1999 Ford Expedition: gas smell in the cabin

Filed May 25, 2015 · Engine · 174,815 miles · SC

After picking up laundry, on my way to staples all of the sudden I heard a loud pop, then a strong smell of gas. I pulled over, turned off truck. Turned it back on then heard a loud popping sound. Got the truck home opened the hood and noticed spark plug out of engine attached to a damaged coil. I tried to put in new spark plug but it would not screw in, the threads in cylinder head were stripped. Found out it would cost a lot of money to get cylinder head rethreaded. Wrote to ford corporate they asked me for VIN name and basic info. I found out that this is common in triton engines. It is a designer flaw in ford. Ford knew about it for years now. Spark plug blows out for no reason. After spark plug pops out a strong smell of gas comes out. This could cause engine to explode. This happens in ford triton engines. This is unsafe.

Filed May 24, 2015 · Engine · 174,616 miles · SC

After picking up my laundry, I headed to staples while driving 45 MPH I heard a loud boom and very strong smell of gas so I pulled over turned off truck. I started again and it was a loud popping sound. I got home checked truck engine. I noticed my coil pack out and spark plug attached to it. I tried to put spark plug but the threads were all striped. I checked the inside of cylinder head could not see tried to put in a new spark plug but I can turn and turn and the spark plug would not screw in. This is dangerous because when spark plug blows out you have all the odor of gas coming out and that one spark can cause engine to blow up. I contacted ford all they took was my VIN number and name never heard from them again.

Filed Apr 5, 2010 · Engine, Fuel system · 140,000 miles · NE

My 1999 ford expedition had a spark plug shoot out from the head on my way to my cabin april 2nd, 2010. I have 2 small children and was driving in a area with no cell coverage or gas stations. The fumes made the inside of my vehicle smell horrible and had to drive to 17 miles with the windows down late at night. This is a bad engine from ford, I could've been worse off with kids getting sick from gas fumes or being stranded in the middle of nowhere.

Filed Aug 27, 2006 · Engine · 88,000 miles · VA

1999 ford expedition, 88k miles, spark plug ejected from passenger side of engine. This occurred in heavy traffic while in left lane of smoketown road in prince william county, virginia. The vehicle stalled after I let off the gas pedal right after a loud bang and popping sound was heard in engine. I was able to restart vehicle, but had to keep the RPM's up to keep from stalling. After cutting off several cars in center and right lane, the vehicle was pulled into a parking lot on right side of road. I detected a strong smell of gasoline present when hood was raised. Not once did the "check engine" light come on; unlike all the other times it came on when nothing was wrong with the truck. The vehicle was towed to a ford dealer and a $3400 head replacement performed because head was ruined by stripped spark plug ejecting. Upon checking internet, I found that this is an ongoing increasing problem. It appears that an inquiry done by your agency concluded in january of 2006 that this is a rarely occurring incident of little to no danger. I beg to differ. A simple google query will show thousands if not tens of thousands of complaints regarding ford triton engine spark plug problems posted on various message boards. It is a matter of time before someone gets hurt or killed either directly or indirectly from this obvious problem. I'm just glad I was alone driving and not my wife and children. My wife would have remained in the stalled vehicle while sitting in the passing lane. Considering the enormous number of potentially affected vehicle this issue involves, I will also be bringing this matter to the attention of every elected official I can send an email to.

Filed Dec 28, 2005 · Engine · 92,000 miles · MN

1999 ford expedition - blow spark plug out of number 3 cylinder. Result is loss of power and very poor drivability at low speeds. Also, gas smell from leading injector in now open cylinder. Fortunately I was not towing when the plug blew, or the loss of power could have resulted in an unsafe situation. Ford dealer recommends replacing the cyl. Head ($3,000), doesn't acknowledge any defect that ford has authorized. Several other mechanics indicate this is a common problem on this engine, deals with insufficient number of threads to hold the plug in the aluminum head.

Filed May 12, 2004 · Engine · 68,000 miles · DE

While driving to myrtle beach I heard a loud bang under the hood.I had the truck towed to a ford dealer where they told me the spark plug blew out of the cylinder head.I have read many complaints about this issue on the internet. I feel this is a safety issue due to the strong smell of gasoline when this happens.ford said they will do nothing and it will cost me 3600.00 to fix this. Who says even after replacing the head it wont happen again and again. I am disgusted with the whole thing. I think ford should step up to the plate and fix this problem.