10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 0 / 7
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 0 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 85,355 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.
« Read the previous 20 complaints
I was driving on interstate 5 when there was a loud pop followed by rapid popping from the engine. At first I thought it might be a flat and pulled onto the shoulder, but the noise continued even though I was stopped. I opened the hood and at first (based on the sound) thought it might be the exhaust manifold. I was towed to the nearest Ford dealer where the problem was determined to be a blown spark plug which had stripped the plug's threads. The dealer inserted a heli-coil and after a tow, an overnight stay at a nearby motel, 5 hours of waiting the next day and $415 in repairs I was back on the road. I have since done some internet searching and have come to find that this is a very common occurrence with the Triton engine and has been so for several years due to insufficient material and threads.
- San Rafael, CA, USA
Intake manifold leak. Plastic part cracked. I just had repair made and was told Ford has a problem with this type of manifold. My truck is a 2001 F150 with 90,000 miles.
- Williamstown, NJ, USA
Spark plug blow out on 2001 Ford F150 4.2 V6. Purchased the truck new in 2001 and recently replaced the engine because of the plug blow out. Now the replacement engine is running bad and I think it is getting ready to happen again.
- Dahlonega, GA, USA
The contact owns a 2001 Ford F-150. While driving approximately 65 mph, the contact heard a knocking noise. He pulled to the side of the road and discovered that the front passenger side spark plug blew out of the head, busted the coil, and caused fuel to spill from the head. The current and failure mileages were 107,000. Updated 08/14/09. Updated 08/17/09
- Pueblo, CO, USA
I have a 2001 F-150 Triton 5.4 liter Ford with 85,000 miles on it -- it blew out the number 3 cylinder spark plug stripping the threads and breaking the coil pack. I heard a ticking sound for a few weeks prior and had it checked at a shop and they thought it wasn't a bad problem -- 3 days later it blew out the plug.
- Medford, OR, USA
4 months ago spark plug #3 unexpectedly "left the engine" destroyed the coil-on-plug and stripped the cyl. Head. ~2500 miles later #6 plug and coil....same thing.
- Leominster, MA, USA
During normal driving the spark plug in cylinder #3 blew out of the cylinder. This disables the vehicle. Spark plug ejection is dangerous because fuel vapor starts coming out the spark plug hole, which is clearly a serious safety issue. The fuel vapor can be ignited by the ejected spark plug. The spark plug was the original installed in the engine from the factory. The blow out damages the spark plug hole threads and it also damaged the coil pack. Repair is very expensive and requires a technician to tap a new hole and place a threaded insert in it. The problem is these type of repairs are not usually reliable.
- Monroe, NY, USA
Blown spark plug on 5.4L, number 3. threads were completely removed. Coil was damaged.
- Whitewater, WI, USA
# 6 spark plug blew out of the hole in cylinder head.
- Greenwood, AR, USA
Spark plug blew out of my 2001 Ford F150 with only 84,000 miles on it.
- La Fargeville, NY, USA
Spark plug ejected from cylinder head.
- Kings Park, NY, USA
Was cruising in my Ford lightning, when I heard a loud pop and then sounded like my engine was running off the headers. Pulled over and had to catch a tow truck, to the shop. They told me my spark plug had shot out of the head. $1,100 bucks later it is back in the shop now and having the entire motor pulled cost not known but approximately 5-10 grand...
- Seattle, WA, USA
Total engine failure. Must be replaced after 137,000 miles and has never been run low on oil nor failed to change at appropriate intervals. Never been overheated. Well maintained and no good reason for this. Ford F150xlt 2001 4.2L engine. Several mechanics have now told me this is common for this engine.
- Trout, LA, USA
Ford - spark plug defect. While driving on the interst a spark plug popped out of its socket and broke the spark plug coil. I was in th middle of heavy traffic an ws very scared because I could not initially pull over due to the amount of trucks on the higway.I was boxed in. After I was able to pull over to the side of the road I opened the hood an found a spark plug stuck to a piece of plastic melted to it due to the hea). I also oundthe spark plug coil, with the spring hanging out of the rubber insulator, spaking against another piec of plastic. I feel the is an extreme danger because: 1. I could have caused a major accident on the freeway. 2. the spark plug coil could have shocked meor even started something on fire. After researchingthe problem on the internet, I see that more and more incidents exactly like E are happening every day. Ford refuses to admit there is a problemeven though they changed the design in 2004 and theprobem doesn't exit with spark plugs anymore. What needs to be done to get this problem resolved. Does omeone have to die?
- Richfield, OH, USA
My 2001 Ford F-150 truck had a spark plug eject from the cylinder and hit the fuel rail while on the highway on 9-1-06 (70,000 miles on odometer). I had the truck hauled to nearest service center where they fixed the cylinder with a repair kit made for this problem. On 2-26-07 at 79 thousand miles another plug ejected with the same consequence. Now the entire head has to be replaced at a cost of $3600 to me.
- Oak Creek, WI, USA
While traveling on a busy highway near my home my 2001 F150 blew a spark plug from the motor. This is the second time this has happened to me. The first at 37K miles and the second at 48K. The loss of engine power nearly caused a collision. I was in heavy traffic and in the passing lane at the time. This is a frequent occurence with this Ford motor from what I can see on the internet. Why is nothing being done to protect the consumer from this obvious design flaw" does someone have to die first"
- Rapid City , SD, USA
www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/ford_spark.html please check out this link, it is in regard to a similar problem I am having please help!!!!!!!!
- Apopka , FL, USA
On October 27, 2006 I was driving my 2001 Ford F-150 pickup down the highway at about 45 miles per hour. All of a sudden we heard a loud noise and pulled over. Upon inspection my husband noticed that the number 3 spark plug and coil pack had been ejected from the cylinder head. He also noticed that it had caused a sizeable dent in the fuel injector rail. The rail/fuel line which provides fuel under pressure to the injectors is made of steel. The coil pack although the mounting point was broken off remained plugged in and functioning. The spark plug also remained in tact and appeared undamaged. The spark plug still resting in the spark plug boot managed to find a ground very near if not on the dented fuel rail. This was evident by the fact that it continued sparking as the motor sat and idled as we tried to determine the source of the problem. If there had been any sort of fuel leak or had it ran longer sparking against the fuel rail, I suspect a fire could have resulted. A rather serious fire considering the fuel in the rail is under pressure. Admittedly this may be a very unlikely set of circumstances. However in checking on the internet the spark plug ejection seem to be common and the dented fuel rail not uncommon. The coil pack continuing to fire seems likely as the connection to the wiring harness seems quite secure. It also seems that the steel fuel rail is a very convenient ground. Not only did this happen once no it happened again on January 19, 2007. Ford refuses to recognize a problem with the cylinder head and charges $3000 to replace the head and all of it internal components every time it happens. Ford blames this problem on the spark plug I can assure you the spark plug was completely in tact and sparking not in the combustion chamber mind you but against a steel fuel line. Ford recommends that you change the spark plugs at 100,000 miles my truck was only at 80,000.
- Clearlake Park, CA, USA
Spark plug blew out of cylinder head while vehicle was traversing street.
- Elk Grove, CA, USA
- Plainfield, CT, USA