Hi ***** and all,

Everyone, give a nice warm welcome to the newest (known) member of the "F-150 Blown Plug / Stripped Cylinder Head Club", *****.

Actually, it would help if folks listed their year, model, engine size, mileage, etc.

I called Ford's Customer Assistance Center today, and of course the polite rep said the same thing as the local service department: no recalls, field service actions, or TSBs issued for this vehicle. After a bit of faux sympathy, they took an incident report and said it would be forwarded to the engineers. I asked if I'd get a response to my questions on this issue, and of course the answer was "No". All you'll get is a 'thanks for calling'.

They advised keeping receipts "in case Ford took steps at addressing this issue in the future, in the event a problem was identified", and they also managed to get a plug-in for the local service department, saying I should get it fixed there.

I think it's time to take this wider; please help desiminate this problem to any other Ford bulletin boards or forums that you're aware of, posting a link to this board and thread. After all, there's strength in numbers. I'll be looking at filing reports at public agencies (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, etc), and will post info for others to follow suit.

And to be fair, if Ford decides to take proactive steps to resolve this apparent problem, I'll gladly be among the first to proclaim the excellent customer service I've received from FoMoCo: I just won't be holding my breath.

I really do want to have my faith in Ford's proclaimed commitment to quality and excellence in customer service restored....

Chris

 

Hi all,

Another report from another Ford Truck site:

http://www.ford-trucks.com/dcforum/97up/1495.html

Here's the link to filing a complaint on-line with NHTSA, the folks who have the power to investigate and order a recall, if needed. Please provide them with all the details of your incident/experience.

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/ivoq/default.htm

It only takes about 5 minutes to complete the process online; you can also do it over the telephone @ 1-888-DASH-2-DOT.

The more of us who file a report, the greater the chances for getting a full independent investigation by the NHTSA.

Thanks,
Chris

 

Can anybody tell me what their spark plug looked like after being launched? My plug was completely destroyed and I am trying to figure out if it blew out or something hit it and knocked out. I have been told I now need a new motor after having that cylinder scoped.

1997 F150 Lariat 4x4, 5.4 liter, 80,000 miles, #3 cylinder

 

I heard the same ticking noise in my 99 5.4L S/Crew. The noise resembled a fan hitting a zip tie. I thought it was an exhaust leak. Let a mechanic at work listen to it. He also thought it was an exhaust leak. After trying to isolate exactly where it was coming from, I gave in and took it to a local mechanic. They put it on the diagnostic and could not isolate the problem. So, the mechanic pulled all the coil packs and plugs. He found the problem to be a blown plug in the #3 cylinder. The ceramic insulator broke free and was moving up and down on every piston stroke creating the tick.

Now, the silly thing is I had my truck serviced, to include changing all the plugs, at Ford Repair Shop before I drove it from Georgia to Alaska. I have put on about 10,000 miles since then (7,500 on the trip, the rest since). Granted, my motor has 91,000 miles on it, but I do everything I can to take care of it since it is my only means of transportation. However, other than this and clogged fuel injectors right after I bought her used, it has run like a champ. All these comments just make you wonder, though. My plugs were the Motorcraft Platinum, exactly what the dealer recommended. I haven't called the dealer or Motorcraft yet, but will in the next day or two to see if they will at least partially reimburse for the service expense. But had nowhere near the damage some of you had. I kept the plug as a souvenir.

 

seagasim,
My plug was completely intact. Other than the aluminum material found in the spark plug threads. Other than that, it broke the coil. No other damage was noted.

I beleive somone else mentioned this but most of the Lightning guys have been aware that this problem as it seems to be more common on the supercharged engines. Of course I have a Magnacharger on my truck. The guys I have worked with on my truck at Works tell be the plugs should be checked periodically and kept over tight. There are only 3 or 4 threads that hold the plugs so great care must be taken not to stripe the threads.
In the aviation industry we use helicoils or, a steel thread insert to prevent this problem as the aircraft engines have aluminum heads as well. Normally, a helicoil would be a good fix however, the Ford head design doesn't allow enough room for an insert.

feefer is right guys, report this to the NHTSA site. It might not help us but it may help future truck owners!

 

Hi all,

Stopped by the repair shop today, and asked my mechanic what plug it was: surprise, it was #3. Wonder why it frequently seems to be #3?

Seagasim, my sympathies on the engine. I'm not out of the clear, yet: I'm expecting the truck completed next Monday afternoon (12 days after the event).

I haven't really seen the plug; the repairman showed it to me a few days before, and the plug got very intimate with the coil pack, breaking it off when it shot into it like a bullet. But I didn't know enough for what to look for at that point.

I asked him to keep all parts, as it may prove helpful down the road if/when Ford is 'encouraged' to provide some solution to those of us effected by this.

Chris

 

Thanks Chris, I will let you know How I end up once I finally get this thing going. Right now they are having a hard time finding a replacement engine. I believe they are dragging their feet with me and I plan to get very active in pushing this along tomorrow. When the engine is out I am taking the head off to see what happened to cause this. I can't see a blown plug damaging the cylinder..? Anyway, I am waiting for now.

 

Seagasim,

With the sounds of the plug being destroyed you may have had a piston come apart or possibly a rod break loose, sending the piston into the plug. This could definitely take out a cylinder. Be patient and be professional and I bet you will get the work done to your satisfaction. Remember, they don't get paid until the work is done, so they have no reason to hold up the work intentionally. In the meantime a mechanic has labor time and they have had to purchase some parts, so they are the one's that have the most incentive to get the truck back together so they get paid for their work.

 

The October 2002 issue of Consumer Reports (titled "When Things Go Wrong") has a good article about recalls/warranties/TSB and who to report possible quality issues to.

Is this plug problem happening on 2001+ rigs or is it a function of higher mileage engines?

 

HEY AT LEAST I'M NOT ALONE!!!!!!!I HAD 37,569 MILES ON MY 99 F 150 5.4 AND I BLEW A PLUG ONE DAY AT WORK WHEN I WENT TO START IT. SO I CALLED MY DEALER AND THEY ACTED LIKE THEY NEVER HEARD OF THIS.BUT THEY WANTED 2500.00 TO FIX.SO I ASKED I FORD WOULD COVER IT AND THEY SAID NO.SO THEN I CALLED CUSTMER RELATIONS AND ASKED THEM AND THEY SAID NO.SO I DID A LITTLE IN VESTING AND A DEALER NOT THE ONE DOING THE WORK AND HE SAID TO ASK FOR A WARRANTY AJUSTMENT,SO I DID AND FORD COVERED ALL BUT 350.00 DOLLARS OF IT.BUT NOW I WAS WASHING AND WAXING AND I NOTICED A CRACK IN DOOR WHAT CAN I DO? TRAVIS

 

Hey guys
I had the same problem on the way home from work the other day(friday the 13th).I was 5 miles from home and i heard a loud bang and all heck broke loose.I pulled over and popped the hood and saw the spark plug laying on the engine and the ignition coil ripped apart.My truck has 47000 miles on it and this really bothered me.We got it home and looked at the spark plug,it looked like someone took a hammer to it.No gap at all!At first i diidnt realize how serious the problem was so i went ane ordered a new ignition coil wire.We tried to put the spark plug back in but it was no use.I did have a tap on the left hand side of the engine.And i noticed when ever i accelerated it would hiss.Thought it was a vacumn leak.I thought the tap was a lifter but i guess not.
What do you think would be my best bet?Anew engine or just pay for this one to be fixed?I havent called Ford yet because my warranty was up on the truck and i didnt think they could help.any info will help

 

YOU CAN TRY TO GET FORD TO PAY,BUT GOOD LUCK WITH THAT AMOUNT OF MILES.THEY TOLD ME IT WOULD COST 2600.00 TO FIX AND I ABOUT ****.BUT I CALLED CONSUMER RELATIONS AND ASKED FOR A AFTER WARRANTY AJUSTMENT AND THEY WENT FOR IT BUT I WAS ONLY 13OO MILES OVER THE WARRANTY SO I PAYED 350.00 FOR MINE.GOOD LUCK

 

HEY IF YOU DON'T AHVE THE NUMBER HERE IT IS 1-800-392-3673 AND THEY MIGHT BE ABLE TO HELP.TRAVIS

 

BGY,

You might consider having that cylinder scoped to see if the piston is coming apart before making any decisions. As I stated earlier, the plug my motor spit out was beat to hell. Ford first qouted me a price of about $2,600.00 also for a head replacement. I decided to have it towed to another reputable repair shop in my area and they scoped that particular cylinder to determine what might or could have caused it. Thats when they discovered that the top of my piston was coming apart. The question I still havn't been able to answer yet is which event caused the other. (Should know soon)

If your motor is ok, then I suggest calling around non Ford repair shops to see what kind of price you can find on a Heli-Coil repair for the damaged threads. Had I been lucky I could have gotten away with a $350.00 Heli-Coil repair. If that turns out to be a no go then find an engine exchange shop and get a reman. motor installed with a new warranty....hell it is only $500.00 more than Ford just swapping out the heads. Hope this helps.
Mike

 

Thir thread really makes me cringe. Any engine should not be spitting out plugs like they taste bad. Something is not right here wether it be the design, abnoramal cylinder pressures, piston/rod failure.
I would like to see the years, engine sizes, and miles of all that have blown a plug. Seems isolated to the 5.4's most being 99 or newer with all sots of mileage. Also, it's strange that several report it happening on cylinder 3. Is there something different about that cylinder, to my knowledge theres not? If it were confined to a certain time frame I would have said it was a bad bunch of heads.

Reason I ask is because I have a 97 4.6 that has a hiss under acceleration and am now very paranoid. I was thinking I had a vacuum leak or an exhaust leak. Several here mentioned similar nosies. The only tick/rattle I have is one startup for a few seconds. If mine blows I will probably just bite the bullet and put in a fresh reman motor.