Thru manufacturer defect (which ford is aware of) a headgasket seal may fail in their triton engines due to defective manufacturing and quality control.. Said failure of gasket constitutes (due to location of failure) a significant risk of fire caused by exhaust system which is in close proximity
1999 Ford F-150 engine complaints
Page 2 of 9: complaints 11 to 40 of 246, newest first, as owners wrote them.
I was cruising along the highway at approx. 68 MPH, then I heard a loud pop. Then immediately after sounded like I was driving without an exhaust manifold almost. Once I felt that I had lost a lot of power I then realized what happened. I was luckily 2 miles away from a town and babied it into a store parking lot. Upon looking under the hood I found the sparkplug ejected from cylinder #3 and busted the ignition coil. Now what if I was int the middle of nowhere with my wife and daughter? Worse yet what if the vehicle had caught on fire with them as well? Due to fuel vapor spitting out the sparkplug bore and getting ignited from the loose ignition coil. I myself and others have been fortunate that these things did not happen, but I can't say for everyone. This is a very big issue that has been ignored and is a potentially huge safety hazard as well.
Ford f150 blew a spark plug out of the 7th cylinder while driving home from work. Our local mechanic said this was a common problem with fords mostly after 100k miles. The head on the drivers side threads are to damaged and that the cylinder head has to be replaced. Total cost of 1800.00
Engine blew a spark plug out of the head destroyed the coil and threads on head.
When backing up after my f150 has been sitting about 2 days I have no brakes unless I rev up the engine for about 20 sec to build up pressure in the electric vacuum brake booster. Have almost hit my wife's car if I forget to let it sit to build up pressure. I have contacted my ford dealer and they won't do anything about it because I am past the warranty. I am going to have to replace it myself because this is unsafe condition and ford won't repair it. Also my truck loses power sometimes when accelerating and ford stated that the turbo chargers are sometimes sucking in water that shuts down one side of the engine to prevent damage to the turbo chargers. There fix is to put a shield or longer tube on it to prevent this. Again because it is over the warranty period they won't do anything. Very disappointed in my f-150 3.5 ecoboost and won't be buying another one.
This is the third time the engine has blown out a plug. I do not know the dates of the other two times, my mechanic can probably look them up. This is obviously a huge problem that many people have. I have paid about $1200 to have the three blown spark plugs fixed. Since this is an inherent problem with ford engines I feel they should reimburse all costumers, this should not be happening. I am just waiting for the next one to go, when I hear the familiar sound, call my mechanic and lose a few more hundred dollars. Come on ford, do the right thing!
Traveling at highway speed,the spark plug was blown from the head . The engine spewed fuel out of the hole and I thought a fire might occur at any second. Many people have had this exact problem with this engine and many more will. This occurs because the head is aluminum and the spark plugs are steel and only thread in to 3 or 4 threads. Terrible design flaw.
Spark plug ejected from cylinder head at highway speed.
Tl* the contact owns a 1999 ford f-150. The contact stated that fuel fumes emitted into the vehicle and the check engine light illuminated on the instrument panel. The toll booth attendant informed the contact that flames were coming from under the front drivers side of the vehicle. The contact exited the vehicle and immediately after flames engulfed the drivers side burning the interior. The police report was filed and no injuries were reported. The vehicle was towed. The manufacturer was not contacted. There was no diagnostic test completed on the vehicle. The failure and current mileage was 200,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 1999 ford f-150. The contact stated while driving 30 MPH he heard a popping sound in the engine, followed by loud, repetitive clicking or popping sounds. The contact pulled over to examine the failure and the number 4 cylinder had fractured, the spark plug also blew out of its proper position. The contact took his vehicle to the closest independent mechanic. By the time the contact reached the mechanic the vehicle was overwhelmed with a strong persistent odor of used gasoline. The mechanic stated the number 4 cylinder spark plug did blow out. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer and dealer have not been alerted. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 190,000.
Pulled up to stop light to make a left turn-sat at light 2 minutes-put foot on gas pedal to turn and the engine died tried to restart- would not start-theft light was flashing fast-was pushed out of intersection-went to call tow truck- came back -tried to start and it started-was able to drive home a short distance-parked for tow truck to pick up.-started 3 times at my house but die if turned on and off about 10 times.
Tl* the contact owns a 1999 ford f-150. The contact stated that while driving 30 MPH, the vehicle began to shake abnormally and stalled. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 180,000.
Car had been parked since 6:00 pm thursday evening. Discovered smoking at 6:45 am friday morning. Fire started in engine driver's side. Car was total loss. Fortunately a neighbor moved the car away from the house before it erupted in flames. Research on line indicates that there are numerous fire incidents because of faulty scd (cruise control) switch. Car being driven by son of original owner. No awareness of recall.
While driving at 70 MPH the vehicle started to lightly tick then I pulled over to the side of the road and the motor began to loudly knock I took it to my mechanic and he told me this was a common problem that ford has had with these motors with thousand accounts were this has happened and ford has neglected to take care of there loyal customers I am a 20 yr old college student and I can barely afford the home I live in right now I bought this truck in the good faith that ford had honored the picture they had set for this truck that it was a reliable running vehicle but as I have found out unfortunately like many others have also it isn't this is caused by either a timing belt gasket failing or multiple spots in the intake manifold failing causing the motor to have coolant leaked into the cylinders and causing the motor from a rod knock to the motor becoming completely hydro locked I am 150 miles from my school on christmas break stuck here because my truck was not what it was supposed to be thank you and I hope that something can be done about this because after reading page after page and website after website of people that are also left stranded just like my self and cannot afford this because of a cheap short cut flaw ford neglects to own up to we can all handle this like grown ups and finally get the product we all should have in the first place instead of a recurring flawed motor thank you [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
Spark plug blows out of engine without warning with an loss of power.
Tl* the contact owns a 1999 ford f-150. The contact was standing in front of the vehicle when she noticed smoke coming from under the hood. She opened the hood and discovered that the engine was on fire. The fire was extinguished. The vehicle was towed to the dealer for diagnosis. The dealer stated the spark plugs started the fire. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure and the current mileage was 150,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 1999 ford f150. The contact started the vehicle and heard a popping noise coming from under the hood. The contact then inspected the vehicle and found that the spark plug was spewed from the engine . The vehicle was towed to the dealer. The dealer stated that the spark plug needed replacing. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and advised that the vehicle was not under recall. No further assistance was provided. The failure and current mileage was 112,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 1999 ford f-150. The contact stated that the exhaust manifold started breaking away from the vehicle. The contact took the vehicle to a mechanic and was informed that the bolts holding the manifold in place had rusted and broken off. The contact was also informed that this was a common failure. The failure mileage and current mileages were 291,000.
Started the truck up an blast off! Dont know where the plug went but it was gone after I heard a loud bang. *kb
Cylinder 5 spark plug blew out while driving, wrecking the threading in the spark plug hole and the coil.
In may was at a stop light when the light turned green I accelerated and the plug blew at seconds later I got it towed to the shop fixed it with the heli-coil kit days later as I was going up a steep hill heard a popping sound brought it right to the shop another plug was ready to eject they pulled all plugs anti seized them good for a couple months now in sept it is ready to lose another plug. My truck is a 1999 ford f-150 triton.
I purchased my 1999 ford f-150 4x 4 with a triton 5.4 v-8 engine used. The engine had approximately 140,000 when I purchased it. I only drive it to and from work in las vegas, nv (approximately 25 miles round trip) at speeds below 50 MPH. The engine blew the back plug at 163,000. Because it was the back plug the labor to repair was high (pull the engine). The difference in putting helicoils (all eight plugs) in and a new engine was not that much difference so I order a long block full engine from ford with stipulations it corrected the design flaw. The engine cost almost $7000 when all was done and complete. Ford warranty the engine 3 years and 75,000 miles. I figured this corrected the issues with the spark plugs blowing out. Well at the 4 year point and approximate 25,000 miles the new engine blew a plug. Ford and the dealer (whom we purchased the engine from) say it is our problem. The dealer (parts manager) actually said since I was not a frequent customer and had purchased the truck used they did not see a way to help. I have researched this issue on the internet and believe it is design flaw in the head. I am in the process of having steel inserts put in all of the spark plug holes so I might get use out of a hefty investment in a motor with a known issue which ford will not back. I own a ford crown victory, a mercury marquis ls, and the f-150 truck . . . These are the last vehicles I will own from ford.
Have had a spark plug ejected twice now within 3000 miles. After some research this seems to be a common problem with some ford engines. It was actually pretty scary due to the strong odor of gas afterwards with the engine being so hot. It now seems like its going to be a costly problem to fix. Even worse, the fix is no guarantee that it won't happen to the replacement cylinder heads.
I own a 1999 ford f-150, 5.4l v-8 triton. I recently had a tune up in december 2010 with all eight spark plugs and wires changed out for a mere $700. In feb 2011, as I was taking my children to school, I heard a loud pop then my engine started to sound like a tractor without a muffler on it. I pulled over and called wrecker to return the truck to my house, out of pocket $60, not knowing anything about engines. I called the repair center who then had it transferred back to their shop for repair. The #8 plug had completely shot out ripping the coil with it. They fixed that, now two weeks later, the #7 plug is fouled according to the mechanic. This is a major safety concern and a financial burden, as I read other statements of the same defective issues with ford, considering fire could have been a result. Please re-open this investigation and force ford to issue recall so that those of us who are financially strapped can have our trucks repaired. Otherwise I can assure that I will never buy ford product again.
While driving 45mph on suburban two lane highway I heard a loud bang and subsequent rhythmic popping sound accompanied by an engine misfiring. Upon inspection I found the # 4 cylinder spark plug lying on the valve cover; un attached to the cylinder head. The mechanic found the threads "blown out" of the head and had to utilize a heli-coil kit to repair. The spark plug was a motorcraft original equipment part. This seems to be a prevalent problem with the triton 5.4 liter engine. I suspect the problem originating from undue stress fractures in the aluminum head after continued use and inherent thermal differential rates (expansions/contractions) of the two different metals; I.e. Steel spark plug vs. Aluminum alloy head. Poor engineering !! I am the original owner of the f150 with 140k miles.
1999 ford triton 5,4l. #2 sparkplug thread failure. The sparkplug was blown out of head and ignited a small fire under the hood.
Ford f-150 5.4l triton engine - blown out spark plug...plug ejected from the engine while - smoke, minor fire...
Tl* the contact owns a 1999 ford f-150. The contact stated that since 2007, four spark plugs worked their way out of the head and blew out the cylinder. Each time, he would install a new plug and ignition coil. The vehicle had not been inspected or repaired by an authorized dealership. The contact had not spoken with the manufacturer at the time of the complaint. The current mileage was approximately 145,000. The failure mileage was approximately 110,000
Tl*the contact owned a 1999 ford f150. The contact stated that after driving 1/4 mile and then parking the vehicle near the garage the truck caught fire while it was turned off. The fire department was called and extinguished the fire. There were no injuries. The vehicle was destroyed. Ford has not been contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 120,000. Updated 09/16-10 *bf updated 09/20/10*jb the consumer stated the fire started under the hood. Prior to the fire, the battery light illuminated. Updated 09/20/10.*jb updated 08/01/11 *bf the consumer stated the fire started under the hood. The fire dept. Did not know what caused the fire. Six days before the fire, the battery light illuminated. The consumers husband had the vehicle inspected and everything checked out fine. Updated 08/02/11
I noticed a ticking noise which sounded like an exhaust manifold leak for the past few days and just today I was taking off from a stop sign when the spark plug blew out of the head creating a loud knocking/ticking noise. I have not had it fixed yet, but from what I understand this can create engine fires which can be a major safety hazard.
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 1999 Ford F-150?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history