2002 Ford F-150: engine knocking or ticking

Filed Apr 13, 2009 · Engine · 117,000 miles · MI

Leading up to the spark plug being blown out of my ford f-150 with a 5.4 l motor, I heard a distinct ticking sound that resembled an exhaust manifold leak. Driving on the highway around 75 miles per hour, two hours into my drive the tick became louder and finally a pop came from under the hood. I then pulled over and left the truck idling. Looking under the hood I see the coil over pack vibrating a lot and then I shut the truck off and unplugged the coil over pack and out came the coil over pack and attached a spark plug. The coil over pack was broken due to the force of the plug being blown out. I am now in the process of towing my truck home which is 3 hours to do the repair necessary to fix the problem. To fix the problem I am looking to install a thread insert in hopes of saving a lot of money. This is the cheaper easier way to fix it for I do not want to replace the head myself nor do I want ford's investing thousands to replace it.

Filed Nov 4, 2008 · Fuel system · 125,000 miles · LA

On 11/1/08 I was driving and heard loud pop from my engine. Upon further investigation I saw that the spark plug in the seventh cylinder of my 2002 f150 5.4 triton had blown out of the head and broke the coil. This was preceded by a ticking noise that almost sounded like a exhaust manifold leak. I personally changed my plugs at 100,000 miles and the truck currently has about 125,000 miles on it. While on the internet researching the problem I realized that I'm not alone and this is a nation wide problem with the f150. At this point my truck is sitting in the driveway because the dealership is charging at least $2000 dollars to replace the head. I am researching a cost effective alternative to replacing the parts at this time.

Filed Feb 10, 2007 · Acceleration · 50,000 miles · TX · fire

2002 ford f150 supercab burned up in my driveway at 5 am in the morning. The vehicle had not been driven for a day and a half. We were woken up by the car alarm and two loud bangs. The truck was fully engulfed and was on fire next to the house and fence and 2 other cars. Thank goodness the truck wasn't in the garage or parked forward in the driveway. The fence was destroyed and the two vans damaged by flames. The truck was a total loss. Fire department stated that it was a faulty cruise control device. Not driven for almost two days and the cruise control almost killed my family??? Now we are out thousands even with insurance covering part of the loss. Nothing would have replaced the lives of my family had the house gone up. Ford knows this problem is a ticking time bomb and makes very little effort to save lives.

Filed Dec 3, 2005 · Engine · 56,000 miles · TX

2002 f-150, 5.4l - 56,000 miles on truck. Spark plug ejected from cylinder head. Heard loud pop - experienced loss of power - pulled over - got towed to dealer. Dealer diagnosed problem - said cylinder head would have to be replaced - engine would have to be removed for fix - estimate of over $3,000 - would not do any kind of insert (helicoil) fix. Called and complained with ford customer service - dealer agreed to give me 10% discount - still cost me over $3,100 plus towing and rental vehicle. Plugs were original from factory - had never been touched. Had been hearing a slight ticking noise for a few days prior to incident. Internet research has revealed several other complaints of this type for f-150, f-250, expedition from 1999-2002. Cylinder heads reported to have only 4 threads for plug. Apparently ford changed cylinder head in 2003 to an 8-thread plug design.

Filed Nov 17, 2005 · Engine · 59,000 miles · AK

Right before the failure I was sitting at a stop sign. As I began pulling a way I heard a single loud popping sound followed by a complete loss of power and popping and ticking. I stopped the truck immediately -- I never made it out onto the cross street. The plug blew out of the head --blown plug. Ford has offered to replace the head for a cost of $3900.00.

Filed Oct 25, 2005 · Airbags, Seat belts · IL · crash · fire

2002 ford f150 air bag deployed during an accident. The air bag knocked the consumer out of the vehicle completely knocking the and gave him chemical burns. *ts the consumer was wearing his seat belt when the accident occurred.