The contact owns a 2003 Ford Crown Victoria. The contact stated that after starting the vehicle, the contact smelled an abnormal coolant odor. The contact inspected the vehicle and noticed there was corrosion and a crack near the intake and radiator hose. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that the intake manifold needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to file a complaint with the federal safety agency Hotline. The approximate failure mileage was 70,000.
2003 Ford Crown Victoria engine problems
13 complaints (5% of all complaints for this car). Typical mileage when it fails: 110,000.
- owner complaints
- 13
- of this car's complaints
- 5%
- typical mileage
- 110,000
- crashes
- 0
- recalls
- 0
Which part fails
- Engine3
- Exhaust system: manifold/header/muffler/tail pipe1
- Engine: gasoline: belts and associated pulleys1
- Engine: gasoline1
At what mileage
Complaints by mileage at the time of the problem.
0k-25k
25k-50k
50k-75k
75k-100k
100k-125k
125k-150k
150k-175k
175k-200k
200k+
Ford Crown Victoria engine problems in other years
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Related investigations
Spark plug ejection from cylinder head
On september 6, 2005, odi received a petition requesting that the agency investigate allegations of engine spark plug ejection in certain model year 1997 through 2004 ford vehicles with triton v-8 and v-10 engines.odi received a total of 474 non-duplicative complaints on the subject vehicles where the complainant, or the dealer repairing the vehicle, reported that a spark plug detached from the cylinder and/or ejected from the engine.as of december 8, 2005, odi is not aware of any allegations where the alleged defect resulted in a loss of vehicle control, a crash, an injury, or a fatality in any of the 10,319,810 subject vehicles.in addition, odi is aware of only two incidents where the vehicle stalled without restart.information contained in the odi consumer complaints and obtained from 72 telephone interviews with complainants showed the following:(1) 99% of the complaints were on my 1997 to 2002 subject vehicles.(2) most the complainants reported hearing a loud pop while driving or upon starting up the vehicle followed by a loud, repetitive clicking or popping sound.(3) many of the complainants reported that the popping sound was accompanied by some loss of vehicle power; however, in 99% of the incidents reported, the vehicle did not stall.in the very few incidents where the vehicle did stall, most vehicles could be restarted.(4) only a small percentage of the complainants cited that they smelled gas or a slight burning smell when the incident occurred.(5) in all but a very few incidents, vehicle damage was limited to the engine.in one incident, the complaint reported that the fuel rail was damaged and replaced after one of the spark plugs ejected from the engine; however, the complainant reported that the damage did not result in any type of fuel leak or fire.in another incident, the only incident where a fire was alleged, the complainant reported that no fluid leak was observed, but that a fire resulted after the spark plug had ejected from the engine and he had restarted the vehicle and driven to another location.none of the complainants reported any damage to the vehicle hood.(6) only two complainants reported that they observed what appeared to be some drops of fuel coming from the cylinder where the spark plug had failed or on the spark plug itself; however, each of these complainants reported that there was no smoke or flames as a result of his incident.as the petitioner noted, and odi?s analysis showed, it is possible for a spark plug to detach from the engine cylinder threads in the subject vehicles.however, odi?s analysis of 474 complaints describing such incidents found only a very few alleged any safety-related consequences.none of these showed any evidence of a serious safety consequence.given the large population and relatively long exposure time of the subject vehicles, the complaint analysis indicates that the risk to motor vehicle safety from the alleged defect is very low.in view of the foregoing, it is unlikely that the federal safety agency would issue an order for the notification and remedy of the alleged defect at the conclusion of the investigation requested in the petition.therefore, in view of the need to allocate and prioritize the federal safety agency?s limited resources to best accomplish the agency?s safety mission, the petition is denied.
DP05005
What 2003 Ford Crown Victoria owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
A couple of years ago, #2 cylinder blew the spark plug out. This cylinder was repaired using a thread insert. The car had approx 130,000 miles on it. Today, no warning, again, blew out another spark plug, this time #3 cylinder. Going to attempt repair using same type of insert. Plugs have been replaced one time, were properly torqued per ford specs, the problem, in my opinion is a defective design of the cylinder head where there are only approximately 3 threads in the aluminum head that actually grip the plug or about 1/16'th of an inch, where the plug has nearly 3/4 inch of thread. Naturally, ford won;t do anyting to help, but there are literally thousands of cases like this, some of which have resulted in fires, and even the aftermarket heads by trick flow address the problem by fully threading the spark plug holes in the heads.
Spark plug blew out of cylinder #6 and ruined coil-on-plug along with it. I had to take it to a mechanic and they used a time-sert kit to rethread the cylinder spark plug wall and replaced all plugs with factory plugs. I replaced the spark plugs myself 6 months before the incident using aftermarket plugs and it ran fine for about 5,000 miles until a plug blew out....updated 09/22/15 *bf updated 10/13/2015
Threw a spark plug on interstate. Had to have it towed to nearest ford dealer and repairs were over $400 plus a rental car to get home. I understand this is a problem with ford engines. Not good for older peopl traveling alone and out of town by 3 hours. This needs to be fixed.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford crown victoria. The contact stated that fluid was leaking underneath the vehicle. The dealer stated that the intake air manifold was defective and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the issue. The failure mileage was unknown. Updated 12/30/14*lj the consumer stated the engine air manifold cracked and the thermostat assembly failed on the driver's side. Updated 05/27/2015
The engine light came on the dash and the car started to slow and sputter as like it was out of gas , when I had my mechanic look he found the intake to the manifold was shattered ( the plastic part that the hoes grips onto . I was coming home from work it was cold and the car just stops working as the loss of the fluid from the intake sprayed all over the motor,belt,hood,electrical and the motor locked up as I was trying to cost to the pull off as it was a major traffic area . The manifold intake broke !!! In new york "
I was on vacation coming home and the car started to pull then let go and the engine light cam on then car locked up on the high way few seconds latter their was thick white smoke coming from the hood of the car and threw the vents inside the car. I turned the hazard lights on and got out of the car on a heavy high way the car smoked for about 20-40 minutes, after it faded I opened the hood to find the ( manifold intake ) broke spraying the coolant all over the engine and electrical under the hood of the car. I see online their has been other complaints and ford fixing them only in the hotter states as I live in ny but was in texas when this happened. Also when this happened I had no place to pull off the road as I was in congested traffic / busy highway - I am lucky I didn't get hit by a car. Ford motor company I know you know of the issue !!!
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford crown victoria. While driving approximately 50 MPH, thick white smoke started emitting from the front end of the vehicle. The failure was not diagnosed nor was the vehicle repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 200,000.
2003 ford crown victoria p71 upon starting the car, a spark plug was ejected from the engine. Necessitated repair of engine. This is the second cylinder to have this occur.
Consumer complained about a brake problem. While driving vehicle accelerated whenever the brakes were applied.*ak
Questions about the 2003 Ford Crown Victoria engine
Does the 2003 Ford Crown Victoria have engine problems?
Owners have filed 13 complaints about the engine of the 2003 Ford Crown Victoria, 5% of all its complaints.
At what mileage do 2003 Ford Crown Victoria engine problems start?
The typical (median) mileage in owner complaints is 110,000 miles.
Was there a recall on the 2003 Ford Crown Victoria engine?
There is no recall for this problem on this model year.
What year does the Ford Crown Victoria have bad engine?
The Ford Crown Victoria model years with the most engine complaints are 1997 (85 complaints), 1996 (84 complaints) and 1992 (48 complaints).
Other 2003 Ford Crown Victoria problems
Lights 96Wheels 42Suspension 27Transmission 25Electrical 20Acceleration 11Steering 11Fuel system 9Tires 9Visibility 9Brakes 8Airbags 4Body 4Seats 4Driver assistance 1Seat belts 1
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