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1998 Ford Expedition engine complaints

Page 4 of 6: complaints 71 to 100 of 144, newest first, as owners wrote them.

See the summary of 1998 Ford Expedition engine problems: which part fails, at what mileage and related recalls.

Filed Mar 1, 2005 · Engine · 119,000 miles · CT

Engine failure. In my research of the type of engine in my vehicle, a 4.6l made in the romeo plant, have found that there has been numerous people that had their motors fail(blown). I have a ford expedition 1998 with a 4.6l engine and the 8th digit of the VIN # being a w for romeo plant. When I called in excess of 20+ auto salvage yards, I had gotten the same response. That particular engine from that particular plant was a problem. I was also told 1997 was the same occurrence. Unfortunately, I owe almost $7000.00 on this vehicle that I now can not drive with out replacing or rebuilding the engine, which will be more than a couple thousand. I have been told by these many salvage yards and my local ford dealer the problem occurs when antifreeze makes its way into the oil and burns out the main bearings.

Filed Feb 3, 2005 · Engine · 88,000 miles · LA

The engine shut off while being drive. The dealer stated that the isc valve was defective.

Filed Jan 28, 2005 · Engine · 78,000 miles · MD · fire

After parking in the driveway, went to a neighbors house, and consumer heard the alarm going off. Rushed to see what was going on . Consumer noticed the vehicle was on fire. The fire completely consumed the vehicle. Also, the house caught on fire. The fire investigators report determined part failure in the engine department. The vehicle was totaled.

Filed Jan 14, 2005 · Engine · 140,000 miles · NE

I own a 1998 ford expedition with a 5.4l v8 engine. I have it serviced at diers ford in fremont, ne. The vehicle had been driven 2 hours at normal highway speeds when a loud pop was heard followed by rough engine operation. Upon inspection, one of the spark plugs had blown out of the passenger side cylinder head stripping the threads out of the head as it went. Upon towing the vehicle to my dealer, I was given an estimate of $3,000 to replace the head. I have given the dealer permission to have the head replaced but have been told it will not be until late february until they can even get a head to replace the damaged one. To this point they have let me use a loaner vehicle but have now told me they will no longer provide me one. Thus, I am out of a vehicle for at least 8 weeks.

Filed Jan 13, 2005 · Engine · 90,000 miles · FL · fire

Vehicle caught fire while parked in the driveway. Owner contacted the fire department. Owner says that there was no modifications made to the engine. Vehicle was perfectly fine prior to the fire. Provide further details.

Filed Dec 29, 2004 · Engine · 90,000 miles · FL · fire

While the vehicle was parked, a fire started in the engine. The fire was put out and the vehicle was towed. Please provide more information.

Filed Dec 29, 2004 · Engine · 120,000 miles · CA

I had a skiing accident and severely damaged my knee. As I was being taken to the hospital in my 1998 expedition, it blew a spark plug out of the engine. I was told by the dealer today that this is a common problem with all ford triton aluminum engines, however, there would be no compensation for this known defect.

Filed Dec 17, 2004 · Engine · 104,000 miles · NJ

The car was under normal city driving conditions when the #3 spark plug was violently ejected from the engine. Although there was not a fire, with fuel air vapors being expelled from the empty spark plug hole and the plug and wire visible arcing in the engine compartment, there certainly was a possibility of a fire. I have contacted ford motors customer relations directly to report this as a potentially dangerous design flaw, they flatly deny that there is any problem. Unfortunately, the cost of this repair can run between $3000 and $6000, which is probably why ford has chosen to take the coarse of denial. At the same time they are denying that this is a hazardous design flaw, the have corrected the problem in replacement parts and in later model years.

Filed Oct 7, 2004 · Engine · MO

The plug blew out of the head on my 1998 ford expedition 5.4 liter v8. Has to go to ford, approx 2700 to fix, my extended 3rd party warranty refuses to cover because they say it is a manufacturer defect. Ford disagrees. I will have to pay this. Too many people have this same thing happen to them . There are several web sites that deal with it. Even the 3rd party extended warranty company said they see it all the time on these engines.

Filed Sep 8, 2004 · Engine · 91,200 miles · CA

Without warning vehicle stalled. Consumer had to coast off the road. Consumer had the vehicle towed to the dealer, and mechanic determined that engine head gasket failed, causing the engine to malfunction. *ak both head gasket blew and needed to be replaced.

Filed Aug 27, 2004 · Engine · 140,000 miles · GA · fire

While parked vehicle caught on fire in the engine compartment.

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 Jul 6, 2004 · Engine · 113,428 miles · CA

On june 23, 2004 my 1998 ford expedition was towed to a dealer because I blew a spark plug. I was told that it would cost over $2700.00 to get it fixed. They said it was because the spark plug would only blow out again and I needed a new head covering. The service manager said that this was a common occurrence on the aluminum heads. My question or rather my complaint is that I am angry about the response from the service manager and from the ford front office. If ford knows that this is a common occurrence then why should the consumer be liable for something that ford knows is a problem. Am pretty upset about this as ford knows this happens and there hasn't been a recall. Why isn't there a recall if there is a problem with the head coverings?? Am I expected to pay an additional $2700.00 when the other head goes bad? This isn't right and if they have a problem then fix it and don't just rob the consumer.

Filed Jun 27, 2004 · Engine · 80,450 miles · MN

Engine at idle for a period of time heard a pop and found that spark plug had blown out of the head upon further investigation found out that this is a common problem with the ford triton v8 engine.

Filed Apr 28, 2004 · Engine · 88,000 miles · IL

Driving one day and heard a loud pop then no response or power from the engine.a certified mechanic said that the 3rd spark plug was blown out of the head and the acknowledged that this is a common thing in these type of engines. I also talked to the dealer that I bought this joke of a vehicle from and they said that they get these kind of repairs in all the time - domino ford in midlothian il. I talked to ford motor co. Consumer complaints and all they said was "sir there is no recall on your'e vehicle and they said have a nice day. The mechanic said they would put in a insert or heli coil and that it might work but after scanning the internet there is all kinds of complaints out there with this exact kind of problem with the ford pickups , vans and SUV's that have this triton engine. Ford won't acknowledge this because they know that under a recall it will cost them a lot to fix this obvious manufacturer defect. Of the complaints that I read and talking to my mechanic they all mention that the threads that hold the spark plugs are not long or deep enough to contain the spark plug for good. For 40k price tag ford motor co. Should replace the engines in these vehicles. Do we have to wait for someone to sacrifice their life for this to get rectified? Just like the tire issues. If someone does die due to this defect I will be the first to come forward on this on when I complained and that nothing was done. Peoples lives should not be risked to line fords pockets. If you sue them they will drag it out so long because they made 40k a vehicle on this model alone and they will drag it out until you can't pay for help anymore.

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 Feb 10, 2004 · Engine · 107,000 miles · NC

While driving consumer heard a loud rattling noise coming from engine. Dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem.

Filed Feb 2, 2004 · Engine · NE

Ford spark plug blowout problem.

Filed Jan 13, 2004 · Engine · 96,000 miles · MA

Spark plug blown out of cylinder head.

Filed Dec 24, 2003 · Engine · 70,000 miles · CA

1998 ford expedition eddy bauer losses power when accelerated over 3000 rpms, on what seems to be a misfire, I've taken it to different mechanics, I've had the coils and spark plugs replaced, I've spent over $2000 and problem still persists. I went to two different ford dealers just to encountered the worst dealer serviced I've ever received in my life...they are no help. I am stuck with a car that I paid over $30,000 for that has defect problems that ford is aware of but is completety unwilling to accept. This is definitely the worst investment I've ever made in my life, can anybody help me?...please.

Filed Dec 10, 2003 · Engine · 73,000 miles · FL

While driving 50 MPH the vehicle stalled. The driver pulled over onto the shoulder and attempted to restart the vehicle but it wouldn't turn over. The vehicle was towed to the dealership but the mechanic could not duplicate the problem. *ak *nlm

Filed Oct 30, 2003 · Engine · 120,000 miles · MD

While driving consumer heard a tapping sound coming from the engine. Consumer continued driving when the check engine light appeared on the dashboard. Afterwards, vehicle lost power. Consumer had vehicle towed to the dealership.

Filed Oct 20, 2003 · Engine · 110,000 miles · CA

I have a 1998 ford expedition 5.4l. The sparkplug threads on cylinder #3 are damaged even though the sparkplugs are original. The ford mechanic claims this is due to insufficient threads on the original cylinder head. My plug loosened part way but did not blow out like many others have reported.

Filed Oct 17, 2003 · Electrical, Engine · 131,000 miles · CA

Traveling on the freeway in stop and go traffic at approximately 40-50 MPH when one of the spark plugs in the motor exploded out of the head. I spoke to ford, and they expressed that this is a common problem with the ford expedition, that it is probably a casting flaw with the heads, and that a replacement is typical and will cost approximately $3,000.00 for repair. Aside from being stranded on the side of the road, there was no indicator that this would happen. Research has LED me to find that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of other ford owners that have experienced this same problem. Where is the recall?

Filed Oct 7, 2003 · Electrical, Engine · 125,000 miles · ME

Spark plug was 'blown' out of cylinder head on 1998 ford expedition. Ford enthusiast website showed this occurring to several people. The expense is $4100 and it seems to me that this is a defect in manufacturer. There was no warning, nor any recent service performed other than oil change.

Filed Aug 21, 2003 · Engine · 75,000 miles · MD

While driving on I-75 in michigan, I heard a loud pop and the truck began to shake. After driving to the nearest ford dealership I learned that the 3rd spar kplug on the driver side had blown out of the head, and the coil had melted. I'm being quoted $2100 on the repair right now, and trying to trade it in, after looking at the other problems that have been posted through here. Hopefully this will get seriously considered for recall.

Filed Aug 19, 2003 · Electrical, Engine · 49,486 miles · CA

I have a 1998 ford expedition 5.4l engine. At under 50000 miles a spark plug blew right out of the cylinder. Head and stripped the threads. Repairs included a new cylinder head. Ford recommends spark plug change at about 100000 miles. The issue is a defective design of the aluminum cylinder head only having a few turns of thread to hold in a spark plug under compression.

Filed Aug 13, 2003 · Engine · OH

Consumer stated head gasket was leaking oil. Dealer emphasized the need to replace head gasket as soon as possible.

Filed Aug 8, 2003 · Engine · 47,917 miles · CA

Incident 1 (dated 01/27/00): spark plug blew out of driver-side cyclinder head. Dealer retapped treads, replaced spark plug, reassembled engine ($1216.79) incident 2 (dated 08/29/02): spark plug blew out of driver-side cyclinder head. Dealer replaced cyclinder head, reassembled engine ($2035.61)

Filed Jul 27, 2003 · Engine · 84,000 miles · CA

Vehicle had a cylinder head failure blowing spark plug out of the #4 cylinder causing gas to pump out over engine. Estimated cost to repair by green valley ford $4100.00.

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