10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 0 / 8
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 0 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 133,675 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
I have a 2000 Ford F150 4X4 5.4 liter engine with now my second blown out spark plug. I paid a lot for the first spark plug repair. I know this is a Ford design problem - it is well-known. Is Ford compensating consumers for "their" problem" I only have 140,685 miles on this truck and do all the required maintenance myself and the specified intervals. If Ford is not standing behind their product then it is the government's repsonsibility to make them. I am retired and not able to repair this myself. Can you direct me to the right government department or are you it"
- Forest City, IA, USA
The contact owns a 2000 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, a loud noise was present coming from the engine compartment. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer griffith Ford located at 16 access hwy, caribou, me 04736 who diagnosed that the cylinder head was damaged and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 163,232.
- Van Buren, ME, USA
Takata recall, on my 2000 Ford F-150 it had very few issues till this occured. At just over 130,000 miles the engine began knocking on the interstate and progressively grew worse as I was looking for a exit, it started to lose power and I got it to the shoulder before it died. Later that day I had a tow truck pull it up to a trusted shop about 60 miles away. The mechanic there said that it droped a rod and the crankshaft was shot. After talking to him, he said that this is a fairly frequent occurrence. I took it to get a second opinion from another shop a few miles away and had the same conversation. Both mechanics and a few fourms on the internet said this is a problem with the 1998-2003 and 2004 heritage, that have the Ford 5.4 Triton 2V engine. At the mechanic the the truck was diagnosed as nonrepareable engine and would have to be swaped out for a diffrent one. The cost of this was for a rebuilt engine by jasper's becasue a donor truck engine would be prone to the same failure. The cost to replace would total out to be around $6500 between parts and labor including the new engine. Be wary of the Ford 5.4 2V engines, there are a few unicorns out there that will never have a problem, but most, even if they have regular maintenance like mine will be prone to this fate.
- Murfreesboro, TN, USA
In 2006, I changed plugs at 95,000 miles as a tune up. Six months later, while driving on the freeway, the #8 spark plug was ejected. Had it towed home, checked the threads and replaced the plug and coil. On April 6, 2017, at 134,000 miles, the same plug was ejected while driving on city streets again. This time I had to have it towed to a shop to install a helicoil repair. They warned me that the next failure would require a head removal, and significant cost. This is a very weak point in this design, Ford should be held accountable.
- Gig Harbor, WA, USA
The contact owns a 2000 Ford F-150. While driving 40 mph, a popping noise came from the engine and the vehicle began to drive roughly. After opening the hood, the contact discovered that the spark plug separated from the engine head. The cause of the failure was not diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 100,000. Updated 04/19/17
- Hamilton, OH, USA
Had driven approximately 5 miles parked in a lowes parking lot went into the store for about 45min. Only to come out to my truck on fire. The truck was completely off and no one was in it, and there are only 2 sets of keys one in my pocket and the other at home. The vehicle was locked. Prior to driving the 5 miles it had not been driven in 2 days. Ford says it's not there problem and insurance only wants to give us $3,700. My husband is a retired veteran and this whole situation has caused his ptsd to be triggered.
- Newnan, GA, USA
At approx. 2:22 am on the morning of 3/4/2016, the engine became engulfed in fire after having been parked in the driveway since 3:00 pm on 3/3/2016. We later learned of a number of recalls lead by Ford for the replacement of a defective brake switch which would cause this type of fire. We checked the VIN of the vehicle with both NHTSA and Ford and found that no recall was effective for this particular vehicle. I have attached the fire report and photos.
- Wichita, KS, USA
While driving my truck it started to spit and sputter. Found my number 8 spark plug had blown out. Mechanic found the threads on the spark plug and the engine head stripped.
- Harleton, TX, USA
While sitting stationary waiting for a traffic light. When the light changed I began to move and ejected a spark plug from my 5.4L Triton engine. After hearing a loud popping noise and the cab of the vehicle filled up with gas fumes. Luckly I was close to home. But I am lucky that the engine compartment did not catch fire from gas and vapors in the engine area.
- Melvin, MI, USA
Spark plug blowing out of the cylinder head because of bad factory threading and possibly hurting engine and making truck run improperly. This is the second time this has happened within one year on a truck at 90K miles. This nearly cause my to have a multiple car accident.
- Florissant, MO, USA
The spark plug blew completely out while driving, it also broke the coil pack when it blew.
- Montague, MI, USA
Car was parked, car caught on fire do to recall 05S28, put out myself. Was never informed about recall because I was second owner.
- Vista, CA, USA
This pickup blew the spark-plug in the middle of traffic. Had to have it towed, mechanic they had to take the head off to make sure there was nothing inside. It cost me around $750 to fix it, which was cheap. But now 8-2014 it happen again on different spark-plug. My truck was out of the state when this happened. My son and his friends were coming back to tucson Arizona when this happened.truck had to be towed to mechanic shop which he retreaded the plug housing on head, charged $400 to fix it. Drove off and it blew on same spark-plug that was fixed, now the problem is that the new ring that was suppose to hold spark-plug in place fell in cylinder when spark-plug blewoff. Mechanic wanted to charge 1,500 dollars to fix put it would take one week to fix it. But due that everybody had to return to tucson, because of work pickup had to be towed at a cost of $2,000.now head has to be taken off to get the tapped ring out and fix the head. Just very disappointed with the way Ford made these heads.
- Oracle, AZ, USA
The exhaust manifold studs rot out break off and the gaskets start leaking. I know this is a common problem with the 4.6 and the 5.4 Triton engine as there are about 8 of them in my work parking lot that have done the same thing. I owned a 1999 E150 that did the same thing and the exhaust smells in the cab were so bad I had to get it repaired. Cost around $1800 to do this repair. My local exhaust shops say this is a very common problem and usually happens before 100K miles so I should feel lucky I have 138K. Ford should really own up to the problem before someone get hurt or dies from carbon monoxide poisoning.
- Saint Joseph, MO, USA
5.4 Triton V8. Today while driving, spark plug and coil blew out of #7 cylinder head. This also occurred several months ago on cylinder #3. sounded like a shotgun blast which startled me taking my attention away from the road. Gas also blowing out of cylinder hole, and luckily no fire started. Strong smell of gas was present in cab of truck. Nauseated family members riding in truck. Upon inspection found plug and coil damaged by fuel rail. Also found spark plug threads stripped out of aluminum cylinder head. Known to be a common problem with Ford 5.4, and is also an issue that is know to be ignored by Ford. Ford estimates repair between $500 and $3500 for a known manufacturing defect that they blame on a spark plug maintenance issue.
- Rock Island, IL, USA
The car has been parked in a auxiliary building with an apartment for 10 day, since May 9th. The people living in the apartment heard a load bang around 3 am and open their front door to seeing a massive fire around the F150. They tried to use a fire extinguisher to the fire to no success. They woke myself up in the main house on the property and we called 911 and started spraying the building with a house, as this is a very dry area in southern California. We open the front of the building using a crowbar to see a very smoky and hot fire around the F150. We heard several more large bangs and we attempted to put out the fire until the fire department showed up. After the fire was put out, it took about an hour for the building to cool down. The entire building has smoke damage and the F150 is completely burned out, especially on the passenger side. The Jeep parked next to the F150 front end melted but did not catch on fire. It appears that the only item ever on fire was the F150, the battery completely burned away and items next to it only suffered heat and smoke damage. I feel very fortunate that this fire did not kill anyone or burn down the entire neighborhood. Let me state again, this car was not moved for 10 days.
- Murrieta, CA, USA
The contact owns a 2000 Ford F150. The contact stated that the vehicle caught on fire while parked. The fire originated in the engine area. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure and current mileage was 200,000.
- Hueytown, AL, USA
Truck was parked in driveway when it suddenly caught on fire under the hood burning through the hood in a matter of seconds. Firefighters called to the scene said they have never seen anything like it before. I believe this fire was caused by the speed control switch, of which there have been at least two recalls on of which we were never informed about.
- Hemet, CA, USA
The contact owns a 2007 Ford F-150. While parked, the contact noticed flames coming from the grill of the vehicle and from under the hood. The fire department was called to the scene and a fire report was filed. The cause of the fire was undetermined. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing. The vehicle was destroyed. The approximate failure mileage was 140,000...updated 01/16/2013 updated 1/28/2013
- Shelbyville, IL, USA
- Forest City, IA, USA