Problems with 2000 Ford F-150 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING

Was driving on freeway ford f150 pickup engine blow out the #1 spark plug, second 6 mths ago same engine blow out the #4 rear spark plug near passenger, now have to replace engine very costly. *nm

My 2000 ford f-150 w/ a triton 5.4 l engine (: ) blew the #3 spark plug. there were no unusual events leading up to the failure. i took the truck to the dealer and they wanted to charge me $3000 for a new head or $1000 for insertion of a helicoil. i know that this is happening on many trucks like mine. why is ford not being forced to take responsibility for this failure? it is obvious to me that it is not improper installation of a spark plug, a few too many coincidences for that i think. *tr

Ford triton 5.4l v-8 heads. aluminum heads are so poorly engineered that they will not retain the spark plugs under normal loads. over $5,000 in repair costs, ford refuses to acknowledge any problem. *nm

The spark plug blew out of the head, repair was very costly. this should not happen. i also have had 3 coil packs go bad on this vehicle. *jb

The passenger side rear spark plug blew out of the engine head. this truck has 54,000 miles on it and is very well maintained. repair estimates are in excess of $3,000.00. this happened in a well traveled area and it was me and not my wife and kids stranded. there is an obvious flaw in the head design that ford has since rectified. it is outrageous that a $30,000 truck that is well maintained should have this kind of failure 18,000 miles out of factory warranty. *nm

I bought a 2000 ford f-150 with the 4.2l v6 engine and i now have to replace the engine because of a defect that ford is aware of i have done a lot of research on this issue and have found thousands of other 4.2l v6 owners that have the same problem and ford will not do anything about it i have asked ford for help in the replacement of the engine. i was given excuses and told to go away and buy a new engine. i tried to make a formal complaint to ford but i was told that it would be brought to their attention with no paperwork filled out. i am very upset with the way a loyal customer of ford is being treated. i now have to replace the engine but cannot afford to. there is a defective seal or gasket that leaks antifreeze into the engine and causes pistons to break rod to be pushed out of the engine and several other interior engine parts to break. ford motor company will not replace the engine even though it is a defect on their behalf not the buyer. ford does not tell new customers about the problem and continue to sell the vehicles knowing that the engine is defective. all i would like is for ford to take responsibility for their engine and replace it with a different engine or make sure that the new engine will not cause the same problem. *jb

Front engine cover gasket failed in line with recall 99b29. ford does not include my truck, built 05/99 in recall campaign 99b29 indicating the original recall has been inadequate. *jb

I own a 2000 ford f-150. one of the spark plugs blew out of it's hole causing problems with the engine. *jb

Dt: the contact replaced the radiator several times on his vehicle. the dealer said there was no solution for the radiator problem. they suggested purchasing an after market radiator after the warranty expires on his vehicle. *ak the consumer received a recall notice in the mail regarding the radiator as part of the trailer towed package. the dealer installed the upgrade radiator, however after the installation, the consumer had nothing but problems. the radiator had to be replaced 5 times. updated 11/29/05. *jb

I have a 2000 f-150 that i have had since 2000. i kept my trucks oil changed on a regular basis. on a november saturday as my family and i was going to visit some relatives about 30 miles away from my home. my truck shut down without any apparent reason. i had it towed to the nearest ford dealership to be checked. the technician said that the timing had jumped and the oil pressure dropped. the technician took the valve covers off to see what the problem was. to his surprise it was still filled with oil and after doing a more in-depth study of the engine, sludge was in the oil pan and everywhere else. i asked the ford technician as to how could this have happened and with a reply of i don't know. as a result my motor is no good. *nm

My husband and i were going to work in evergreen co. when something blew in the front of our truck. we had a immediate strong smell of gas and the truck started to shake and make very loud noises. a garage in evergreen looked at our truck and told us what had happened to it and said not to drive it to far because it could hurt the engine more than it did. we went and bought a coil and spark plug and waited all day for the guy to fix the truck. he said we were lucky he had a tool to fix it because he had the only one in evergreen. he had to rethread the block so that he could put the new plug and new coil on. he also told us other people have had this same problem in evergreen. *jb

Passenger side #3 plug blown out two months later #4 blown out. called ford and was told that there was not a problem with that head. *nm

dt: the consumer states that the 2000 ford f150 (lariat super cab) caught on fire and burned. the entire front end was destroyed. the fire started under the hood in front of the driver's side. the consumer had just gotten out of the truck about five minutes prior. the cruise control had not been used. the truck was like new and everything was in working order. the truck was regularly maintained. the truck was engulfed in flames within a few seconds. a witness stated to the owner that the truck sounded like it was trying to start it. the witness said the truck sounded like the engine was cranking. the fire department came and put out the fire. the fire chief stated that the fire started on the driver's side under the hood. the police were also present. fire report, police report , and insurance report were taken. the consumer was going to take pictures of the vehicle. the dealer and manufacturer have not been called at this time, but will be called. *ak (11/04/05) per fire report, the fire was coming from the engine. *sc

2000 ford lightning super charger intercooler leaks coolant into the engine. once the coolant is drained, it can cause a condition called vapor lock, which will lock the motor without warning. this would be cause from the super heated air then entering from the super charger. this could cause an accident, and i'm sure is not great for emissions since coolant is now being leaked into the combustion chamber. *jb

2000 ford f-150 4.2l v6 head gasket failure. my vehicle began overheating and smoking white smoke about 2 weeks ago. also noticed that heater would only put out cool air, unless the engine started to overheat. ended up needing a new head gasket, which come to find out are notorious on the 4.2l v6 motors. i caught it before any motor damage was done so no added expenses were needed. however it still was not a cheap fix. i know of at least a hundred 4.2l v6 f-150 owners who have had this problem and most would be willing to help further an investigation. i do still have the old gasket if needed. *nm

While vehicle parked (engine off) a fire was started under the hood on the drivers side.

Leaking inter cooler for supercharger. coolant leaks in intake and could cause engine to lockup. if engine locks up first thing i will loose is steering. there was a 'customer satisfaction fix # 01bb1' , for a short while ford was fixing this at no cost to customer. the part number is spo xl3z 9424 ab. there is a number of other problems that can happen if this doesn't get fix too, aside from someone crashing because they cant steer anymore then i would have to check a lot more boxes below you can alos get alot of info on this from svt webpage forum and http://www.nloc.net/forum. *jb thanks

2000 ford f150 caught on fire while parked in the driveway.*mr *jb

30,000 miles motor started knocking, spun a bearing, had motor repaired now motor is knocking again. ford motor and dealership denied any responsability

Well i got suckered oct 4 2003 into a 2000 f-150 w/52,000 miles . my lovely truck was doing great until sept 2004 and then my tranny went out. just blew out. well $1400 dollars and a lot of (i mean a lot) of money and time later (nov 2004) i got it fixed (happy times right?). dad, me some buddies put the tranny in. so i am doing great and then i started to smell anti freeze and well some time later in aug 2005 it started a steem shop out the exhaust. water, anti freeze and oil that is what is was. looked like head gasket or head might be craked so got new gasket set and got heads tested and reshaped and new head bolts.($400 later) well i finaly got to getting it back together and it is still smoking (today in dec 2005). so something bad is wrong maybe block is craked. i dont know but i am very mad i owe $12,000 on it.

I own a 2000 f150 supercab with the 5.4l v8 triton gasoline engine. this truck abs been meticulously maintained. on sun 17 july 2005, while driving with my wife and one of my sons, i experienced what i later found out to be the spark plug being blown-out of the #3 cylinder just as we were trying to merge onto a busy highway--we were lucky to make it to a breakdown lane without injuries. i opted for the "heli-coil" repair method based upon the described success rate. on wed 28 sep 2005 i broke down on my way to work after the spark plug on #4 blew-out. the local dealer explained that ford has a new design for the cylinder head but this repair was estimated at nearly the same cost as a long block replacement which i ultimately opted for. the local dealer explained that they didn't believe ford would cover the cost of these repairs (or even help with the cost) because they don't view this as a "design problem" as i do. after repeated attempts to try to persuade ford through their customer care center where i was flatly turned down i had to pay for the repair myself. *nm

2000 ford f150 caught on fire while parked. *mr the consumer noticed that the vehicle was on fire when he returned to the vehicle. *sc *jb

Dt: the contact owns a 2000, ford, f150. he states that the vehicle caught on fire from the engine.*ak

Contact states: he has replaced about 4 radiators in the last year and a half.they have been leaking. he has asked if there are any defects in them and has been told there wasn't any. *ak

Severe smell of antifreeze in cabin of truck. "mist" from the vents. must run with windows open and still smell and taste antifreeze. certified ford dealership was able to find nothing wrong. has been like this for 2 years. *nm

I heard a little tap thought maybe it could be an exhaust leak then a day latter my truck sounded like a lawn mower. a spark plug came out took it to the shop had to replace the heads. *jb

Spark plug blew out of head on 4.6 liter 2000 f150 4x4, also broke the coil pack above it from the explosion of the plug blowing out.*ak

On the 2000 ford f-150 with the 4.6 liter engine, a failure of the threads in their aluminum cylinder heads causes the spark plug and coil-over-plug to become dislodged and threads stripped. the cylinder head requires major repairs to become serviceable once more. a simple steel sleeve (like a "big-sert") installed at the factory would probably solve the problem and save major problems for the consumer later. also, if this failure were to happen while vehicle were in motion, the spark plug coming in contact with the fuel rail or an injector and still firing could cause a catastrophic loss and potential accidents, injury, or even death. *nm

Cold air charge intercooler is leaking. could cause engine failure due to allowing cooling to leak directly into combustion chambers.

2 engine failures. *jb

Arrived home 1500 parked 2000 ford f150 in front of home. truck had no modifications no leaks no previous problems with the exception of the cruise control which quit working in sept or oct at 1800 the truck burst into flames on lh front from under hood truck was parked 3 hours totally cold truck was totally destroyed. *jb

Vehicle caught on fire while parked in the garage attached to the consumer's home. the local fire department arrived to extinguish the fire. the fire investigator confirmed that the fire started in the engine compartment area. *ak....consumer felt that it was an engine fire caused by a manufacturing defect. ford was unwilling to investigate problem, wanted nhtsa to do a thorough investigation of ford f-150 trucks. *ak

There are no events that indicate anything is wrong until the engine has no power and runs rough. a coil pack failure on # 8 cylinder on 11/14/05. a coil pack failure on # 6 cylinder on 12/05/05. a coil pack failure on # 1 cylinder on 12/15/05. all incidents show a misfire on a particular cylinder. correction to the problem is to have a coil pack installed along with a spark plug. dealer suggests replacement of all coil packs. *jb

The consumer stated the engine caught on fire. *jb

Engine compartment fire on driver's side after sitting 2 to 3 hours. fire seemed to be at the brake master cylinder. possible speed control deactivation switch. fire put out very shortly after it started. insurance company nationwide, 888-593-2432 ext 13, george alexander. photographs taken. *ak

Vehicle caught on fire and burnt a part of the house while parked in driveway. the fire originated from the left quadrant of the engine. three fire investigators inspected the vehicle to determine the cause of the fire, but it was inconclusive due to how excessive burnt the engine components were. vehicle was totaled.*ak

While driving 30 mph driver noticed that the check engine light and srs light appeared on the dashboard and remained on. the cause has not been determined at this time. consumer will contact the dealer in the near future. *ak

The rear differential was fixed 3 times. when backing out of a driveway if the shifter was in drive, the vehicle shuttered. the vehicle was taken to the dealer 4 times within a 100,00 miles. *ak the engine failed on one occasion. *sc *jb

While driving to work at 50 mph;i heard a loud bang followed by the sounds of a large exhaust leak.when i opened the hood to find spark plug,coil,and boot ejected from #5 cylinder.i had it towed to the dealership that i have my service performed at.i bought this truck used back in july of 2003 and have it serviced on time,all the time.the truck has a little over 51,000 miles on it.i believe this to be a defect from the factory and that ford motor company should have to repair this because it is a defect. the dealership tell me that is going to cost me approx. $3000 to repair .that will consist of new heads ,coil packs,spark plugs ,gaskets and of course labor.i asked them why did this occur and no one will give a reason why.*ak

While driving, the engine light illuminated the dash board. was told the speed sensor had gone bad. two days later the engine light illuminated again. consumer continued to driving the vehicle. it would just take off by itself. consumer also stated that the vehicle sounded as if it were going to cut off. *nm the speed control switch caused the black box and speed sensor to burn. ford has not returned calls and refused to pay for part and labor to have vehicle fixed. *bf

2000 ford lightning 5.4 spark plug blew out of head. *ak

I bought a used 2000 f-150 4x4 truck in october 2003. the vehicle had 36,000+ miles. it currently has 43,000 miles. i had the oil changed at a ford dealership and they reported the head gasket has a severe leak. i've been told by the dealership where i purchased the vehicle that they had no record of the gasket leaking. this was not a ford dealership. i believe the previous owner was aware of the problem and traded the vehicle. i realize this is a used vehicle and problems do arise, but this is a problem ford motor company is aware of. see mfg. bulletin numbers 012110, 0214, 15793. this is my third ford truck with no problems with the previous vehicles. the question is, since ford was aware of this problem, shouldn't they be responsible to have it repaired when there is so few miles on the truck? please respond in a timely manner. thank you.*ak

The truck has 33,000 miles on it and i was just told that it has a blown engine gasket - that is unbelievable for a new truck. *ak

Spark plug on my ford svt f150 lightning popped out of the cylinder head while i was driving to work today. doing 65 mph and had to swerve over into their traffic to get to the shoulder safely. warranty just expired in june but still have only 21,000 miles on my truck. this is not right because i'm looking at a bill of several thousand dollars to get this fixed. *jb

Driving to work doing 60 mph slowing down to get on a off ramp and i heard a big bang. i look under the hood and my, passenger side second from the front, plug, coil, and boot were ejected from there hole. *la

While cruising at 65 mph a spark plug blew out of the cylinder into the fuel rail. luckily no fire was started. this seems to be a common problem in the 5.4l engine. as even ford has changed the design of newer 5.4l engines, but has done nothing for earlier owners. the vehicle has 40,000 miles and i was told that the vehicle had an extended warranty in 11/02. however, ford now says the warranty was put on by mistake and was cancelled 1/03 - not notifying me, the owner of the truck, about it's cancellation. i have owned fords for the last 18 years, but this will be my last. *la

Fire started in engine compartment a few hours after being parked. the cruise control had stopped working a few weeks prior to the fire. contact lawyer mike jolly 713-237-8383

Fire started in engine compartment after having been parked for a few hours. the cruise control had stopped working 2-4 weeks prior to the fire

Under hood fire after having been parke with the keys out of the ignition for 1.5 hours. the fire was in the engine compartment and burned a hole in the hood on the drivers side near the fire wall

Engine compartment fire while parked. used cruise control 1 monthe prior to fire.