition.


"We haven't seen the petition and therefore we can't comment on the contents until we have a chance to review it," Ford spokeswoman Kristen Kinley said. The automaker will cooperate with the agency as it reviews the complaint, she said.
http://www.freep.com/money/autonews/...e_20050928.htm

 

So let me get this right....they are selling inserts somewhere between 2000 and 8000 a year? Out of what....about half a million produced a year? Probably more across all the platforms they put it in (vans, SDs, F150s, what else?) Thats somewhere between about .5% and 1.5% in either case. Not a major deal in my opinion and not worthy of a recall of all the possibly afflicted vehicles.

And a safety issue?? How is that exactly? I have yet to hear of one going through a hood as noted in the post above. Maybe I just missed that thread...

And no, if my '99 popped one today, I wouldn't change my mind...I'd buy an insert and fix it.

 

Hard to base the total amount of vehicles afflicted by what ONE company sells to fix the problem. I'd imagine most people would take it to the dealer where they'd hear, "Never heard of that happening before," and get charged a couple grand. By the way, I fixed mine without using a big-sert kit.

I find the safety issue hard to swallow as well. But why does somebody need to lose their life or limbs in order for a company, who sold us something inadequate to do the job intended, to fix a known problem?

I've had two blow out now. Fixed the first one with an insert. The second one, well, don't know exactly what happened there, but I've got a seized motor along with it now.

 

The data is incomplete and not up to date, but the known facts are: (1) Ford has sold about 12,000 replacement cylinder heads in California; (2) Time Fastener and Lock'n Stitch have sold about 1600 insert kits; (3) about 800 Californians complained to Ford; (4) about 400 owners filed complaints with NHTSA; (5) there is a report of one vehicle catching fire.

 

So, let's say each head only cost 1000 dollars, I was qouted $1350 myself for the head, no labor. That means they sold another 12 million worth of parts in CA alone! Many of which were also probably defective replacements! And many of which were probably a whole heck of a lot more that $1000! Some even replaced their whole damn engine!

Over 12 million worth of parts, and it's not a problem. They could at least say, "ok, you were one of the unlucky ones, we'll fix it for you for free." I'm not looking for them to recall all vehicles, just fix the ones that break and not play stupid about it and stick it to the people who bought their products!

 

I'm glad you aren't so quick to jump Ford's stuff, it seems that everyone else is just looking for a reason to get something free. I don't understand the rabid tendency for people to penalize Ford for something that hasn't even affected them.

I am also not some diehard Ford guy that can't admit when there is a problem. I am glad they are replacing the brake/cruise switches. That seems like a valid recall.

But honestly in this case, I don't think its reasonable to do anything more than ask Ford to do something for those people that actually HAVE a failure.

I'm sympathetic to your situation though as I just bought my 99 2 months ago and knew going in that a problem could come up. It caused me to question even buying one with the 5.4. I hope it doesn't turn out to be a bad decision, but I will fix it myself or have it fixed if it does happen.

Life or limb? There are many more injuries due to people falling out of bed and hitting their heads than there will ever be due to this problem. Maybe all beds should be recalled to have safety railings installed?? My point is, that someone out there has probably been hurt by just about every part of a car at some point, and you can't just obsess about every little thing that COULD cause harm. Hell everything you do someone has gotten hurt doing at some point. Try to be rational here. The fan could come off and cause damage and maybe has to someone somewhere, do we need a recall for that too?

To Don, why doesn't it surprise me that CA data is leading the way in the arguement? LOL. Is there anything they don't complain about? Again, this is across how many years and models as a % of total sold? Can you even supply those numbers? I am still skeptical that we need a recall of all possibly affected vehicles.

The manufacturer gives a warranty. That warranty is valid for the specified time only. Beyond that, you are on your own, like it or not. Anyone that has bought a vehicle and doesn't understand that has no business buying a car. Going back on the manufacturer with a car that has 100k miles is pretty dumb. If you (rhetorical you) are worried about your truck, sell it and buy something else.

 

Gary: I'm not allowed to talk about the lawsuit on this site, just the problem. You can e-mail me directly if you want. scfarms@socal.rr.com.

There was a mistake in my last post. Time Fastener and Lock'n Stitch sold about 15,000 insert kits over the last 16 months or so--not 1500

 

My question had nothing to do with the lawsuit. I asked how many vehicles were produced that may have the problem. Thats nothing that is specific to the circumstances of the suit. But whatever.

So can anyone tell me if the problem is simply due to them coming loose?? Thats what it sounds like. It sounds like they get part way out and then combustion pressures blow the plug out and part of the threads with it. I guess maybe I should start to listen for a ticking sound, eh?

If that is the basics of the problem, I will just give them a periodic check with the torque wrench.