Problems with 2003 Ford F-150 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING

Another cracked passenger side manifold on regularly serviced vehicle. ford motor company should issue recall or provide "goodwill" based on the number of failed components being reported by ford owners. *tr

My 2003, ford f-150 blew a spark plug for the fourth time yesterday. each time a different plug. i was heading to church and "pop". we were just getting on the on ramp when it happen. four time now and each time i have to pay to get it fixed. right now i can't afford to fix it and it's sitting in my yard... *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford f-150. the contact stated that exhaust fumes were present inside the vehicle. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing. the technician stated that the manifold was leaking. the vehicle was not repaired and the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 80,000.

2003 ford f150. consumer writes in regards to vehicle brake issues. *smd the consumer stated when he came to a stop, with his foot on the brake, the vehicle rolled forward. the dealer replaced the hydraulic control unit. also, the exhaust manifold was cracked.

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford f-150. the contact stated that while driving at various speeds, he heard a vibrating noise from beneath the vehicle. upon further inspection, he noticed that a clamp holding the exhaust system had rusted and had became partially detached. the contact personally replaced the clamp. the failure and current mileage was 135,000.

Spark plug blew out of the aluminum head of the engine, which i hear is a common problem. when is the recall coming out? if this is a wide spread problem, i personaly know of two other people whom this has happened too and its all over the internet, then ford needs to take some initiative and fix it! we consumers are what makes ford their money and if this is not fixed for us i will no longer be a ford consumer. i am sure others feel the same way. ford made a mistake, we all do, now fix it. *tr

Spark plug blown out of the cylinder head. this is the 5th separate cylinder this has happened to in the 3 years i have owned this truck. *kb

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford f-150. the contact stated that a spark plug failed, causing gasoline to blow into the engine. the vehicle was taken to the dealer where the contact was advised that the number one spark plug had failed. the vehicle was repaired. the vin was not available. the failure mileage was 76,000.

Strap holding my gas tank on my 2003 ford 150 rusted thru and broke it was noticed by one of my fellow employees fortunately before the other strap broke. i went to the ford dealer in my area and had it repaired asking if there was a recall or reported problems with this and they said no. i was charged $195 to repair it. *tr

Nothing caused this failure other than factory defect. i problem i have had is the sparkplug blow out of my vehicles cylinders it has happened on 3 separate occasions. leaving me stranded. also all 3 times i have had to buy new spark coils and spark plugs, this last time it ruined the treads in the block costing over $800 to repair. i do have the old parts *tr

The vehicle began accelerating on its own (> 75 mph). cruise control was not on. the break was effective at mitigating increasing speed until the vehicle could be stopped safely on the side of hwy 85s. distance traveled with uncontrollable acceleration was approximately 2.5 miles. prior to stopping and turning the engine off, an attempt to put the engine in neutral while speeding was fruitless -- the engine raced to maximum rpm when put in neutral. for fear i would blow the engine, i put the transmission back into "drive" and continued tamping on my breaks to control my speed. heavy breaking was utilized once i was in safe place to pull off the road and turn off the engine. i attempted to re-start the engine multiple times, each time with the same result - - the engine red-lined at maximum rpms. i contacted aaa for roadside service. the truck was towed to a raleigh ford dealer. the ford dealer started the vehicle and the engine red-lined at maximum rpms. they turned the engine off and inspected the engine. they found a plastic cover for the throttle assembly had come loose and lodged itself in such a way as to put tension on the throttle cable/lever. a safety clip that holds the cover in place was missing. they re-secured the cover with a different type of safety connector, and then re-started the vehicle. the vehicle's engine was normal. the ford dealer representative indicated he had seen this before on a mustang, but not of f-150. the ford dealer representative tried to down-play the significance of the incident -- as if it was "no big deal". they did not open a service work order to document the issue or repair. the told me there was "no charge" for the service.

I was driving to work in my 2003 f 150 and heard a kind of tapping noise and strong vibrations coming from engine.. pulled over and had truck towed to my house... as a friend of mine is a mechanic he came over and had me start the truck... as i did so the #3 spark plug shot out of the engine and bounced off the hood.... i started to research online and found hundreds of reports about the ford f150's doing this exact same thing and the majority of the problems seem to come from the #3 plug... several people have spent 100's of dollars to upgrade at the dealerships... only 3 thread on my head and all trucks now have 7 threads... why did ford change it? must have known about this lil problem....*tr

Left dealership after lo-jack installation. entered traffic lane and began lightly braking for approaching signal. i felt two forward surges and then increasingly rapid acceleration. i checked rear view mirror and then pressed on brakes with the sound of the racing turbo charged engine filling the cab. i then moved the gear out of drive and in my haste saw i had it between reverse and park. i brought it back to neutral and then the sound subsided. the entire acceleration incident lasted less than 10 seconds. the truck was immediately returned to dealership and then reported incident to the manufacturer.

I recently purchased a 2003 ford f 150, triton v8 from a local reputable dealer. it is in for repairs due to engine concerns. in researching the triton v8 i find that i am not alone and there is a concern with blowing spark plugs out of the engine head. i want to document my problem at this point so if the need to legally seek repairs i have a paper trail. at this point i am told that the repair will be $550.00, but in reading other consumer complaints i see that most began the same way. *tr

I was driving 65 mph. i heard a pop. the original manufacturers spark plug shot out of the engine. it completely ripped the threads out with it. upon doing research online, this appears to have happened to hundreds of people once their ford hits 100,000 miles. my 2003 ford f150 v8 4.6l has 103,000 miles on it. *tr

I have a 2003 f150 that has 135k miles. i have had the truck serviced regularly and have had no major issues until today. i am in the navy and was driving into work for duty when my spark plug was ejected from my engine. the explosion was so great that it broke the coil pack in three pieces and when i pulled over in investigate the noise i turned on the engine with the hood open to see the spark coil across the port where the plug had been and it was sparking (it's a wonder that it didn't catch the vapors on fire fron the cylinder) the plug also severed one of the vaccuume hoses in the engine compartment. i contacted the ford dealership in town and the mechaninc told me that was normal for trucks over 100k miles, and that they would 'start popping out like popcorn'. this seems outragous! i tried to fix it myself but now am having to concede to letting ford do the work since they have the replacement kit ( "because this always happens" - their own words). there is a potential that this could cause an engine fire! please force ford to do a recall. *tr

I started up my truck on lunch and heard a bang than it sounded like a popcorn machine i call ford in londonderry nh to see what was wrong and they told me it was the spark plug coming out of the heads, they was common im not the only one this happened to friend had 7 out of 8 spark plugs shoot out for his f 250. and for the sounds of it there has been alot more!! i cant believe that ford hasn't had a recall on this problem. people could get hurt if it started a fire under a hood. *tr

I bought a 2003 ford f150 with a 4.6l triton v8 engine , while driving it started making a popping noise, like a mini backfire. i took it to an auto repair shop, and they found the coil pack on the #3 cylinder was melted. they replaced the coil pack, and we drove down the road to test drive the truck, within 2 miles the popping noise returned, but even louder this time. we got it limped back to the shop, and had to let it cool down overnight, so the mechanic could investigate the problem. he had a time getting the melted "brand new" coil pack out of the spark plug recess in the engine head, and an equally difficult time getting the spark plug itself out of the hole. apparently the plug had come loose in the short threaded aluminum head, then the coil pack melted around the plug sealing it in place , and the engine burnt a hole the size of a pencil right through the aluminum head next to the spark plug hole. the coil pack was still putting out spark, but not to the plug, as the boot that held it on the plug was gone, it was just sparking against the sides of the recess in the head. the mechanic said it was lucky not to have either caught fire or blown up, i guess that is lucky, but at the same time not so nice for me with the repairs starting at $2600 to replace the heads on the same engine, or put in a used engine if we can find one for $3900, or put in a remanufactured engine for $5200, that has supposedly has addressed the issue with these ford engines blowing out spark plugs. ford says there isn't an issue, but they've created a fix for the problem that doesn't exist?? what to do now with my worthless pile of metal sitting in my driveway , i can't afford to fix? built ford tough ?? after doing some research on the internet, simply google "ford triton spark plug blowout" , and you'll find there are thousands and thousands of folks like me dealing with this issue , and ford continues to deny it's a problem, why? *tr

There were no events leading up to the incident. driving 10-20 mph the first times and 25-35 the second. 2 spark plugs ejected out of the engine twice in 4 days 1st time we took it to the mechanic and it was replaced 2nd time took it to the mechanic and it was replaced. *tr

Ford f150 2003, 5.4 engine. the spark plug issue has just bitten me, now i have a 10,000 dollar peice of steel in my driveway because i am not paying 5400 and some change to fix a problem that should be recalled, the plug gettting hit by the piston or shooting out of the hole can be very dangerous by allowing fuel to come in contact with hot engine or electrical spark therefore starting a fire, this problem has been an ongoing issue and yet nothing is done i think a recall should be placed for the issue. before someone gets killed. *tr

I had my 2003 ford f-150 shoot spark plugs out of the headers i don"t know why but this ids the 3rd time it has happened and if it would be possible to start a recall on the headers to change them to a 8 thread instead of 4. *tr

Blow out of spark plug on 2003 ford f-150 4.6l triton v8. *tr

2003 ford f-150 crew cab , 4.6 triton engine. spark plug blew while on highway. normal driving with no load in truck. no warning before failure. the truck has just over 100,000 miles. *tr

Ford f-150 spark plug blow out, common in f-150's. *tr

Normal driving when the spark plug blew out of the motor leaving me and my kids stranded still trying to correct problem this is the second time repair bill approximately $3000. *dt

I own a ford f150 with a triton v8 engine. one of the spark plugs blew out of the engine on 2/25/10 while i was driving on a highway. i had the truck towed to a local repair shop. after looking at the problem they sent me to a ford dealer. the dealer has told me it is a $1000 fix and that it was possibly due to the person who replaced the plugs for me. *tr

2003 ford f150 5.4l #3 spark plug blew out of engine's head and stripped out all threads. insert was put in to replace damaged threads at a cost of $500 from ford dealership. *tr

While i was accelerating and entering onto interstate 80 at a speed of 50mph i heard a loud pop and lost power. the engine continued to run but with a great loss of power. i continued to drive at a moderate speed until i could get to a monroe service center approx. 20 miles. the #7 plug for the second time blew out of the head. the repair cost this time was $294.38 and the engine light is still on. it's been eight months since i had it repaired the first time. the #7 cylinder is now misfiring even though the plug has been replaced. mileage to date is 200,892. *tr

I had been driving my truck for about ten minutes and as i was driving on the freeway the engine spark plug blew. i got my truck to start up and drove a short distance before this occurred again. this repeated until i managed to get to my home which was about two miles away when the problem first occurred. then i called venus, a towing and repair shop, to have my truck towed from my house to their shop. the towing service cost $80.00. when the problem was diagnosed they called me and told me what happened. they fixed my truck and charged $250.00. *tr

1. normal operation 2. spark plugs are blown out of the engine head; this is the second occurrence; engine failure. had the occurrence been 200 miles earlier, i would have been in the middle of peak traffic conditions on i405 near bellvue washington state, heavy rain with poor visibility - consequences would have been dire. 3. ford acknowledges that they know of the problem. the service manager at the local dealership indicated that they have had a "ton" of these repair jobs. at $400+ per occurrence, i question why they haven't done anything to protect the consumer? why no notification of the problem. i'm told there have been service advisory's issued, but shops and service counters share none of this with me. now that my vehicle is 5 yrs old with 129k miles, what will the frequency of this problem be. as the f150 fleet ages, how many more occurrence will there be prior to food issuing a solution? i'm told by dealerships that the spark plug seat only consists of a few thread to hold the spark plug in. plugs do not have a seat ring (compression ring) to assist in the plug to stay seated. as the plug loosens, blow by occurs and eventually blowing the plug out through the treads in the engine head. i've never heard of such a problem, let alone having this occur to my twice. parts houses had concurred that the problem is prevalent and they laugh about it. who is going to laugh when this known unsafe engineering flaw causes death or injury? their repair has not resolved the problem, nor did they give up this information without me first seeking factual information. the public is being deceived! *tr

I had a sparkplug blow out on my 03 f150.....which at first sounded like a noisy lifter. i took it in for repairs at the ford dealer and it cost me $1180.00 to install a heli coil. *tr

I have a 2003 f150 v8 5.4 l and i was driving down the road and i heard a pop, and i checked my engine and noticed the ignition coil was loose and the spark plug was attached to the ignition coil, so now the threads in the head are stripped and i cannot drive my vehicle!! this is a huge problem and i am very disappointed that because not enough people have complained that this is not recall issue it should be!!! *tr

The spark plug in me ford f-150 5.4ltr engine blew out of the #2 cylinder. all engine rebuilding shops and repair centers say this is common in fords. they finished my sentence when describing the problem. please enact a recall on this problem. as i read this is an issue. cost me 500.00 dollars to fix and i worry about the other 7 plugs...$3,500 to repair. *tr

While traveling @ 65 miles per hour down a highway, the number 3 spark plug & coil blew out from the head causing damage to the coil & spark plug itself. our 2003 ford f150 supercrew lariot pick-up truck, which is in excellent condition, had to be towed. this is the first time this has happened to our vehicle. the local ford dealership recommended a quick fix of a spark plug insert after the plug hole was retapped while stating several times that there was no guarantee that this would work. another option was to replace the heads costing approximately $2500. the dealership also advised us that they were aware of this problem & has seen it happen on a variety of ford vehicles. we're extremely lucky that our vehicle didn't catch fire, as the coil that blew hit the fuel rail, which is held in place by two 8mm bolts. this experience is extremely frustrating & concerning to us as if we spend money going the route of the insert, it may last for one trip down the road & give out. it's disappointing that ford isn't standing by their product & fixing it appropriately. this is a well known problem that brings with it severe safety issues. we will not be purchasing a ford vehicle in the future.

The spark plug on my 2003 ford f-150 was ejected from the engine. the truck has 42,000 miles on it. there was a huge bang from the engine, and the gas vapors flooded the cab. luckily i was able to navigate to the side of the road and my family was not injured. this problem appears to be well-documented online, and i will be following up to see where the nhtsa is on this issue. *tr

On april 20, 2009, spark plug #7 blowout while accelerating from a traffic light. approx. speed 25 to 35 mph. engine lost compression, damaged the ignition coil, but i was able to make it to a firestone repair garage within 10 miles. the spark plug #7 was replaced with the heli coil and the ignition coil damage was also replaced. total cost of labor and parts was $352.81. *tr

Blowing out spark plugs. *tr

1. normal operation, no indication of problem 2. spark plug blew out of the engine as my wife parked the vehicle in our driveway; 1st of 2 occurrences; repaired with helicoiled plug. approx $400 repair expense. i'm now told that a bulletin was issued advising not to use this repair method. having trouble verifying if that is fact or fiction. *tr

My 2003 ford f-150 with 5.4 triton engine spit out the number 3 spark plug. this is the second time this has happened to the same plug. ford customer relations refused to even discuss the matter with me, saying there was no problem with its product! *tr

On 10/1/08 i was coming out of a parking lot and heard a loud popping sound. loss of power and ran rough . it was almost dark so i could not see what was wrong so i drove it the two miles home, along the side of the road. next morning i took the truck to holder ford in lakeport, california and they said i had blown out the rear plug on the passenger side of the engine. they repaired it for $715.00 and i got it back on monday 10/6/08. again on 10/11/08 saturday the same plug blew out. this time i was in the fast lane of the freeway in san rafael heading for san francisco. the truck lost power and every time i backed off the gas the engine died. i fought with the truck to get it started and keep it running to get it across three lanes of bumper to bumper traffic to an off ramp. when i stopped and raised the hood i saw it was the same plug that was just repaired. i called holder ford and they said service was closed and there was nothing they could do for me until monday. i drove the car to a toyota dealer only to find the ford dealer had gone out of business there so i called a tow truck and rented a car. i was 150 miles from holder ford and my towing would only allow 100 miles. besides this blown spark plug almost causing an accident it cost me $400.00 for the tow and i don't know how much for a rental car. now i find out there are only three threads in the head to hold the plugs in, and the heads are aluminum. the truck is a 2003 ford f150 lightning 5.4 triton v8 with 70,000 miles. *tr

While driving home from work my wife had a spark plug blow out of the engine, fortunately the 2003 ford f150 supercrew pickup truck didn't catch on fire, i drove the vehicle another 15 miles to the mechanic not knowing what is wrong , i thought the it was just a bad exhaust leak but i found out the next morning the grim news that in fact the spark plug was the problem, i was told the repair would run between 700.00 to 2,000.00, shocked by the cost of repair and the problem of which i have never heard of i went online to check it out. to my surprise i found this is a major problem with the ford triton engines, so i thought ford would do the right thing i called ford and explained my problem, only to be told that it was my problem and ford wouldn't do anything for me. i know i'm not the only person that has had this problem, in fact if you do any research online you will see that hundreds and perhaps thousands of people have had this problem, i would hope that maybe you can help me and the other people that have had this problem, thanks in advance tim walsh *tr

2003 f150 4,2 engine, upper and lower intake manifold gaskets failure, started leaking at 75,200 miles. *tr

Spark plug blew out stripping threads. *tr

Spark plug blew out of the engine, stripping all the threads in the cylinder head. *tr

In between oil changes, the sender assembly in my ford f150 failed to send a message to the gauge that the engine was overheating. because of that failure, both head gaskets were blown allowing water to go inside the engine. the sender assembly was not working so it did not send a signal to the oil gauge that the pressure was low. this caused a complete engine failure. cost to replace the engine was $5,405.12 + 20 days of a rent car $672. all of this out of my pocket and ford refuses to reimburse me as does the dealership who did the repair. *tr

Engine light turns on, intake mnanifold gasket needs to be replaced on a 2003 v6 4.2l engine in a ford f150. *ak

I purchased a used 2003 f-150 with 38,000 miles on it aproximately 6 months ago. i started noticing an oil leak in december but could not locate where it came from. after trying to add stop leak to seal it, i finally brought it to the dealer. with 49,000 miles on it, the front gasket and left head gasket were bad. this seems a little premature for a failure of this type.

This is the second occurance that i have had a oil seal or gasket on the engine after driving 80 +mile per hour. i had my truck less than three years. i have also noticed it vibrate when reaching the speed mentioned. *nm

Drove my truck home from work yesterday and at 30 mph my engine blew a spark plug. the estimate for repair is $3000+. i researched on line and found out this is a known problem. i contacted ford at their customer service department in dearborn, mi and they refuse to pay for the costs of this known issue. *jb

My spark plug blew out of my 2003 ford f150 5.4 l this week. ford wants 3800.00 to repair the problem. the head and plugs. i hear alot of this happening. why has it not been recalled. i cant afford to have my truck fixed. now what? who looks out for the little guy now? *nm