My f-150 ford pickup truck engine made a loud pop and a series of pop noises after that in taneytown, md on 4/28/06. Pulled over to side of road and shut engine off. Opened hood and did not see anything, but smelled gas. Started engine and saw a coil and wire flapping up and down. Purchased new coil on 4/29, and attempted to replace. Found spark plug from cylinder on the laying on the top of engine block. I attempted to drive home, but 3 miles down the road, experienced same condition. Brought vehicle to crouse ford in taneytown, md. Internet searches show that there are a lot of vehicles with the same problem. I contacted private auto repair center to correct. This has cost me over $6,900 thus far. I honestly believe that there is a design defect and a safety issue that ford motor company should be responsible for. There are countless cases of this condition in the triton engines (from my research) from 1999-2002. I believe ford motor company should be responsible to me, its customers, and the other potential failures from their poor engine design. The head is manufactured from aluminum, and the spark plugs only have 4 threads which is not enough to hold under combustion pressure. Denial of this condition, in my option is consumer fraud. I am seeking reimbursement of total cost of engine replacement and all associated repair costs encountered from this negligence. I thank you in advance for any assistance you can provide.
2001 Ford F-150 engine complaints
Page 8 of 10: complaints 191 to 220 of 278, newest first, as owners wrote them.
While driving my 2001 f150 truck, the check engine light came on. I took my truck to the garage that does my auto work. They told me it was the egr pressure sensor. They replaced the sensor at a cost of $190.00. Later I found out that ford had issued a service bulletin to have the sensor replaced and they sent letters to the owners to bring their trucks in to have the sensor replaced. Since I am the second owner of the truck I did not receive the letter and since I had 119,852 miles on the truck ford would not fix it." ford knew of the defect, why should I have to pay to have a defective sensor replaced".
Spark plug ejected out of my engine while driving at 15 miles per hour in maryland. I mean it actually "blew out" of the head. Stripped the head and cracked the coil as well as the spark plug. I believe there is a design flaw on the aluminum head and the reduced number of threads on the spark plug. Ford dealers have advised me that the only fix is to install a new head of the same nature. Why would I want to replace a defective part with another potentially faulty part? This may cause a safety concern if I was driving faster in a larger volume of traffic. Two ford dealerships have advised me today that is not a design flaw I believe this maybe a larger problem based on my research and the manufacture should be investigated. This is close to consumer fraud in my mind.
Spark plug blowout. 2nd. Time.
While driving, the "service engine soon" light came on. I drove to the auto repair shop and it was determined it was the egr pressure sensor defect. I was told by the repair shop that he thought this might be a recall item on the ford f150. I searched for recall notices on my truck and contacted the local ford dealership. I was told that there was not a recall for the egr, but a technical service bulletin was issued and ford sent out letters to have customers come in a have item replaced because of numerous complaints. My truck was ineligible because I now have over 72, 000 miles. Ford will not honor the tsb at no cost and the repairs will cost over $250. Why is their a mileage requirement for a mechanical defect that ford has acknowledged?
I noticed a ticking sound coming from my engine, shortly afterwards it began to pop loudly after leaving an intersection and traveling about 10-15 MPH. I had the truck towed to a ford dealer and was later informed that a spark plug had blown out and caused considerable damage ($4200-$5400!).
My 2001 ford f150 recently ejected a spark plug. I have had an ongoing problem with this truck, having it in the repair shop numerous times. Approx. 2 weeks ago during normal driving, the engine blew a spark plug completely out. I received an estimate from a ford tech. Of approx. $2000. I have purchased a kit to repair this myself. The company made the kit specifically for ford triton engine repairs, which shows this is a major problem. I estimate the total cost of my repair will be over $1000.
I have a 2001 ford f150 with a 4.2l v6 engine and at 97,500 miles it started to leak antifreeze. A mechanic told me that it is a problem that he has seen in many f150 trucks with the 4.2l v6. He said that the lower intake gasket as well as the timing cover gasket have to be replaced to fix this problem.
Took truck to dealer after hearing low end ticking sound and mil light, told it was tensioner and manifold spacer. Picked up truck 8 days later and still had problem, returned and told by head mech. That it was a normal sound. Drove home and it was missing badly. Returned was told had a bad plug, truck is still ticking and loudly. Dealer washed hands of problem.
Dt: the consumer's vehicle was at a red light and heard a loud popping noise from the underneath the hood. Upon acceleration the vehicle began to shake. The consumer pulled over to inspect the vehicle and discovered a spark plug was lying on top of the engine. The consumer later drove the vehicle to a repair shop. The mechanic inspected the vehicle and consulted a ford dealer. The mechanic used a heel coil to resolve the problem as suggested by the ford dealer. The vehicle could not be completely repaired due to a lack of tools to set the timing chain on the vehicle. Ford did not have these special tools available to the public. No further repairs could be made by the mechanic at this time. *ak (12/02/05)
Our ford f150 has 46,000 miles on it. On friday the 14th my husband was driving down a residential street when he heard a loud banging under the hood. He pulled over right away and the engine died. He looked under the hood and could see that the distributor cap was broken and flopping around. He had a friend tow the truck to the friends residence so that the truck wouldn't be left on the side of the road. My husband then called a tow company to tow the truck 18 miles to a nearby dealership to examine the truck. We were told that the spark plug threads were stripped and that new heads would be required to repair our truck. We were also informed that our extended warranty did not cover this repair and that our bill would be approx $3,200.00. After the tow bill, parts, labor and rental car we are now up to $3,500.00 in expenses.
2001 ford f150 supercrew 5.4 liter triton v8 engine. On sept 16, 2005 my truck experienced a #7 spark plug blowout. The head was replaced. One month later, the other head experienced a spark plug blowout. It seems there are not enough threads to hold the spark plugs in the engine during normal operations. The engine only has 71,000 miles on it. At 60,000 miles, the ford service center replaced the spark plugs in accordance with the ford motor company manufacturer specifications and recommended maintenance schedule.
Dt: 2001 ford f150. The contact stated, on october 16, 2005 the spark plug flew out of his vehicle. The vehicle was not able to be driven at that time. It was pulled off the road and towed to a local shop. The mechanic did not know why this occurred. According to ford, they have not heard of this problem. The vehicle has not been fixed at this time. The head needs to be replaced as a result.
Dt: the contact owns 2001 ford f-150. There is a clattering sound coming from the engine. Upon inspection of the vehicle the dealer stated that the engine needed to be replaced. The reason for replacement was that there was a rod knocking in the engine. The manufacturer has not been contacted. *ak updated 11/16/05.
Dt: the consumer owns a 2001 ford f150. On 9-2-05 while driving on interstate he heard a loud pop and lost power, pulled over and found that a spark plug blew out of the engine. The consumer drove the vehicle to the dealership, they said that the engine head would have to be replaced and the cost would be over $3000. The consumer had it repaired at a cost of $33000. The consumer talked to several different dealerships and they offered no assistance. *ak (11/17/05)
I was in the parking lot of a store and when I went to start the truck it made a huge popping sound upon investigation I found that the spark plug shot out of the hole after contacting my ford dealership they informed me that this has been an ongoing issue with the 5.4 and v-10 motors the problem was the spark plug could only be installed using three threads and that they have corrected that problem and now when I fix the truck the new heads you will be able to go down 5 threads at the price of $1300.00 per head and the total cost of $3200.00 parts & labor.
The #3 spark plug blew out while accelerating from a stop sign. My small town mechanic said he is seeing 4-5 of these per year and blames a design defect in the triton 5.4 head. The head is too thin and made from aluminum so the threads strip out. The truck has 70,000 miles and the plugs are original. Ford has changed the head design but won't admit to the flaw. This could have been very dangerous.
Dt: while the consumer was driving a spark plug blew out on 7-30-05. When the consumer took vehicle to the dealership put the spark plug back in its place. The problem has not occurred again. The service engine light came on and the engine was running rough. Other than the above entioned problems the consumer had no other trouble with the vehicle. The consumer believed the problem was with the engine.
Have 2001 ford f150 supercrew 5.4 engine with 51k miles. Accelerated to enter highway and heard loud "pop", then lost engine compression and heard loud un-muffled engine noise eminating from the engine compartment. Having a fair knowledge of cars, I thought I blew the head gasket, but upon inspection by a local dealer (cosway ford in stafford, nj) was told I blew a spark plug and it is not a covered item under my extended warranty. The service tech seemed to know right away what the problem was when I described it, leading me to believe this is a very common problem. As I gathered, upon researching the internet, this is more than common, it is a manufacturer defect in the aluminum cylinder heard. I am 33 years old and have been around cars for a long time and have never heard of this problem. I bought the truck new and babied the vehicle. It seems this problem is limited to those year 5.4's that use the flawed 4-thread cylinder head, as to why in 2003 ford changed the design to 8-threads. Please help force ford motor company to fess up and recall these vehicles. I understand it can happen again. This repai will be costing me $501.80, plus the rental of a car (was far from home on vacation).
I own a 2001 ford f150 4.6 lter and at approximately 105,000 miles #3 spark plug blew out of the head. Ford attempted to replace the plug and again it blew out. I fixed it with a helicoil myself as the expense was $3000 for the dealership to fix. Recently with 121,000 miles it was running rough and when the dealership went to replace the spark plugs they dropped something into cylinder #7. The mechanic started the engine and now have an inoperable vehicle that they are refusing to fix.
Spark plug getting blown from the head, damaging the head in a 5.4l ford f-150. Repair was done by myself, using a big-sert repair kit from time-sert. This was the second time it has happened.
Well at first my 2001 f-150 superscript at 55000 miles started to lag, when I would press the gas it would take a long time to pick up speed or change gears. Then one day I was driving home from work going about 55 MPH when I hear a loud pop, I let go of the gas pedal because it really scared me I had to regain control of my vehicle once I did I tried pressing on the gas and it wouldn't go anywhere so I decided to pull over and have to towed to a ford dealership, it was there that they told me it was going to cost me 2500 hundred dollars to fix. Now I have to wait two weeks until it gets repaired.
On or about 4/21/05 I was driving my 2001 ford f-150 taking my son and nephew to school. As I made a right turn at the school my engine stalled. I lost all stering control and had just enough brake power to slow the vehicle. I put the truck in neutral and started the truck. I took it to my local ford dealer and they replaced the air intake control valve. About 2 weeks later at the exact same spot and time the engine again stalled on me. Again, I lost all stering and had just enough brakes to slow so I could put the truck in neutral and start the engine. My ford dealer is telling me they can not find the problem with it and stated I could pick the truck up and drive it if I wanted to. Not wanting to have myself or my family killed in a car crash I told them no and that they needed to fix the truck. They agreed to try and fix the truck. I understand that you may not be able to help me with this next issue but if you can I would appreciate it. While they try to find the problem with my truck they have the right to keep my truck for 30 days and I would have to rent a car. At $20 per day for 30 days that would cost me $600. I can not afford this as ford refuses to lend me a car. Thank you. Robert r. Hernandez
While driving at approximately 30 MPH engine made a ping noise. It sounded as if something broke. Owner called for a tow truck and had the vehicle towed to the dealer. The vehicle was put on the diagnostic machine, and owner was informed that the spark plug ejected from the cylinder head that because it was made of aluminum, and if the spark plugs were tightened too much, or the spark plugs were cross threaded when installed they would be ejected.
2001 ford f150 caught on fire while parked.*mr
While parked for 24 hours vehicle caught on fire in the engine compartment where the cruise control cable was located. Owner was able to put the fire out.
My 2001 ford svt f-150 lightning blew a spark plug out of the cylinder head of the engine. There was no prior warning to this happening. When this happened the vehicle was undrivable and I was forced to have it towed. Ford towing was unable to get the vehicle until the following day so I was forced to pay for the tow out of my pocket. The first dealership I went to said they wouldn't fix the truck under warranty. The second dealership that it went to was able to cover the repair under warranty. This entire incident happened why I was on vacation. I am a soldier returning from iraq and I was forced to spend a week in a hotel room why they waited on parts to fix my vehicle. After the vehicle was fixed I was sent on my way and two hours later the vehicle had more problems. Several other small components were also damaged and I was forced to stop again. This was also covered under warranty. I thought that this was unheard of, but as it turns out is very common to the ford triton v-8 engines. I am one of thousands that this has happened to and I feel fortunate that I wasn't left stranded in an unsafe area.
Vehicle was parked inside of the garage and it caught on fire. The driver called the fire department to extinguish the fire. No injuries reported. Vehicle was towed, and totaled by the insurance company.
This is a 2001 ford svt lightning that has been a victim of a blown spark plug. This is a common failure in these triton motors. In the new groups, it is speculated that this occurs for two reasons. 1) a design error in the cylinder head. In the pre-2003 5.4 mod motor heads, there are a total of 4 threads. Ford has realized this problem and corrected the 2003-later heads with 8 threads to hold the spark plug in. This problem effected all triton 5.4 motors and the problem has shown up in 5.4 liter motors in other non-lightning trucks and expeditions. 2) there have been many instances where ford customers have found that the spark plugs have been very loose in these triton heads. This is not known whether this is from a lack of threads or being loose from the factory. Either way, in this day and age in automotive technology, the requirement that a customer has to check the torque on spark plugs is unrealistic. Other factors to consider: my lightning is a 2001 model with 15,000 miles on it. Obviously it is infrequently used. There is a performance chip that does not add boost. In essence, this truck is pampered. The head failure occurred during normal driving on a slight incline go the speed of traffic. Approximately 35 MPH. There is no detonation issues with this vehicle. Prior to this failure the power train had no chronic issues such has unknown supercharger noises, engine ticks/knocks, ignition, fuel issues or smoky exhaust. Ford will not cover this damage and failure even thought this happens frequently in f-150 ford trucks running this engine.
2001 ford f150 crew cab. 4.6 v8 has a leaky head gasket. Ford is aware of the problem because there is a service bulliten. Artical no.03-6-2 dated 03/31/03. I feel if there are many like this why is there not a recall.
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