Problems with 2001 Ford F-150 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING

I own a 2001 ford f150 with a 5-4 triton motor.had a spark plug blowout while on the freeway,it occured on number 3 cylinder and 2 more that were loose on the engine.mechanic repaired by installing an insert do to stripped out threads.also when the plug blew out it damaged the coil pack.i saved the parts that were replaced.

Ford f150 spark plug # 8 blow out while driving to work. there were noxious fumes that eventually become very strong. i have read numerous complaints about this and feel that this must be a safety hazard due to obvious raw fuel, heat and potential sparks. *tr

Twice, three week apart i have had originall factory installed spark plugs ejected from the head on my 2001 ford f150 triton 5.7 liter engine. number 2 plug was first and number 3 plug was next along with the cd coil packs. *tr

I have a 2001 ford f-150 with 195,000 miles on it ,.. i am the third owner and have not had any problems with it until now.. i was driving down the road and suddenly heard a loud disturbing sound coming from the engine compartment,.. i pulled over and shut the truck off immediately,.. i opened the hood and did not see anything wrong, so i started it back up and the same noise could be heard,.. i looked under the hood and could see a spark by where a spark plug would be,.. i shut the truck off and investigated a little bit,.. i noticed that the coil was off and the spark plug was laying by the valve cover,... i had to call my brother to haul the truck home since i knew that driving it like that could cause engine problems,.. after doing a little research about this problem, i found that spark plugs popping out of their holes is kind of a common thing for ford triton engines. why has this issue not been addressed by ford motor company yet,... i have been told that they have known about tit for quit some time and haven't been forced to fix the problem so they probably wont send out a recall for this... what can b e done to fix this problem !!! *tr

My 2001 ford f-150 truck had one of the sparkplugs eject from the cylinder head. the vehicle has approximately 118,000 miles. my concern is that this could have ignited into a fire since gas fumes are coming out of the sparkplug opening. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2001 ford f-150. while driving 40 mph the contact heard a banging noise in the engine and the vehicle started to lose power. the contact was able to safely drive onto the emergency lane and after looking under the hood, he observed that a spark plug was missing. the vehicle was towed to a local mechanic to have the vehicle repaired. the contact is concerned that a crash could have occurred when the spark plugged popped out of the engine. the vin was not available. the failure mileage was 98,000.

I own a ford f150 trition truck in may of 2008 i blew my first spark plug while driving home. i took it to a local dealer, and the service department informed me that it was a default in the design of the engine and that ford would not cover the approximate cost of $700. four months later, i threw another one while simply starting my truck in a parking lot. i paid another $700. it has been three months. on christmas eve, while pulling out into traffic from a complete stop, i threw my 3rd. spark plug. this is a defect! *tr

Spark plug blew out of 2001 ford f150. *tr

The #3 cylinder spark plug blew out on my 2001 ford f-150 lariat. my truck has the 5.4 liter engine and it has 139,000 miles. i was driving approximately 15 mph and the spark plug blew out. there was a loud "popping" noise from the engine compartment. upon investigation i found the #3 cylinder spark plug had blown out and also destroyed the coil on top of the spark plug. *tr

Blown spark plug from 2001 f-150 (lightning) note: this is the third blown spark plug. the first time ford replaced the entire head (under warranty). the next two were out of my pocket (at $1k each). *tr

2001 ford f-150 the engine on the truck caught on fire came to work at 6am around 10:15am fire department was call truck was on fire, the radiator and front end was all melted engine completely burn there was a hole in the middle of the dash board and all the wires look burn. *tr

My ford f-150 just blew out the 2nd spark plug in a month. truck has 74,000 miles and the repair isn't covered by ford. original plugs, so can't be due to wrong torque specs. luckily it happened as i pulled into my driveway, and i was able to shut it down before it caught fire. *tr

2001 ford f-150 lariat..5.4 cu .im engine. multiple spark plugs self extract ..after 50,000 miles, creating possible fire hazard. no warning when it will occur. this happens in spite of routine normal maintenance being performed. when the plug pops out it also breaks the ignition coil tab for this cylinder thus making the cylinder inoperative with the possibility of raw gasoline/ethanol being ejected next to a uncontrolled spark from the loose coil. very dangerous,especially with my wife and kids in the vehicle. there has been no notification from ford of this possibility. this has happened to at least a few dozen times to vehicles in my local area. in fact, it must be a frequent situation because there are after market repair kits.. heli-coil installation (not a permanent repair). the repair from ford is to replace the engine heads...a $5,000.00 plus repair cost if past the warranty period. ford will not provide any satisfaction. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2001 ford f150. the contact stated that while eating dinner, the fire department informed her that her vehicle caught on fire. the flames were extinguished, and she has a copy of the report. the insurance company was in the process of investigating the cause of the failure. she was in the process of contacting the manufacturer. the failure and current mileages were 147,300.

Driving home in my 2001 f150 supercrew and when i turned on the a/c fan, smoke started coming out from under the glove box. i pulled over and look under the box and noticed the connector to the fan speed pack was burning. i blew it out before it did any further damage, then unplugged it. no issues since then. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2001 ford f150. the contact stated that four spark plugs failed and were blown into the coil pack. the contact stated that the failure caused the vehicle to stall without warning. the manufacturer was contacted but provided no assistance. the vehicle was not repaired. the vin was not available. the current and failure mileage was 113,000.

I have a 2001 ford f-150 xlt 4.6l with 151,000 miles. a few days ago, i was driving on interstate 64 and heard a loud pop from the engine area. the engine started to miss violently. i pulled to the side of the road, raised the hood and noticed the spark plug had blown out. of course, i could not drive the truck anywhere so my 10 year old son and i had to wait for an hour for a tow truck. after some research, i realize that this has happened to thousands of people. ford seems to blame incorrect torquing of the spark plugs, but most people blame a poor design in the small quantity of threads holding the spark plug. i can say that no one has touched the plugs in this truck except for a ford dealership when the plugs were changed at 75,000 miles. i am now stuck with an enormous repair bill of over $2000 for installation of a new head and coil pack (not to mention a tow bill and the stress of being stranded on the interstate and not owning a functional vehicle). if this is a design issue, then ford needs to at least make the repairs affordable. *tr

My 4.6l engine on my 2001 ford f150 pickup truck needed new spark plugs. i have changed plugs on many motors before so it is not new to me. i read the service manual and learned more about this particular model by reading information off the net. i was very careful and did everything the service manual and net info told me to do. even so, the very first plug i removed from the engine block broke. the porcelain and hex nut came out in one piece but the bottom threads and ground electrode remained in the engine block. i went back to the net to search for solutions to the problem only to find that more often than not the spark plugs on these models will break apart when removing them. i believe this falls under the category of a recall. this will be a costly repair that i cannot do myself and i don't believe ford can justify this many plugs breaking. *tr

I own a 2001 ford f150 pickup. i've had to change a coil (above spark plug) on this truck several times (at least 5 failures) since i've owned this truck. when a coil goes out the truck misses a lot and at times when you slow down to turn a corner the truck will die, causing me to brake to an immediate stop because the power stearing goes out. very dangerous. *tr

Ford 5.4 liters have the sparkplug blow out of the cylinder head very often 4 have happen to my 2001 ford f150 with the 5.4 they want you to use a thread insert to repair the damage but even then it still happens not to mention pretty expensive to boot it is a well known problem with these motors they also break the coil packs on top of the spark plug ford knows of the problem but will not fix. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2001 ford f-150. the contact stated that his vehicle had been parked at his residence for three days when it caught fire. the fire originated under the hood of the vehicle. there were no injuries. the vehicle was attached to a boat, which was also damaged in the fire. the fire department extinguished the fire and filed a report. the contact was advised to call the ford manufacturer. the vin was unknown. the failure mileage was 125,000.

2001 ford f150 spark plug blowout has left me without a vehicle and out of money now. according to my research this is a common problem among all ford v8's and v10's from 1999 to 2002. the problem is due to lack of threads in the aluminum heads (only four theads), and has resulted in several fires and extensive property damage. apparently all attempts at a recall and class action law suit have been met with relative disregard. despite the fact that ford redesigned their heads after 2002 to correct this problem they still refuse any assistance to customers who suffer due to their design flaw. apparently someone will have to die from the engine fire before anything will be done. and eventually someone will die, if they haven't already. perhaps a death due to this problem might force legal action. i'm currently looking at over $3000 worth of repair cost, the vehicle cannot currently be driven due to risk of fire. please refer to consumercomplaints.com for a list of thousands of individuals who have suffered because of ford's design flaw. *tr

I have a 2001 ford f150 with the 4.6l triton. driving home from work on the evening of april 27th, im at a red light. as soon as it turns green i push the pedal to go. out comes the spark plug from the block. i have read numerous complaints about this issue on the internet. i cannot believe ford has not issued a recall over this. not only is it dangerous, but its a silly problem to have. i have had 5 estimates to fix this problem all over $2000. there's no way i can afford this, i am looking for a class action lawsuit to join. very disappointed in ford and when i get this fixed i will never own another ford vehicle. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2001 ford f150. the contact stated when starting the vehicle the engine would exhibit a continuous increase and decrease in engine rpms. while driving at speeds of at least 20 mph, the engine would idle tremendously loud and the check engine light illuminated on the instrument panel. the vehicle was taken to a local mechanic he performed an oil change. the failure persisted and the vehicle was taken to a second mechanic. the mechanic replaced the mass sensor however; the repair did not correct the failure. the mechanic then advised cylinder three had misfired. the failure had not yet been corrected to date. the failure mileage was 40,000 and the current mileage was 62,052.

Spark plug blown out of engine. 2 years after dealer installed. *tr

One morning upon starting my 2001 ford f-150, i heard a loud pop and knocking coming from my engine compartment. the #3 spark plug on the passenger side, shot out of the cylinder head and broke the #3 cylinder ignition coil, stripping the threading on the cylinder head. ignition coil, spark plug, and steel insert threading were replaced. mileage = 124515 5.4 v8 this is appears to be a well-known problem: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/7_on_your_side&id=4757786 http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/03/ford_spark_plug_fire.html http://ezinearticles.com/?ford-spark-plug-problems---spark-plugs-broken-and-blowing-out&id=1107803. *tr

While on a trip and 400 miles from home , the vehicle started missing severely. we were able to get to our destination some 180 miles further. the following morning the check engine light came on and the vehicle was malfunctioning badly. we got a dealer to repair it. the intake manifold was cracked and causing water/antifreeze to create the problem. the manifold was replaced along with other necessary parts. apparently this is a common problem on the f-150. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2001 ford f-150. the vehicle caught fire while parked outside the contact's place of work. the fire department was notified, but did not state what caused the fire. the fire burned the motor, created a hole through the hood of the vehicle, and scorched the entire dashboard. the windshield glass burst into pieces and the vehicle was towed to his residence. the ford dealer filed a case and followed-up with the contact within 15 business days and informed him that someone would diagnose the vehicle. the contact was also informed that there was a recall for the cruise control. the vin and nhtsa campaign id number were unknown. the failure and current mileages were 197,000. updated 04/17/09. *lj updated 04/20/09.*jb

Fire f 150. *tr

I have 2001 ford f150. triton v8 engine. driving under very light load, going 35 mph the number 1 cylinder spark plug shot out and caused damage to the threads. *tr

2001 ford f-150 blew out a spark plug for the 2nd time. caused the truck to go off the road since it immediately lost power while going 65mph. this is the 2nd one that has blown and will likely cost a few thousand dollars to fix. there is a forum on consumer affairs with hundreds of people with the same exact problem with their ford vehicle. the website link is http://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/ford_spark.html if you would like to check it out. *tr

Driving 35 to 40 miles an hour. heard a loud pop under the hood pulled over and found a spark plug had blown out of the engine. not fixed yet. *tr

I have a ford f-150 2001 with triton 5.4 v8 i started my truck and heard a loud pop and then what sounded like a very bad exhaust leak. come to find out the back sparkplug on passenger side blew out. i had to have a new coil new plug and helicoil installed. *tr

I own a 2001 ford f 150 w/ the 5.4 triton engine, while i was backing the truck out of a restaurant, the engine made a loud pop. i took the truck to a ford dealership...they told me that the engine blew the # 3 spark plug out. the service department told me that this is a common problem with the motor because of bad designed heads. they advised me that i would be better off with a new engine at the cost of $4800.00. i pulled up a site on the internet that states that there have been thousands of complaints with the same problems. i feel like ford should have a recall on this engine. *tr

My wife and i were driving to florida from north carolina. i have a 2001 ford f150 5.4 triton. a loud pop, and the spark plug blew out of the head, taking the coil with it. very expensive repair. this is a widely reported problem with this model and is an obvious manufacturer defect due to insufficient thread depth in the head. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2001 ford f-150. while driving 15 mph, the contact noticed that his vehicle would drive extremely rough. he took the vehicle to a local repair shop and they stated that the intake manifold and passenger side bolts in the engine had excessive rust. in addition, the intake manifold needed to be replaced at the cost of $600. the vehicle has not been repaired. the failure and current mileages were 71,000.

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. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2001 ford f150 ld. the contact's vehicle caught fire while it was parked. she stated that the fire originated near the motor and brake fluid. the fire department was not called to the scene. the contact extinguished the fire by disconnecting the battery. the manufacturer has not yet been notified and the vehicle has not been repaired. the vehicle is still at the contact's residence. the vin was unknown. the failure and current mileages were 157,889.

On 10/5/08, driving near home, slow speed, heard a loud noise from under the hood, lost power. determined that the 4th spark plug on drivers side had unthreaded from engine, damaging coil. on attempt to replace with new spark plug, learned that the cylinder head threads were damaged (stripped). 76,000 miles, spark plug had never been removed, was original from ford factory. *tr

My 2001 ford f-150 blew a spark plug out of the 7 head on 09/30/2008. the truck has 150k on it. i bought it new in 2001 and have always maintained it. i went out to go to work in the am and the truck just roared when i started it, i found the spark plug on the driveway the threads on the plug were completely in tact. took it ford service and it will cost me $2500.00 to fix with no guarantee. i have found that this is a really common complaint from owners of v8 triton engines. ford needs to do a recall on these vehicles. my brother-in-law is an asi front end mechanic for ford and he says he has seen a lot of this problem. if he didn't live in denver i would have him fix it. my family has always driven ford products. my father was an engineer for ford in detroit. but, i feel that because ford will not stand behind this problem that maybe it is time to switch loyalties. the service department at the dealership displays a so- what attitude. i requested a factory rep to look at the truck and they said either fix it now, or move the truck off their premises. the consumer has no rights anymore. *tr

Experienced spark plug blowout during regular driving, occurred once in one cylinder of a 2001 ford f150 5.4 triton dual fuel factory propane. used a helicoil kit and repaired the damage and other cylinders to prevent further damage. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2001 ford f-150. after driving 35 mph, the contact parked the vehicle in her driveway. minutes later, the vehicle caught fire under the hood. the fire damaged the neighbor's vehicle and the landlord's fence. the contact later discovered a recall relating to the fire. the detective at the scene believed that the fire was due to the recall. a police report was filed. the manufacturer has not been notified. the nhtsa campaign id number was unknown. the failure mileage was 108,000.

My 2001 ford f150 blew a spark plug right out of the aluminum head on 8-17-08. vehicle had about 90,000 miles on it. it is a common and repeating failure of the 5.4l v-8 engine and ford will not acknowledge it as a problem. i opted for the helicoil replacement option ($640) over a complete new head ($3000). ford will not pay for any of this even though it is their design flaw. later models have been changed to correct this problem. if it was not a problem then why was it corrected? *tr

2001 ford f150 with v8 4.6 liter engine blows spark plugs out of the head. had 2 do this in the last 2 months. had to get out of traffic because engine will not run, call tow truck and deliver to repair shop. they redrilled the hole and installed an insert both times. alot of ford engines of this type do this as i now know. afraid to drive this truck and alot of money out of my pocket!!!!!!! *tr

Tl*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. *lj updated 08/17/09 *jb

In january i had driven my f150 to the store, when i returned to it in the parking lot and started it i heard a loud pop from under the hood. this sound was followed by a loud backfiring sound upon adding a few rpm's to the engine. i shut it off to inspect and discovered the far rear spark plug had been shot clear out of the head and was lying loose inside the engine compartment. the spark plug and the head each had enough threads left for the plug to reset. the coil was damaged and needed to be replaced. three days ago (5/18/08) i started the vehicle again heard the same pop and the same backfire sound. upon inspection this time i found that although the plug had not come out of the head this time it was clearly loose. there are no longer usable threads on either the head or the plug and i have been quoted $2500 (discounted rate) to repair a vehicle that has only 78000 miles on it and that i owe $16000 and can't even trade in now. i have done extensive research and have found that this is a very common complaint with the ford tritan v8 engine and that ford has not chosen to remedy this defect. *tr

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. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2001 ford f-150. after being parked for one hour, the vehicle burst into flames and was destroyed. two vehicles next to the contact's vehicle were damaged. the fire department stated that the fire originated from the engine compartment and a report was filed. the contact has pictures. the failure mileage was 157,000.

I have a 2001 ford f 150 w/a triton v8 engine. it blew a plug out and ford knows there is a problem and won't fix the issue. i am have to pay $1,000.00 to repair an engine that is defective right off the factory floor. i have done a lot of research and there is a serious problem and some have caught fire. will people actually have to die before ford is required to do something about it? *tr

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. *tr