Driving the vehicle at a normal speed I started to lose power and the truck began to misfire.the problem had been known to ford, because our mechanic received an e-mail bulletin from ford directly. Which stated the problems with the f-150. I have copies of this bulletin. Needless to say I was fortunate that this did not occur on the highway because my son and I would have been killed. Because the truck just lost total power.
1998 Ford F-150 engine complaints
Page 2 of 7: complaints 11 to 40 of 187, newest first, as owners wrote them.
I was driving, and the truck started losing power, and sputtering, I finally got it to a mechanic and he found that there were 3 cracked coil pack assemblies. These were replaced and it runs fine. This could have been a bad deal if I had been in a situation pulling into traffic, crossing a rr track or something similar. This idea of individual coils on each spark plug is not a good idea, and dangerous. I realize there are a lot of miles on my truck, but this could happen at any time.
Tl* the contact owns a 1998 ford f150. The contact stated that while driving 35 MPH, the vehicle started to misfire and a loss of power to the accelerator pedal. The vehicle was taken to a mechanic who advised that water had entered where the spark plugs were located. The contact was advised that the spark plugs would need to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified who advised the contact that there were no recalls for the failure and offered no further assistance. The VIN was unknown. The failure mileage was 153,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 1998 ford f150. The contact stated that smoke was seen coming from under the hood area. The vehicle caught on fire and the contact extinguished the fire by throwing water on the vehicle. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for inspection or repairs. The manufacturer was contacted and provided no assistance. The failure and current mileage was 147,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 1998 ford f-150. The contact stated that while driving approximately 25 MPH, a strong odor of fuel emitted inside of the vehicle. There was also a loud ticking noise coming from the engine. The contact was able to maneuver to the shoulder of the road. The vehicle was then towed to the contact's residence. The contact stated that a spark plug dislodged from the cylinder head and he planned to take the vehicle to an independent mechanic for repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 150,000.
Had the 7 cylinder spark plug shoot out of the head and strip the threads.
Tl* the contact owns a 1998 ford f150. The contact stated that the manifold bolts were rotted, causing the exhaust to leak into the cabin. The dealer had not been notified. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to file a complaint. No repairs were performed. The current mileage was 110,000 and the approximate failure mileage was 90,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 1998 ford f-150. The contact stated that the engine caught on fire while the vehicle was parked and turned off. There were no injuries. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but the vehicle was not repaired. The exact cause of the fire was not determined. The failure and the current mileage was 188,000.
Failure was immediate, ford f150 fuel tank straps. While driving down the road apparently the tank straps gave way and the fuel tank dropped. Before coming to a stop and after catching some uneven pavement, fuel tank was pealed open and losing about 8 gallons gas. Fire dept was called and they cleaned up spill. Both straps broke and fuel tank is un-repairable. Updated 08/05/11 *bf the consumer stated he experienced other problems with the vehicle, such as a leaking power steering gear box, brake lines had to be replaced, there was a leak in the 4-wheel drive gear box, the muffler hangers, ball joints, tie rod ends and shocks all had to be replaced. Updated 08/11/1*jb
Tl* the contact owns a 1998 ford f-150. While driving 30 MPH, the contact heard an unusually loud knocking. The contact moved off the roadway to examine the noise. He discovered that the spark plugs had fractured and popped shot from under the hood. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where they advised that the spark plugs would need to be threaded and coiled. The spark plugs were replaced under at owners expense. The failure mileage was 85,000 and the current mileage was 144,000.
# 5 spark plug blew out of my 1998 ford f-150 5.4 ltr engine. Returning home from alabama. I had just gotten through charlotte, nc when I heard the sound of a very bad exhaust leak. When I stopped and lifted the hood I could see the coil pack bouncing up and down. I had to pay a tow truck operator $420.00 to tow me home. Took my truck to the local ford dealer for repairs just to find out that this problem is very common with the 5.4. It will cost about $300.00 or more to repair with a heli coil. (that's if it is repairable with a heli coil). Have not gotten the final bill yet. Also, forgot to mention that the plugs where replaced in november 2009 by the carlot garage which I purchased the truck from.
I am the unhappy owner of a 1998 ford f150 with a 4.2l v6 engine. It slung a rod this morning as soon as I started it. I did some research an found out that there was a recall on the 98 4.2l's due to faulty gasket. I've read alot of story's about the same trucks with the same engines. There is a countless number of people getting ready to spend 3 or 4 grand for ford to replace the engines. Isn't ford responsible for the defects that there trucks had coming off the production line.
04/17/2010 at approximately 4:00 am our ford f-150 xlt was parked and turned off in our driveway of a single dwelling home. We and neighbors heard multiple explosions that shook our house. The entire front end of the truck was already engulfed in flames shooting up 12+ feet. Fire department was called and responded immediately. When the fire was out the entire front half of the truck was gone, burnt into the fiberglass topper, blew out all but two back windows and melted all wiring back to the rear shell window. The only thing that remains is the back half of the truck and back tires.
New spark plugs were installed at 70,000 miles on my 1998 ford f150. A few weeks later a spark plug (cylinder #4) was ejected from its threads, causing gas vapors to fill the engine compartment and vehicle cabin. After the loss of power and the need to replace the spark plug (the spark plug seemed to be reinserted without problems), it seemed to run fine until 5 weeks later the engine lost power and another miss fire was recorded by the code reader. Now the check engine light remains on (code reader show cylinder #4 miss fire) with a loss of power. Now a helicoil kit will have to be install at a cost over $117. If the helicoil kit does not work, the vehicle may have to be sold for at fraction of what its value would be without the forementioned problems, otherwise it could be used as my regular driver- thanks ford!
I was driving my 1998 ford f-150 when I heard a loud bang and I pulled over to find the spark pug had blown out. Cylinder #3 original plugs.
Blown head gaskets, drove truck in town and parked in driveway, then would not turn over next day, radiator coolant in cylinders, no warning lights came on, engine oil ok, coolant level ok. Truck was running fine then this happened.
The exhaust header bolts on my 1998 f150 pickup rusted and failed. To replace these $2 studs, a lengthy repair is required where the heads have to be removed from the vehicle and the studs that have broken flush with the aluminum heads have to be drilled out. An internet search on this problem indicated that thousands of ford vehicles with the 5.4 engine and aluminum heads are affected. The exhaust leak fumes come into the vehicle and are a potential source of fire. I have read reports of repair bills reaching $2000. I'm collecting information on how to repair this myself as I do not have $2000 to give to the dealer. This is a design failure that should have triggered a recall.
I have a 1998 f150 pickup with a 5.4 engine that is known to have a defect in getting the #4 spark plug removed. This is a $1200 to $2200 repair that should be taken care by ford not the consumer. This plug has is suppose to be good for a 100k miles, I have 97k. All mechanics know this is a problem and they have to buy a special tool to try to remove this plug. Problem is if it doesn't work then they have take the engine apart to do this. This is were the problem lies. Ford is acting like it is not a problem and/or I should get over it because it is a 1998 out of warranty. A lot of people won't know this until they reach 100k miles and want to replace this plug. In all my years I have never seen or heard of a problem like this on any vehicle. The government needs to make this a mandatory recall so the consumer doesn't keep getting screwed for such a huge repair.
1998 ford f-150 muffler bolts sheared off on both sides. Consumer states that the muffler bolts came off of the engine sides. *nj the consumer stated the transmission was replaced at 90,866 miles, and the rear wheel bearing was replaced.
What isn't wrong with this truck? With less than 80,000 miles on it...spare tire fell off while being driven, interior lights randomly stay on, both doors are rusting out from the bottom, knob to regulate temperature fell off and assembly needed replacement, front brakes calipers stuck and caught on fire, exhaust system has rusted off twice, transmission went up and was replaced under warranty at less than 20,000 miles, radiator rusted through, and the headliner is falling down off the ceiling. I've probably missed something but can tell you that I will never own another ford.
Ford issued tsb 99-20-7 covering coolant leaks in 1999. I had not experienced this problem until may of 2008. The problem is that ford recognized this problem years ago failed to recall or inform the owners. The result with the vehicle out of warranty is a lower head gasket replacement costing $1500-2300 if the engine has not seized if the engine has experience hydrolock (engine seizure) replacement costs are more than $4000. There are literally hundreds of persons experiencing this problem. I'm including weblinks to review. Http://forums.treemedia.com/fb/showthread.php?t=224&page=1&pp=15.
When I woke up this morning at 7am, my 1998 ford f-150 was on fire in my driveway. It had been parked since approximately 10pm on the previous evening.
A spark plug popped out of the block in my 1998 triton 5.4 f-150. This is the first time it's happened and hopefully the last. Looking it the problem online I've realized it's a common occurrence. My wife and two kids were in this vehicle and with a hole in the block shooting out unburned gas to the live spark plug it could have been a real problem. This problem needs to be addressed in the form of a recall, if nothing else to inspect and if the problem does exist, fix it. Would an inspection really find the defect though? From what I've read it pretty much happens all at one because there is only four threads holding these plugs into the block. Hopefully the problem does get addressed sooner than later, it's never to soon to correct a problem dealing with the safety of human life.
I am one of the thousands of ford customers with a f150 4.2l v6 1998 that have a blown engine because of a leaky gasket. My truck has 92,000 miles on it, bought it used from a dealer in '05 with 72,000 miles on it. Ran great until I went to start it in the morning one day and white smoke poured out the tail pipe and it knocked like crazy. I have been saving for the past year and a half to get enough money to fix it, when I discovered that this is a problem that stretches across the board.
1. Normal driving conditions 2. I had 3 spark plugs and 3 coil ejections from cylinder head so far 3. Rethreading the cylinder heads with helicoil kits had to buy new spark plugs, and new coils I have one coil and spark plug.
I have a 1998 ford f150 with the 4.2 liter v6. This had been a great truck and has had regular oil changes. The other day I noticed that my coolant level was low and then the I threw a rod. Did not thick much of it at the time, but later I was checking on the internet and discovered that this is a recurring problem with this motor. I had been regular ford customer, but no more.
My 1998 ford f150 truck ejected a spark plug while driving at low RPM's. Numerous websites have stated the head design is flawed and only allows 3 threads to catch. Upon ejection of the spark plug the threads on the engine head are removed. Ford has a new designed aluminum head to omit the problem. Why hasn't it been made available through a recall? Not only is a safety issue, driving down the highway and suddenly losing power, but a bad design.
Spark plug blew out of cylinder head.
1998 f-150 5.4l triton I've owned this truck for 2 yrs. And put 30,000 miles on it. Currently at 124,000. Other than maintenance (not including spark plugs) have changed both cv shafts and bearings in the front. Feb. 3, 08 without any warning or precursor it blew a spark plug from the head stripping the threads. It occurred very quickly while coasting down hill at 55 MPH. Not hardly working the engine. I knew what it was immediately, I had been with a friend when his 2000 f 150 4.6l blew a spark plug for the second time in 6 months. This action almost stalled my truck out being at low RPM to begin with it rattled violently. I was afraid my 10 yr old brother and I would have to walk for help. Not fun in ny in feb. A passerby came to our aid. I had the truck towed home by a friend. Still trying to find a suitable and affordable repair. Thousands of these incidents have been reported to various websites, dealers, and even to ford. Some instances have resulted in fires destroying the whole vehicle. Ignited by a stray spark plug and fuel mist from the cylinder. Something must be done by ford. Most repairs run $2,000 - $4,000 each time a plug a spit. Many vehicles have under 100,000 miles.
My 1998 ford f-150 only had 76,000 miles on it and was well-maintained. On 12/30/2007. It had run a little rough at start up for about two weeks prior to 12/30/2007. Then on that day a loud knock in the engine. I took it to a mechanic who said that there was a history of the 4.2 engines having problems. And I would have to replace the engine. I have not done anything with it yet. I believe that ford should stand behind this engine. If they know it was a design problem to start with.
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