1998 Ford Expedition: engine knocking or ticking

Filed Apr 9, 2017 · Electrical · 209,000 miles · NC

The spark plug blew out for the second time in2 months. It sounded like the motor was knocking . Ford only put 3 threads in the cylinder head to hold the spark plug but the spark plugs have 10 threads. I called ford and they acted like they never heard of this before. There are forums going back to 2002 that I was reading yesterday about this issue so clearly they were lying. Owners report engine fires when the plug blows out. My vehicle didn't catch fire .they refuse to fix this defect and deny its their fault.

Filed Nov 16, 2010 · Engine, Fuel system · 145,000 miles · TX

I was driving @ 70mph down interstate 10 in seguine texas when the sparkplug on my 1998 ford expedition blew out of the head, destroying the coil, plug and wire. The vehicle interior filled with gas fumes and the vehicle started to knock very loudly. I was able to stop the vehicle prior to the fuel vapors igniting, however this was extremely dangerous as my wife and children were in the vehicle with me. After researching I have found that this problem is common with the ford 5.4 triton engines. The mechanic I took the vehicle to explained that the aluminum heads do not mesh with the steel spark plugs and eventually tear all the threads out of the head and shoot the plug out of the hole. The head of the vehicle had to be removed and machined at a cost of 1400$.

Filed Mar 16, 2005 · Suspension · NC

A loud knocking noise was heard coming from the rear of the vehicle. The right front collapsed onto the ground. Vehicle was unable to be moved. Driver had the vehicle towed to the dealer, and mechanic determined that the front springs torsion bar needed to be replaced.

Filed Jul 15, 2004 · Engine · 117,000 miles · CA

While driving consumer heard a loud knocking noise coming from the front. The consumer was able to pull over and inspected the vehicle. The consumer noticed that the spark plug from the passenger side blew out. The consumer contacted the dealer, and was informed that the cylinder head needed to be replaced due to a blow out. *ak the consumer found that many others experienced this same problem with the 5.4 and the 4.6 ford engines. The problem was found to be a defect in the heads not having enough threads to hold the plugs in. Ford would not assist in the repair, even though they recently redesigned the heads to prevent the problem.

Filed Apr 29, 2004 · Electrical · IL

While driving 30 MPH, a loud knocking noise was heard coming from the front, then vehicle stalled. Consumer tried to restart vehicle but was unable to do so. Consumer had vehicle towed to the dealer for inspection, and mechanic determined that the third spark plug blew out, and needed to be replaced. Driver informed the mechanic that this problem occurred more than once.

Filed Apr 7, 2004 · Engine · 93,300 miles · FL

When accelerating from a traffic light, I heard a pop and then my 5.4l engine on my 1998 ford expedition started making a loud continuous popping/ticking sound. We had it towed to the local ford dealer and they diagnosed it as a blown spark plug caused by the cylinder head threads giving way and causing the spark plug to be blown out of the spark plug hole. They are charging us almost $3300 to fix the defect in their cylinder heads. They deny there is any type of recall, but I did see a tsb# 98b33 which relates to cylinder head replacement. If you go to these websites, http://www.f150online.com/forums/showthread.php?s=90a1a25c42dbffde23d53146381e3e78&threadid=88853&perpage=15&pagenumber=2 and http://forums.pickuptruck.com/showflat.php?cat=&board=ubb10&number=155196 you will see that this has happened to alot of other ford owners with 5.4 and 6.7l v-8's and v-10's. I have never heard of a spark plug blowing up and cracking a head before in my life and to me this is obviously a manufacturer defect and ford should recall these engines and fix this problem at no cost to the consumer. We have done all of our scheduled maintenance at ford dealers and spent considerable amounts of money doing so and we were never warned or told of this problem with these engines. Ford should at the very least recommend more frequent maintenance specifically addressing this issue. *ak

Filed Jul 23, 2002 · Steering · FL

Internal failure of component noted by knocking noise in steering gear box. Additional play in steering noted and other owners have stated same problem.

Filed Sep 21, 1999 · Acceleration · OH · crash

When placing vehicle in reverse and hooking up a boat trailer hitch with foot depressed on the brake pedal, vehicle suddenly accelerated, knocking the boat trailer 20 feet back. Consumer also, rear wheels were spinning with foot depressed on the brake pedal . Consumer has contacted the dealer, dealer unable to determine the cause of the problem. Please provide any further details.