2002 Ford F-150: sudden loss of power

Filed Jun 17, 2022 · Engine · GA

1. Coils on top of spark plug get moisture in them when there is just the right kind of rain storm. This makes the coil or coils fail until the dry out. This seems to make the coil eventually go bad. Yes, it is available for inspection. 2. Not sure if its a combination of heat and moisture but sometime right away and sometimes a few minutes into driving the coil or coils fail and the engine loses power. Then if seems to be a random, unpredictable occurrence until it dries out, Very Unsafe. If one coil fails it loses just a little power, but if more than one fails it loses a lot of power and stalls at times. This is why I am writing it up. A few time now, I have gone to pull into traffic and then I lose power and either have to run off the road or just upset the car behind me if they are not too close. 3 & 4. I have advise all the Ford dealerships in my area trying to find one that has a fix yet. The only fix Ford has, is a new designed coil, which does not appear to be any better. The dealership just replaces the coil. I have had all my coils replaced, some 2 or 3 times. 5. It depends, sometime the engine light will come on and advise which coil is misfiring and sometimes if does not. Right now my engine light is on and it displays the #6 coil misfire. Then the engine light will go out after it dries out and stops failing or it will stay off if the coil had gone bad again. I am sure its not just the F 150, but the 4.6 liter engine that is in other vehicles. I started keeping track in 2012. I wrote a letter to Ford in 2015 and they replied, there was no recall. I have several repair receipts and the letter from Ford if you need that. Just search on your site and you will see many complaints. One example Manufacturer Communication number: 041601. If you google "ford fix for moisture in coils" you will see many forums trying to figure out a fix and just complaining.

Filed Feb 20, 2016 · Engine · 139,000 miles · VA

About 6months ago, cruising about 60mph; heard a "pop", lost engine power, engine light on,...pulled over and discovered #3 cylinder missing the spark plug and the cop broken. Had it towed home (approx 25miles); went online and discovered it's a systemic problem with many other ford v8-v10 1997-2003 motors.

Filed Feb 15, 2013 · Engine · 85,000 miles · KY

While driving down the road, spark plug blew out of cylinder head. Original plugs in engine so not a question of improper torque as ford contends. Ford even has a name for the issue = "spark plug ejection". Improper design caused immediate loss of power in traffic on highway during rush hour. Had to coast to side of road. Potential for fire due to unburned fuel vapors escaping cylinder bore into engine compartment which now had spark coil exposed due to failure.

Filed Sep 28, 2010 · Engine · 99,149 miles · KY

On september 28th 2010 I was driving from indianapolis, in to louisville, ky on a very busy I-65 interstate. At approximately 4pm I heard a very loud pop and lost all power. I could hear a very loud banging noise and at first I thought I blew a tire. I immediately tried to get from the fast lane to the emergency lane but with as many cars on the road this was difficult. I finally made it to the emergency lane and turned my flashers on. When I got out of my vehicle I checked for a flat tire but that was not the issue. I restarted the truck and lifted the hood of my engine. I noticed that one of my coil power packs was at a weird angle. When I went to check if it was still attached the compression of my number 2 cylinder blew the spark plug the rest of the way out of the engine and hit my hood very narrowly missing my head. The coil was also destroyed by the force of the spark plug coming out of the cylinder. My truck is a 2002 ford f-150 with less than 100k miles. This is a very dangerous issue that needs to be corrected.

Filed Aug 25, 2010 · Engine · 95,800 miles · KY

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 ford f-150. While driving approximately 3 MPH, the vehicle exhibited a loud pop from the engine as the vehicle began to lose power. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer where he was informed that a spark plug fractured from the engine and tore an engine coil. The vehicle was in the process of being repaired. The VIN was unavailable. The failure and current mileage was 95,800.

Filed Jul 4, 2009 · Engine · 55,082 miles · TX

My 2002 ford f150 truck, with the 5.4 liter engine, has had 2 failures on 2 different occasions in the space of 8 months. Each time I was just driving down the highway and a spark plug was blown out of the head, along with the coil. (plug #3 the first time and #7 the last time.) this failure caused an immediate loss of power. Luckily the traffic was light each time, being late at night, so I was able to pull safely to the side of the road to determine the problem, whereas if the traffic had been heavy, it could have caused a major accident because of the immediate power loss to the engine, and/or a fire due to it proximity to the injectors. The defects were repaired at the local ford dealership where the truck was purchased using a threaded insert into the old head and a new coil. Total cost for both repairs was approximately $600, at my expense. I have emailed ford motor company and they responded saying that because the vehicle was out of warranty and there were no recalls or customer satisfaction programs it would not be fixed by ford. I purchased this vehicle new and it has been meticulously maintained. I have searched the internet and have found that there are thousands of these engines with this problem. It is obvious ford knows of this defect in the heads and refuses to deal with it. If not by recall, it is obviously a factory defect and should be dealt with by ford as the incidents occur. This is a dangerous situation that should be looked into because of the immediate loss of engine power and possibility of fire.

Filed Mar 9, 2009 · Transmission · 115,000 miles · 00

I was driving on the highway home. All of a sudden a loud bang happened under the hood that was followed by a constant puffing sound. The truck lost power and started missing. All I could smell was gasoline. I pulled over to find a coil on plug sitting on top of engine, also had a spark plug sitting 7 inches away from cop. I was visited the ford dealership and was told that plugs are known to have come out of the engine and was not a new problem. They told me that ford was not fixing this problem, but had a ford approved way to fix the problem. The cost would be around 500 dollars for insert and around 3500 dollars for new heads witch is the only guarantee that this would prevent this from happening again. Ford plans not to recall this problem, they are fully aware that this heads has 4 threads holding the plug in, when they come lose the threads are destroyed from the pounding caused by the compustion process. This very dangerous, coil spark can ignited fuel sprayed in the engine compartment causing fire, lose of control and personal injury or death, depending on the circumstance. I have a family and they could have been seriously injured when this happened. Please do something to make this from happening to any one else, and before someone loses their life. The coil on plug os located under the fuel rail and has enough force to damage the fuel rail cause it break and spill gasoline all over the engine, which could cause an explosion. I had a insert installed and a new plug inserted was told there is no guarantee the spark plug would stay in.

Filed Nov 26, 2008 · Engine · 162,524 miles · MI

I was driving to pick up lunch one day from work and when I pulled out into traffic to head back I heard a loud pop followed by a loss of power and a sound that made me think the serpentine belt broke. The plug shot out of the head and broke a coil pack in half. I talked to the ford dealer that I get my parts at, and he told me it happens alot on 4.6 liters, 5.4 liters, and v-10 ford trucks so much that they stay well stocked on the parts that I needed to fix what ford doesn't consider to be a problem, the fix is a well greased, extra long 14 mm tap and helicoil, red locktite, spark plug, coil pack, and any other bits and pieces the plug destoys on its way out, from the reports I'm reading I got lucky thtat it was just my coil that took the brunt of it, I've talked to some people around the area and they see any where from 2 to 4 per week, and on top of that there was two people at my work that have had the same problem. We only have 18 employees. One was in a 5.4 and the other was a v10. The dealer told me there was no recall on the problem and that ford doesn't recognize it. The part will be repared and will not be avalible and just cost me more of my time and money doing stupid repares that are questionable at best.

Filed Aug 7, 2008 · Electrical, Visibility · 100,000 miles · MO

I have had the 02' f150 since december 07' and have had major problems with the windshield leaking. I have found that this is a common problem with in the 97' to 03' f150 models via ford forums and other internet sites as well as the local ford dealer repair shop who worked on my truck. This leak shorts out the fuse panel in the cab that causes the loss of power to equipment including the windshield wipers which is a safety issue when driving in inclement weather. The leak also tends to short out the instrument panel causing the computer to be unable to read what gear the truck is in. This causes the truck to not start and even shut down while driving which again is a safety issue while driving in any condition. This leak cost me $1500 dollars in repairs due to damage to the starter, relay, alternator, computer, fuse panel, and having to replacing the windshield. I was told by ford that this leak was not a safety issue and have only issued a special service bulletin! I can not understand how the windshield leak is not a safety issue yet a recall can be issued for fading paint?

Filed Apr 19, 2008 · Body, Electrical · 85,000 miles · WI

My vehicle has a water leak that is getting the gem module wet and this has resulted in the wipers failing, the power windows to fail, the heater fan stays on after the key is removed from the ignition, and the engine runs very rough and stalls resulting in me losing the power steering and putting the vehicle in a ditch, the wipers stopped working during a recent heavy rain and I had to pull onto the side of the interstate for over 30 minutes. Ford customer service claims they never heard of the problem but I found out they issued a technical service bulletin 98-9-13 to the dealers about this and also ford special message #15773 for this problem. The dealer wants over $1,100.00 to fix .this problem is in 1997-2002 ford f150 and expeditions. I feel that the loss of wipers and sudden loss of power steering and power brakes is a bigger safety hazard than the current recall on the cruise control.

Filed Mar 20, 2008 · Engine · 45,000 miles · NY

Driving 2002 ford f-150 and suddenly engine lost power and made popping sounds. This happened on very busy street nearly got rear-ended as power dramatically fell off. Checked engine and spark plug was blown out and coil was destroyed above the spark plug right underneath fuel rail. Stranded on side of busy road for 2 hours until vehicle was towed to dealer. Dealer had to use heliocoil and replaced coil costing approximately $600.

Filed Feb 24, 2007 · Engine · 69,000 miles · CA

My wife was driving in the car pool lane during rush hour traffic when the number three spark plug was ejected from the head of my 2002 ford f150 lightning. My wife loss power. It was a very dangerous situation to be in the car pool lane when losing power. I am a mechanic and a spark plug should not just eject itself. Luckily my wife was able to maneuver the truck over and off the freeway. Ford was contacted. They said they know of this issue with the spark plugs, but at this time it is the consumers responsibility to pay for the repairs. I feel it should be a recall. There has been thousand of complaints regarding this same issue and nothing has been done.