Problems with 2001 Ford F-150 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING

Vehicle was parked and motor was off. vehicle catch on fire and fire departments had to go turn it off but we could not save anything from this truck it got very damaged. *tr

While driving down the interstate, the vehicle caught on fire. everything under the hood was destroyed. *tr

I was driving home and all of a sudden there was an explosion under the hood and it sounded like part of the exhaust system gave way. i pulled over and found out that a spark plug had blown out of the head. the only one to ever touch the engine was ford and that they had replaced a spark plug several years ago. i got on line and found out there are literally thousands of these spark plug ejections. i was wondering if there was a recall on the problem ? the fact that the super-heated air and mixture fuel spraying all over the underneath of the hood is a extreme danger, it would seem that would be a safety recall. *tr

Pulled out of side road onto major highway and suddenly a loud flapping noise from engine was heard. immediately pulled to shoulder of road and turn vehicle off and called for assistance. was told that a spark plug was the cause of the problem and that it should be a easy fix, this was not the case because the head had to be removed to extracted to damaged plug. our fix is costing upwards of $700. *js

Tl* the contact owns a 2001 ford f-150. while parked, the contact noticed smoke coming from under the hood. after opening the hood the contact noticed that the manifold and the wiring harness was on fire. the contact stated that the vehicle had been shut off and had not been driven prior to the fire. the contact was able to extinguish the fire with a fire extinguisher. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostics or repairs. the approximate failure mileage was 28,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2001 ford f-150 triton. the vehicle was taken for state inspection when the contact was advised that the engine, engine manifold and bolts were corroded. the vehicle was taken to the dealer where the failure was confirmed. the manufacturer was contacted. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 68,000 and the current mileage was 71,000. updated 05/21/12 *bf the consumer was informed the material used were defective.

I was getting on the interstate this am and heard a noise, the truck lost power and started running extremely rough. i turned around and barely made it home (only a few miles). when i raised the hood, a spark plug was laying on top of the engine. the coil pack was also broken when the spark plug blew out. there was a very strong smell of gas. i researched the internet and found that this is a major problem with ford engines built from 1997 - 2003. if i had been in a center or left lane, being rush hour traffic, this could have caused a major wreck. this problem should not be ignored and should become a recall for ford. *tr

Spark plug blow out caused excessive damage to engine. engine had to be replaced at a cost of $6200.00. this is a known problem for 1999 to 2005 engines. *tr

Attempting to park vehicle in parking stall with foot on brake stopping the vehicle. the vehicle, for no apparent reason, abruptly accelerated forward striknig the vehicle on the other side of the parking stall. the resulting crash caused damage to the front of the 2011 gmc sport utility vehicle and to the front of the 2001 ford f-150. this is the second time an incident similar to this has occurred. the first time was in august 2011. the first time the vehicle demonstrated a similar phenomena occurred when the owner was parking the vehicle in a parking stall. the vehicle was stopped in the parking stall, the driver's foot on the brake and the vehicle abruptly accelerated, for no apparent reason, over a concrete parking block. the vehicle continued into the street as the driver continued to apply the brake, attempting to stop the ford f-150. the driver was unable to avoid striking a vehicle after entering the street. *tr

i was driving to work and heard a loud pop and stopped the truck and called the tow truck. the mechanic informed me that a spark plug blew out of the head of the engine and it was going to cost $550.00 to fix, he also said that it would be a temporary fix and that i would need a new engine because of the damage. i did some research and found that this has been a problem for some time with these engines because of the aluminum heads and there were only 3-4 threads actually holding the spark plug. a ford motor co. warranty inspector says the ford triton v-8 engines are "dropping like flies" because of blown spark plugs. i would like to address the ford spark plug blowout issue. ford triton engines from 1997 to 2003 had a problem where spark plugs would randomly fly out the cylinder head. this appears to be due to a few issues (engineering design flaw), first there are insufficient threads (3-4) in the head to properly hold the spark plug. second the threads in the head are not inserted, in other words the threads are in the aluminum and are not very strong. 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 loose spark plug - and in fact there have been a small number of cases reported of engine fires due to spark plug ejection/blowout. ford needs to be held responsible for the repairs of spark plug blow out and should extend the warranty regardless of age on the spark plug blow out issue, they also should be forced to pay a fair amount of labor time, because most of the repairs cost thousands of dollars. ford has been aware of this serious issue of an engineering-design flaw and needs to recall 17 million vehicles from 1997-2003. *tr

Tl* the contact owned a 2001 ford f-150. the contact stated that the vehicle was parked for a few days when it suddenly caught on fire and burned to the ground. the contact suffered minor burn injuries as a result. the vehicle was not taken to have the failure diagnosed or repaired. the vehicle was destroyed. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the failure and current mileages were 249,000.

2001 ford f-150. the truck had an under hood fire while it was in a parking lot. the business owner found me after the fire was started and put out. the truck was totaled. *tr

I have a 2001 ford f150 5.4 liter v8 triton that the spark plug ejected and ruined the threads the dealer wants $500 to fix i know a few people that this happened to. *kb

While driving down interstate started to hear a load popping noise from engine. immediately pulled over to find that one of the spark plugs had blown out of the head. had to be towed. still waiting of cost of repairs. researching online, it appears that this is common issue with this motor. *tr

Was driving normally when i started hearing a loud popping noise from engine. took to mechanic and was told the spark plug blew out - was also told this is a "common" problem with ford triton engines and a design flaw with the engine (too few threads on spark plugs) *tt

Tl* the contact owns a 2001 ford f150. the contact stated while the vehicle was parked in the driveway, the engine caught on fire. the local fire department was unable to locate the exact origin of the fire. a fire report was not filed. the failure was being investigated by the contact's insurance company. the failure and current mileage was 170,000.

Fire under the hood of a ford f-150 supercrew in our parking lot burned this vehicle and caused fire damage to four other vehicles parked adjacent to it. *kb

I was driving on the freeway when a pop and loud "flapping" sound was heard. i thought i had blown a tire. the truck lost a good amount of power and was shaking while continuing to make the "flapping" sound. after taking it in, it turns out it was a blown spark plug that shot out of the engine, damaging the block, plug, and coil. the cost was $630 to fix it. *tr

I have a 2001 ford f-150 lightning with roughly 31,000 miles on it. three weeks back i was turning into my neighborhood at 5 mph, and i head a popping sound, and the truck begins to run roughly. i immediately pull over, and pop the hood, i smell gasoline. i shut the truck off. call a tow truck to my ford dealership. there they tell me that the spark plug has shot out of the cylinder head, stripping the aluminum head. i get the bill for repair in which they re-bore the head, and install a heli coil at a cost of $560 plus labor. the dealership tells me this should in fact strengthen the cylinder, so i continue normal operation of the vehicle tuesday 5/17/11, i was driving on route 290 in worcester when all of a sudden at 70 mph the heli coil pops out causing me instantly lose power. in an effort not to damage the vehicle further i put it in neutral, and coast to the break down lane of a three lane highway and proceed to call aaa to get a tow. once back at the ford dealership the tech tries to do the same thing, and re-bore the head to install another heli coil. he does and takes it for a test drive. the heli coil that he just installed blows. now they are telling me that i need a new cylinder head. a $1600 part, plus 19 hours of installation costing $3600 in total. this as i have been told by the dealership and upon hours of research, is a common problem with the 1999-2003 ford 5.4l triton engine. this is a factory ford defect, they did not drill the appropriate threads for the spark plugs. now it has happened to me twice, this very easily could have gotten me hurt on the highway, or could have set fire to my vehicle since gasoline from the cylinder was spilling onto the hot engine block, directly next to the fuse box, there a current runs through. i have spoken to ford and there is no recall on this. a factory defect, that is costing me almost $4000, through nothing but careful care of the vehicle. *tr

I own a 2001 f-150 ford truck. i have experienced 3x now in a year the spark plugs blowing out of the heads. the first 2x it scared me half to death to the point i lost control for a few seconds ( thank god no one was on the road at the time). i have had the plugs heli-coiled in twice and waiting on the 3rd one now. the ford dealership i take the truck to says, "it is a poor design in the heads of this motor that causes the plugs to blow out and ford motor company knows about the problem." i am concerned that it will happen to someone else and cause serious injury or even death due to the "explosion" sound at first and the extremely loud knocking noise. *tr

2001 ford f-150. consumer states vehicle caught fire and then exploded *tgw the consumer stated she saw a report on t.v. regarding problems with fuel tanks and nhtsa was investigating. *jb

F150 2001 ford lightning 5.4 trition engine. sparkplug shoot out of engine. defect in aluminum heads. i had a helicoil put in and it broke down 7 months later, and now i have to buy a re-muf. engine its been a nightmare for me. costing me lots of money for repairs. ford has a defect in there triton engine heads and there not doing nothing about its costing customer thousands of dollars, and ford doesn't care. frustrated customer. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2001 ford f-150. the vehicle was parked and shut off when a fire began on the driver's side of the hood. the fire department extinguished the fire. a police report was not filed and there were no injuries. the vehicle was not moved from the location and was not repaired. the failure and current mileages were 209,000.

Drove approximately 27 miles, then heard a loud pop under the engine. smelled gas while inside cab with the windows rolled up. loud knocking noise followed. found that the number 3 spark plug had blown out of the head. luckily no fire. *tr

Started truck heard a loud pop engine running rough checked,spark plug blew out destroying coil pack now called ford dealer they said no recall checked on internet noticed a lot of people same problem. a lot money to repair. i had just got back from a 600 mile trip if this had happened during trip would have cost me up to $4.000 to get on road again, this should be a recall! and if i get it fixed i will have to get rid of it because people are complaining 2 or more plugs are blowing out and i can not afford the fix .

Spark plug blown out of engine twice. first time cheap fix second time it was over $700. seems to be a pretty common problem. needs a recall done. *tr

I have a 2001 ford f-150 with a 4.6 v8 engine and i have now had 2 spark plugs blow out of the passenger cylinder head. the truck has 145,000 miles on it. these did not happen at the same time they were about 12 to 18 months apart. the spark plug had been replaced over a year before the first blow out occurred. it also broke both coils on those cylinders. until i started a search to see if anyone else had this issue i was unaware of the danger of fire. *tr

Spark plugs keep popping out of cylinder head. has happened five times so far. i know of seven other people with the same problem! *tr

While driving home from work i heard a loud pop coming from the engine compartment,then sounding like an air compressor. my mechanic told me that one of the spark plugs blew out of the socket and needs a helicoil installed to hold the spark plug. this fix is going to cost about $300. he also stated that this is a common problem in ford truck engines. as of yet there is no recall on this problem! *tr

I have a 2001 ford f150 crewcab truck. on my way home from work, my vehicle started making an awful noise and the truck instantly started working rough. i pulled over and turned off the truck. my husband came to check on me and when we popped the hood and when i turned on the truck he saw the spark plug coming out of the cylinder. i have yet to have the mechanic look at it. after reading up on this, i see this is a recurrent problem on ford trucks. i do not understand why nothing has been done regarding this matter. i simply do not have the funds available to pay for this if it is a major repair job nor do i have the means to purchase another vehicle due to the current economic state and were barely getting by as it is. i want something to be done and this issue with ford investigated further. it is a design flaw and this is getting ridiculous. do someone have to die in order for something to be done. thank god i did not pick my kids up yet . thank god i was just starting off from a light and hadn't even got back up to 20 mph. thank god it happens to me and not my husband that drove out to orlando today and was going to use my truck. he would have been severely hurt or worse if this occurred at 70+mph. i have read that this could cost in the thousands and when i get an estimate i will update this matter further. something has to be done, there are no more excuses. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2001 ford f150. the contact stated that the vehicle caught fire while parked. the vehicle was not occupied when the fire erupted. the vehicle was destroyed. the vehicle that was parked next to the contact's vehicle was also extremely burned on the passenger side. the manufacturer was contacted and advised the contact to send photos and supporting documentation in regards to the failure before a determination was made regarding assistance. the failure and current mileage was 135,000.

Driving at 55mph on state highway,3rd spark plug back on passenger side of 2001 ford f-150 4dr. 5.4l. blew out of head, broke coil pack and fell onto highway. had truck towed to house and it still sits. i cant afford a repair of $2000+. *tr

While driving my 2001 ford f150 down the highway, a spark plug blew out of the head and damaged the ignition coil. gas/air mixture was sent into the engine compartment, and if the plug had not damaged the coil, it could have ignited the gas. the fuel line is also just above the pug, and could also have easily been damaged. *tr

Spark plug blown out of engine. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2001 ford f150. the contact was driving approximately 46 mph when the engine began to sputter with low engine power. in addition, the engine exhibited a rough idle when sitting idle at a complete stop. the failure occurred frequently. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 128,098.

Tl* the contact owns 2001 ford f-150. the contact stated that the vehicle exhibited an abnormally loud knocking noise from the front end of the vehicle. the contact inspected under the hood and noticed that the spark plug located nearest to the driver side had disengaged from the coil head without warning. the vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer where a coil kit was installed. a few months later, the same failure recurred and the engine was replaced by the dealer. the manufacturer was made aware of the defect. the approximate failure mileage was 98,000. consumer is still having problems with the aluminum head. updated 11/10/2011 *ln *tr

Faulty spark plug coil, strips out of motor head and pops out spark plug and coils. leaving fumes and gas to ignite if driven, or owner stranded. has happened 2x to our family and after reading many forums and complaints and talking to other ford truck owners it is a common occurrence on these trucks. ford should be doing something about this. should be a safety recall. *tr

My husbands' ford f150 truck caught on fire and was totaled. the truck had been idle for 2 days and not driven more then 500 feet over the last 2 months. i was awaked from sleep when my husband happened to glance out the window and see the fire. the vehicle was on the street. we called 911 but by the time they arrived the entire king cab portion of the truck was totaled. *tr

Truck with 56,000 original miles. after stopping truck to dispose of trash, spark plug #8 blew out of the engine head while idling. truck immediately towed to ford dealership. dealer stated this is very uncommon problem. helicoiled head. installed new plug. $700.00. when vehicle was picked up from dealership there was a loud knock in engine, but we were told it was within specs and safe to drive. mechanic now says there is a severe rod problem, most likely caused by parts of debris impacting piston and cylinder head. estimated cost $4,500. for rebuilt engine. *tr

Problem was instant while driving north on rt. 18. ford f150 v8 started missing, smelling of gas, making loud noise which appeared to be every time the belt went around, unable to accelerate, had to keep one foot on gas and one foot on brake at red light. problem was that the spark plug overheated and ejected. safety issue with fuel vapors coming out of spark plug hole and could ignite from loose spark plug. ford denies this is a problem and claim there has only been three reported cases when i had the dealer call them. after talking about it at work, i found another employee that had the same problem. so there are two cases right there that they didn't even know about. how many cases do they really know about or deny knowing about? *tr

I'm in the large growing number of owners that have had a sparkplug blow out. ford knows this is a problem and have come up with a special tool to help in the repair of this. it rethreads the hole then they have an insert that goes in it. the problem is there's not enough threads to hold the plug. the thing is, if they don't want to do a total recall then they should at least cover the expense when it happens. i guess like everything else, it's going to take a death or serious injury before they will step up to the plate and do the right thing. *tr

While driving on the freeway, i heard a loud pop from the engine compartment followed by the engine running roughly and accompanied by popping sounds. within 10 seconds, the smell of gasoline was noticed. i pulled off at the next exit, approximately 30 seconds later, and came to a stop. as i came to a stop, flames erupted from the hood and the entire engine compartment was engulfed in flames. a fire truck arrived within a few minutes and extinguished the fire, but not before the fire had burned through the firewall into the passenger compartment. the vehicle was a total loss. upon further inspection, it was discovered that the #8 cylinder spark plug had ejected from the cylinder (the initial pop sound) with such force that it ruptured the rubber fuel line immediately above it and aft of the stainless fuel injector bar. with fuel spraying from the hose, it was then ignited by the coil which was still attached to the engine and emitting sparks. it has been documented that the cylinder head design in this vehicle has had a history of problems with ejecting spark plugs due to a lack of adequate threads in the spark plug holes. i believe this defect contributed directly to this fire and is a safety hazard. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2001 ford f150. the contact stated the vehicle was parked in front of his residence and caught on fire. the fire department was able to extinguish the fire. a fire report was available. the vehicle was destroyed. the dealer advised that the vehicle was not under recall and did not provide any assistance. the failure and current mileages were 158,000.

Spark plug blow out on my 2001 ford f-150 expensive repair to replace spark plugs. dealer wants me to purchase a new cylinder head. *tr

Spark plug #3 has blown out of cylinder head on two occasions. this second occurrence damaged the threads requiring repair with a helicoil kit. this defective head can cause fire hazard. *tr

2001 ford f150 was parked for 4-5 days in driveway. woke up early a.m. to loud thumb noise. looked out, truck was engulfed in flames. fire depts says it looks like it was electrical and from under hood. truck is a total loss. insurance co. has yet to look at truck. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2001 ford f-150. the contact started the ignition and light grey smoke emitted from the exhaust. the failure was intermittent and became progressively worse. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer three times for the identical failure. the catalytic converter and engine heat control sensor were replaced at the owner's expense. the failure continued after the repair was performed on the vehicle. the failure mileage was 118,042.

2001 ford f150 5.4l cracked intake manifold. cranked truck and saw antifreeze leaking from passenger side of intake. getting motor fixed and have verified it to be cracked manifold. *tr

2001 ford f150 supercrew 5.4l. while driving this vehicle the spark plug forcibly came out of the cylinder head. vehicle was not able to be driven after blowout of spark plug. vehicle had to be towed to garage. not sure how or why this happened. *tr

2001 ford f-150 with a 4.6 triton-2 spark plugs blew out of the head on the driver's side. had them repaired and they blew out again a month later. *tr