Spark plug blew out of engine causing failure. Engine. Fire

- Frisco, TX, USA

Attempted to start a 2001 Ford F-150 super crew that has a 5.4liter engine and only 80,500 and heard a bang. Engine started but made a lot of noise. I shut down the engine and checked under hood. On the right side of engine found a plug wire and coil destroyed which indicated a spark plug exploded out of the cylinder head. Repair shop said do not drive it as fuel will spray on hot manifold and will cause a fire. They said I was lucky engine was not hot. These were the factory installed plugs as original window sticker says 100K mile tune-ups. Estimate of repair is $4,000. Ford accronim applies here "found on road dead or, fix or repair daily." Upon internet search this appears to be a common occurance and neither Ford or nhitsa are doing anything about it. Ford has even put out a tsb07-15-2 authorizing a specific tool and repair procedure for aluminum heads for the 5.4 1997 to 2004 fseries. Ford knows it is an engineering defect and nhitsa knows it is a fire hazard as some vehicles have caught on fire.

- Cape May, NJ, USA

I have a 2001 Ford pickup with 116,000 miles that I have babied since I purchased it just this week I had a spark plug blow out of the head, just so happened I was 45 miles away from home, so a wrecker charge was due, took my truck to my usual repair shop but they said they couldn't fix the problem. So I then had to find someone else, anothe wrecker charge. Ford must know from all the complaints that this is a big problem and very costly. Ford should recall all vehicles with aluminum heads and install a steel sleeve in all spark plugs to take care of this problem, they are saving tons of money with this type of faulty engine. I had considered buying a new Ford pickup, but this just might have changed my mind. The price of vehicles these days, many people like myself have to drive their vehicles serveral years, we can't afford a new vehicle with the price of gas. The poor middle class is almost a thing of the past, if you're not making 100,000 a year you're hard pressed to keep your head above water. Someone needs to stop the things that ragan started with his trickle down policies and fix the problem. Keep the republicans out of office and let some good people work for the middle class for once.

- Henderson, KY, USA

2001 Ford F150 caught fire in the middle of the night and was completely destroyed. Vehicle had not cranked in over 24 hrs., and no keys were in the ignition.

- Leland, MS, USA

On multiple occasions I have been driving and heard a loud bang and felt the motor starting to shake and loss of power to the vehicle. Upon inspection, I have noticed the coil pack of my 2001 Ford F-150 sitting on top of the motor. I have replaced two coil packs twice each. It is getting costly to repair as it costs $50 per coil pack. I have retapped the holes but the problem keeps occurring. I am a divorced father of a 2 year old son. I can't afford to keep repairing the problem.

- Plainfield, CT, USA

#3 spark blew out of engine head and broke spark plug coil in the process. This was an original factory installed spark plug.

- Salinas, CA, USA

We own a motor home, built on a Ford incomplete vehicle chassis, powered by a Ford V-10 Triton engine. The first engine began to spit out spark plugs after reaching 75,000 miles on the odometer. This occurred on Friday, January 27, 2006, about forty miles East of kingman, Arizona. After spending money to get the problem diagnosed at a Goodyear dealership in kingman, Arizona, we had to order a special repair kit from baril engine rebuilding company in green bay, Wisconsin, paying for the shipping both ways. A mechanic resleeved the cylinder. As I had to make a speaking engagement, we had to drive for close to 1,000 miles with wretched fumes and horrid noise. The second spark plug was spit out on Friday, feburary 10, 2007. As I had another speaking engagement, which is how I make my living, we had to drive to pensacola, Florida, and thence lafayette, Louisiana, before another repair kit was rented to be used by yet another mechanic. The third spark plug was spit out two weeks later, on Monday, February 26, 2007, as we were driving from pensacola to lafayette. We rented the tool kit from baril engine rebuilding company once again. This original Ford V-10 Triton engine died on Thursday, April 19, 2007, on interstate 80/94 just East of mile marker 160. Two cylinders had lost compression entirely. No one at terry Ford Lincoln Mercury in peotone, Illinois, could explain why this had happened. We had to raise $9,000 to pay for a new engine and its installation. The engine had been well maintained. The replacement engine has also been maintained well. Despite this fact, however, the engine spit out its first spark plug, just 19,000 miles and thirteen months, eight days after its installation, an incident that occurred this afternoon, Wednesday, June 3, 2008, at exit 22 of the New York state thruway in selkirk, New York.

- Monroe, CT, USA