Thanks jwrape. You put things in perspective.


Toddyman,

Not sure what your problem is, as I merely posted a suggestion to do a search. Obviously the word re-hash set you off, and I can't control what words trigger your emotions. I feel you misinterpreted my post and my intentions, and again I can't control how a post is percieved. There was no intent to inflame anyone. If you didn't care for my first post, then you could have ignored it and moved on. If you noticed my second post, I tried to explain this to you and even showed the customary beer salute to show no hard feelings, but you felt it necessary to carry it further. I have no hard feelings towrds you and as you get more accustomed to this forum you will realize not to take things personally and can enjoy this forum for all the great information it can provide. Less confrontations make this a better forum for all. Good luck in the future.

 

It appears to me (and let me say beforehand this is pure speculation) that most of the more common issues with the engines in the 97&up model F-150's (such as head gasket leaks, blown plugs, etc.) seem to be more common in the 99&up "P.I." engines. I understand these problems are not limited to the "P.I." engines, but atleast seem to be more common. The exception of this appears to be piston slap and pinging which have been somewhat common issues in the '97 and '98 models aswell. Anyone have any idea why this seems to be the case? Is it possible the added hp/torque is somehow adding to the stress on the block and playing a part in the issues?

 

Hi STX/98 and others,

The key word STX/98 used was "speculation". He hit the nail on the head, and has managed to keep balance in all of this.

All current owners who want to investigate this problem ARE forced to speculate, i.e. GUESS. on the basis of posts they read here. You see people using phrases like "guessing", "willing to bet", "appears", etc.

People reasonably want to know which models and years seem to be effected, what the % are (which people care about, only because it helps determine the chance of it happening to them!), etc.

I've engaged in a bit of educated guessing about the cause, but only because I was forced to, in the absense of an explanation from those who've designed the aluminum cylinder head.

The fact is, Ford has collected this kind of data and isn't releasing it; in fact, they're denying a problem. Call them: ask about the spark plug issue, and they'll say "Hmmm, never heard that one before." All threads are littered with that kind of attitude from Ford.... Only at the independent and dealership repairs do we have honest repairmen saying it's not rare: they know there's a problem here.

I think the reason people are reacting to this issue before it even happens to them ISN'T the risk that it can happen to their truck, but all the accounts of the way people are treated by Ford ONCE IT HAPPENS: denial of any known defect, attempts to say using aftermarket plugs caused it, or the user caused it by changing their own plugs, using a non-stock plugs, even using a K&N air filter, etc. It's that blantant attempt to shift blame and avoid responsibility (and let's be honest: to save Ford $$$) that gets to many of us.

By all means, everyone can read and post whatever they want, but this is becoming a circular argument (like asking how many angels can sit on the head of a pin). The only "real" answer can be offered by FoMoCo or NHTSA. So don't fool yourself into thinking you're doing anything to help resolve the situation by arguing here about how 'rare' you think it is.

Remember: I knew NOTHING about this issue until it happened to me. Hopefully no more of you will have to get involved in this issue unwillingly, as SVTGirl and many others have been, since I started posting on this. But the odds say I'm wrong, and more of you will be joining the "F-150 Blown Plug Club".... LIke I say, dues are reasonable: only about $1k-3k per incident.

Someone asked about warning signs of an impending blown plug: there MAY be warnings (if you're lucky). Read the main thread (link below), as the speculative evidence is there in great detail.

https://www.f150online.com/forums/sh...threadid=88853

Chris

 

I think your correct on this naviman. I tend to take things a bit seriously and belive I have done so this time.

This plug issue REALLY has me fired up and the more I read the madder I get.
Been hashing this problem over for allmost a week now, all hours of the day and night and have come up with what I percive to be the best "fix" for the "problem" before the problem has a chance to develop.

I am going to take a saturday here within the next few weeks and remove the air tube, filter and other obtrusive goodies off the top of my engine to where I can remove the coil packs and finally get to the plugs. Then I am going to use a product called PRO-POXY (a two part epoxy puddy one part black and one part white break off and nead in hand till it is consistantly gray) and apply a small ball to the edge of the plug and smoosh the other side down onto the head. This will keep that plug from having any chance of working its way loose and stripping out the threads. When it comes time for me to change the plugs I will get out the ol' dremmel tool and grind that ball off from there and install new plugs and then re-apply. It is a little of extra work......maybe un-nessary work, maybe not......but atleast it will be out of my head! (and my wallet if I dont do it beacuse my luck with fords hasnt been the best!)

I used this PRO-POXY product (available at plumbing distributors)
to mount a bilge pump in the bottom of my jetski hull. One side to the fiberglass bottom and the other to the aluminum impeller housing. That was 3 years ago and it is still just as I installed it. This is my race ski, run hard every sunday from march to november by several people in both fresh and salt water where the waves being jumped will reach 7'. Between that pounding and the constant vibration and the heat inside the hull I am convinced that a Triton plug/head would be no match for this product!

 

Dude,

Sorry to ruffle your feathers, but after reading all the horror stories about these trucks and the fact I have never owned one and this COULD turn out to be a bad experience. MAY to some people seem that I am a bit over-reacting. But you see I can't afford to purchase a NEW truck and it spend all the time in a shop for sh*t like blown heads, leaking heads, broken doors and such.

I happen to read the posts and ironically heard of a friend, (A LONG TIME FORD OWNER) having a plug blow out of his 2000 F150 and it IS a little un-nerving for us NEW Ford owners. SO, give me a little slack. I have owned quite a few NEW cars and I have NEVER heard of such problems that seem to be so consistant with this particular vehicle. OR, just put yourselves in my shoes.

 

Hillbilly,

OR, just put yourselves in my shoes

We are all in your shoes, as we all have Ford vehicles and a good majority have 5.4's on this site.

I think all stx/98 was trying to do was let you know that you needn't be paranoid about using your vehicle. Use it and enjoy it, odds are that you won't have this problem.

Is there a problem with the 5.4 heads? Yes

Does it affect all of them? no

Will every 5.4 owner face this? No, as there are many of those engines with well over 100,000 miles (mine has 88,000 miles)

Could it happen to you? Yes, but so could cancer, a car accident, a heart attack etc. but that shouldn't change the way you live (provided you are living a reasonably clean life.)

I applaud feefer for taking on the task to try and inform people of a potential problem, but we can't all become to paranoid to use our vehicles. You have greater odds of not having a problem, than having one. Use your truck and enjoy it and take it with you to Georgia. Your vehicle is still under warranty for sometime, and you can still purchase an extended warranty for about $1,000.00 for further peace of mind. Good luck.

 

I plan on enjoying my truck, and I AM going to take it to GA, and I appreciate this Forum because I have learned alot of GOOD things about Ford trucks. Having said that, I just wanted to help STX understand that I am a little nervous about this "blown plug" issue, because none of the Dodge, Chevy or Nissan vehicles I have owned never presented this as a problem, therefore it IS a little disconcerting to say the least. I do like the way this truck drives and feels. I just want it to stay that way, (at least for the next 5 yrs). I did contact my dealer about a ESP to cover things like this, and for the money it will make me feel a little more assured.

Who knows I may like this truck so much I would never buy any other make of vehicle (my little brother hopes so).

 

Well maybe your chances are better than mine, but since mine blew one out yesterday, my chances are now 100%

 

Sorry to hear that jsbitt. Why don't you document everything on here for all to see. Where you are located at, make of vehicle, mileage on vehicle,engine size, year of vehicle, ever had a plug change, mileage when plugs were changed, what make of plugs, conditions while driving, any mods to engine and anything else that might be relevant.

To often we just read on here that a plug blew, but very little information after that. People need to start documneting some facts to see what common denominators there are.

Good luck in getting your truck taken care of.

 

I understand your concern, but as NaviMan mentioned, my only point is to not allow it to make you become paranoid. (The sparkplug blowout issue has been reported by less then 0.001% of the members on our site, hardly anything to sit around expecting.) Be aware of the issue and keep an eye on it if you hear/see anything out of the norm, but don't sit around worrying about it. This is my first new truck also - trust me, if mine blew I'd be parked for a little while untell I figured out how to pay for it aswell. Ultimately, about all you can do is take the best care of your truck as you can, and hope for the best. Many more times than not your truck will take care of you in return.

 

My truck is a 97 supercab with the 5.4. 81,500 miles. I bought it 1 year ago, I believe the plugs are original. I live in NY, was driving about 20 mph after leaving a red light when it blew out. No mods to engine. FWIW, I don't expect ford to pay for this, but I will get rid of the truck as soon as I get it back, and will never buy a ford again. I should have learned after my 96 taurus (another story). My truck has all of the common problems- cracked doors, leaky rear window, rough idle, premature heater core failure. I guess I'm just lucky

 

I just emailed the delearship and asked what their price would be (The salesman gave me the run around on this particular truck) and within an hour they came back with this. Im off to research to see if this price falls in line. (It is a CC even though it doesnt say so)

Well after driving a new Chevy and a new Ford Im really leaning towards this particular Dodge

The 2003 Patriot Blue Ram 2500 2WD is equipped with a 5.7 Hemi engine, automatic transmission, tow package, anti-spin diff, power windows and locks, tilt and cruise, A/C, and AM/FM CD player.... It has a sticker price of $30540.00 and can be bought through the internet department for $26037.00 after all rebates and discount.

Although this motor isnt proven either at least its warranty is 70k and not 36k

 

I took my 1998 ford E350 van into ford dealer for repair ($1700). One of the spark plugs poped out of the cylinder head (drivers side 3rd back) taking all the threads with it. The service manager said that this happens once in a while. They pulled the head off and sent it to a machine shop where they will install a insert. When I asked him what about the other 7 plugs, will they hold ? He just shrugged his sholders.The van e350 5.4L has 122,000 miles on it, the plugs were changed by a ford dealer at 90,000 . I have been searching for info on how many times this happens, I am starting to suspect that the plugs work their way loose due to engine vibration and the fact that the spark plugs only has 6 threads on it.
I want to explain why I suspect plugs working their way loose. After the new plugs were installed by the dealer the van ran fine ( it ran fine before the plugs were changed . ) 1 year and 25k miles later when the engine is idling I hear one loud tap head sound , It was pretty loud and kinda what you would expect to hear from a old chevy motor. The van was still running great so I looked at the milage (115,000) and figured this motor deserves to have a loud tap head - I'm not going to mess with it. 5k miles later the plug blew out when I started it one morning. by the way, when the plug blew I didn't have a clue what was wrong, I thought a emission sensor on the exaust manifold broke off. I drove the van to a ford dealer and the van ran fine ( except for the loud exaust sound) , I still had no clue the van was only running on 7 cylinders. After the van was repaired I noticed there was no loud tap head sound anymore. So I think one plug worked loose over time.( the loud tap head sound was the plug banging up and down in the threads ) with the plug loose it's very easy to understand how it could blow out taking the threads with it, as the pistion sucks and exausts the loose plug would be like a jack hammer against the threads and it wouldn't be long before that plug would distroy the threads.
The thing I blame Ford for , is designing a van that is just about impossible for a average Ford trained mechanic to change the spark plugs correctly and the spark plug they use only has 6 threads on it so it has to be installed perfectly, and even then it still might loosen up at any time.
Anyone want to email me direct--> donswr@hotmail.com

IF YOU HEAR A LOUD TAP HEAD SOUND COMING FROM YOUR ENGINE WHEN IT'S IDLING... DON'T IGNORE IT !!

 

If you guys want to do something about this, go to www.planetfeedback.com , select ford, then select ford motor company, and enter your complaint. planetfeedback will put it in a nice format and send it to ford. I understand ford reviews them.
make sure you select it to be a open letter so others visiting planetfeedback will be able to view your letter and it will be easy to see just how many people this has happend to.

here is info to use the site:
select top right "tools for consumers"
select top right "shared letters"
enter "ford" in search
select "ford motor company"
now you can see the open letters

to enter your letter go to the home page.

If you go there now and select view open letters you will see mine.


I feel your pain !!
below you will see my letter:

Ford E350 blew spark plug from cyl head $1700.00 repair.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To: Ford Motor Company

I hope you can help me. I have a complaint I'd like to register with you about the reliability of a car made by Ford Motor Company. The VIN (vehicle identification number) is 1FBSS31L1WHA28241.

my 1998 ford van blew out a spark plug. I went to start my van and a the spark plug blew out of the cylinder head. I took it to a ford dealer and the service manager said this happens once in a while. I can't believe ford knows about this and has done nothing to correct this problem. It cost $1700.00 to remove cylinder hear and insert a bushing with new spark plug threads. ( I thought fords are "built tough")

As a result of this, you have almost certainly lost me as a future customer, and I'll urge others to look elsewhere for their auto needs.

Here's what I would like to see you do to provide resolution: I would like ford to pay me for this repair and make corrections so this will never happen to anyone again. I now consider a ford van totally unreliable !

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

 

Hi Syncmaster,

Interesting that the Ford dealer performed a repair that Ford specifically instructs them not to do: installing an insert.

Read the main thread in this forum entitled "Blown Plugs, damaged cylinder heads", as you seem to be missing some pertinent information about this problem.

Chris