2001 Ford F-150: misfire or rough idle

Filed Nov 7, 2014 · Engine · 150,000 miles · MN

We have a ford f150 crew cab with a 5.4 triton motor. I was putting it in reverse to drive away and there was a strange popping sound. I instantly shut it off and opened the hood. My father examined it for me and stated the number 3 spark plug had ejected itself, cracking the coil as well. We had to have a helicoil kit installed in order to have threads for the new plug. The truck still is not running properly. This has cost approximately $300 so far, and there is more work that will have to be done since it still sputters and runs rough. This is a well known problem by the ford dealership, as I have researched it on the internet but ford refuses to take responsibility for the poorly manufactured triton motor. Fires can start when they pop out as well. This is a dis-service to the public who have unknowingly bought these vehicles and get stuck with huge repairs due to the design of the motor. I am disgusted that there is not a recall. Ford must be held responsible for all these repairs! There is a huge injustice happening by allowing ford to walk away from the responsibility. A recall before deaths happen would be the responsible thing to do! Lemon laws should apply to the triton motors by ford! If I had known this was happening we would never ever have purchased this vehicle! Shame on the ford company!!! Get the recall set into motion to compensate all the people who bought these dangerous pieces of crap!

Filed May 19, 2011 · Engine · 31,000 miles · MA

I have a 2001 ford f-150 lightning with roughly 31,000 miles on it. Three weeks back I was turning into my neighborhood at 5 MPH, and I head a popping sound, and the truck begins to run roughly. I immediately pull over, and pop the hood, I smell gasoline. I shut the truck off. Call a tow truck to my ford dealership. There they tell me that the spark plug has shot out of the cylinder head, stripping the aluminum head. I get the bill for repair in which they re-bore the head, and install a heli coil at a cost of $560 plus labor. The dealership tells me this should in fact strengthen the cylinder, so I continue normal operation of the vehicle tuesday 5/17/11, I was driving on route 290 in worcester when all of a sudden at 70 MPH the heli coil pops out causing me instantly lose power. In an effort not to damage the vehicle further I put it in neutral, and coast to the break down lane of a three lane highway and proceed to call aaa to get a tow. Once back at the ford dealership the tech tries to do the same thing, and re-bore the head to install another heli coil. He does and takes it for a test drive. The heli coil that he just installed blows. Now they are telling me that I need a new cylinder head. A $1600 part, plus 19 hours of installation costing $3600 in total. This as I have been told by the dealership and upon hours of research, is a common problem with the 1999-2003 ford 5.4l triton engine. This is a factory ford defect, they did not drill the appropriate threads for the spark plugs. Now it has happened to me twice, this very easily could have gotten me hurt on the highway, or could have set fire to my vehicle since gasoline from the cylinder was spilling onto the hot engine block, directly next to the fuse box, there a current runs through. I have spoken to ford and there is no recall on this. A factory defect, that is costing me almost $4000, through nothing but careful care of the vehicle.

Filed Mar 27, 2011 · Electrical · IA

Over 100 thousand miles the 2001 ford f150 cylinder 6 misfires replace and still misfires after 4 months. This is a common problem that shakes vehicle and makes it unstable in driving and acceleration. Also creates loss in fuel economy. And also can provide the following web address of people complaining of this follow web address of others affected by this. This is one side of 400 sites of people complaining. Http://www.topix.com/forum/autos/ford-f-150/t1bo1cb5bhpb0t4mu.

Filed Jan 14, 2011 · Engine · 128,098 miles · ID

Tl* the contact owns a 2001 ford f150. The contact was driving approximately 46 MPH when the engine began to sputter with low engine power. In addition, the engine exhibited a rough idle when sitting idle at a complete stop. The failure occurred frequently. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 128,098.

Filed Apr 20, 2010 · Engine · 40,000 miles · NC

Tl*the contact owns a 2001 ford f150. The contact stated when starting the vehicle the engine would exhibit a continuous increase and decrease in engine rpms. While driving at speeds of at least 20 MPH, the engine would idle tremendously loud and the check engine light illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken to a local mechanic he performed an oil change. The failure persisted and the vehicle was taken to a second mechanic. The mechanic replaced the mass sensor however; the repair did not correct the failure. The mechanic then advised cylinder three had misfired. The failure had not yet been corrected to date. The failure mileage was 40,000 and the current mileage was 62,052.

Filed Oct 4, 2004 · Engine · 47,000 miles · VA

My truck developed a vibration and began to have trouble accelerating. Sometimes it would shake violently at idle. I brought it to my dealer and had a technician ride with me. He felt the shuddering and said my engine was misfiring. The coil pack and plug (I believe #1) had to be replaced. This, of course, occurred just after my truck was out of warranty (47k miles). An employee told me she had the same thing happen to her truck after she bought it used.

Filed Feb 13, 2003 · Engine · 10,000 miles · VA

Re: 2001 ford svt lightning my vehicle violently ejected a spark plug from the engine's head, while merging on a highway on-ramp. Upon failure, the vehicle obviously started misfiring, bucking, and was a handful when pulling over to side of the road. Ford only used 4 sets of threads on their lightining heads from 1999 to early 2003. Conventional heads typically use between 8 and 10 threads to hold a plug, but ford designed their heads with only 4 threads on many modular 5.4-liter v8 motors too (not just the lightning). They have acknowledged that there is a problem, as they have changed the head design in early 2003 to a new part with 8 threads. But ford has not issued a recall for older lightnings (and other f-150's), even though this could be a potential safety problem (fire, loss of control, etc.). I have already had my head replaced with another inferior 4-thread design, and I wonder when the next plug will be blown from my engine. I would like to see the federal safety agency encourage ford to retrofit all affected vehicles as this is a common problem for many lightning owners.

Filed Nov 27, 2001 · Engine, Suspension · NV

Two days after truck purchase, reported to dealer truck has bad vibration, rough idle, pulls to the right, truck hesitates to go into gear, truck hesitates before shifting, engine knock and clunk in t-case area. Transmission has been replaced twice,road forced balance 4 tires,switched tires and wheels,front end alignment three times,torque converter replaced,crankshaft pully replaced,dampers installed for vibration. All problems still exist. Ford has offered to buy back the truck but they will not give me all of my money back.