Problems with 2001 Ford F-150 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING

Vehicle smokes almost every time when first cranked up. is now beginning to smoke while driving some, especially within a few minutes of cranking. vehicle stalls mostly in afternoon when outside temp is above 70. vehicle has slight shake and vibration when driving or sitting still with transmission in gear. vehicle makes clunking noise around front to front left side if allowed to coast to around 20 mph then accelerating. *jb

Consumer called complaining about having problem with the head gasket which is leaking oil. consumer states will replace the engine. dealer has been notified. please provide further inforrmation. thanks. ts

The egr system warning light appeared 2,000 miles outside of the warranty. scc

Re: 2001 ford svt lightning my vehicle violently ejected a spark plug from the engine's head, while merging on a highway on-ramp. upon failure, the vehicle obviously started misfiring, bucking, and was a handful when pulling over to side of the road. ford only used 4 sets of threads on their lightining heads from 1999 to early 2003. conventional heads typically use between 8 and 10 threads to hold a plug, but ford designed their heads with only 4 threads on many modular 5.4-liter v8 motors too (not just the lightning). they have acknowledged that there is a problem, as they have changed the head design in early 2003 to a new part with 8 threads. but ford has not issued a recall for older lightnings (and other f-150's), even though this could be a potential safety problem (fire, loss of control, etc.). i have already had my head replaced with another inferior 4-thread design, and i wonder when the next plug will be blown from my engine. i would like to see nhtsa encourage ford to retrofit all affected vehicles as this is a common problem for many lightning owners.

I have had nothing but problems with the fuel injection system. the deal did fix the first problem but ignored complaints that the problem was still not fixed. at 36000 miles the drive belt went out and still there was problems w/ injectors . now dealers will not honor warranty becasue current mileage is 36900 even though they put the first 1,234 when the truck was bought new.*ak

Serpentine belt broke while backing up and vehicle lost steering ability, towed to dealer, part was replaced.*ak the steering locked and the consumer lost control of the vehicle resulting in a collision with a pole.*yh

Consumer stated the engine has been replaced 3 times since 31,168 miles. *jg *ak

Consumer states that while driving the engine light came on and stayed on.had vehicle serviced,they replaced the senor.engine light came back on again. mr

Vehicle stalled at any speed when applying brakes. vehicle taken to dealer 3 times. reprogrammed computer, but that did not remedy the problem. ford was aware of problem but had no solution. *ak

2001 ford f-150 4.2l v6. two spark plugs have loosened and ejected so far. *tr

While driving 65mph, tracker passed consumer's vehicle and soon after, vehicle shutdown, all dashboard lights came on. this usually happened on the highway. three weeks later, vehicle shutdown again. *ak consumer states that this only happens at times when accelerating, consumer states vehicle would also lunge forward and rev when in a stopped position with foot on the brake, dealer has replaced spark plugs, ignition, vapor vlave, and computer, vehicle has not been remedied. *jb

Have had problems with this vehicle at 1900 miles. suspension, fumes, brakes, signal switch, electrical shortages.

I was driving down the highway and all of a sudden the engine starts to make a popping sound. i pulled over and raised the hood. the #3 spark plug had blown out from its seating in the cylinder head. i had the truck towed to the dealer and they replaced the cylinder head. this is a known problem and could be very dangerous because of the location of the fuel injection rail. the sparkplug is located directly below the fuel rail. if the spark plug comes loose and it flies into the fuel rail, the rail could burst causing fuel to spray inside the engine compartment igniting a fire. the spark plug problem was taken care of by ford, however nothing was done to guard the fuel rail.

Engine stalls intermittently during normal operation while traveling at any speed. dealership has been unable to reproduce problem and identify the cause. please provide any additional information / documentation. *ak

Engine service light comes on intermittently. vehicle has been taken to dealer 6 times. airflow sensor was replaced, did not remedy the problem.*ak

Vehicle "dogs" down (loss of power) when turning right. only when your turning a corner at low speed does the engine stall. numerous complaints and replaced parts have not fixed the situation.*ak

Harmonic vibration starts at 40mph and occurs again at 65-70mph. *ak (tiresize: p235/r16)

4.6 liter engine; whenever making a right hand turn vehicle will hesistate to take off. please provide any further information.*ak

Two days after truck purchase, reported to dealer truck has bad vibration, rough idle, pulls to the right, truck hesitates to go into gear, truck hesitates before shifting, engine knock and clunk in t-case area. transmission has been replaced twice,road forced balance 4 tires,switched tires and wheels,front end alignment three times,torque converter replaced,crankshaft pully replaced,dampers installed for vibration. all problems still exist. ford has offered to buy back the truck but they will not give me all of my money back.

The vehicle experienced substancial vibration between 40 and 45 mph, the vehicle has been in the dealers shop for the same problem on 15 different occasions, the dealer has replaced the tires, a rim, 3 driveshafts, shims in the rear end, a new transmission and new drivetrain mounts but the problem still exist. nlm

While traveling on the interstate at approx. 60 mph, the engine shut off and the dashboard gauges and odometer went blank. i was not able to restart the engine and the vehicle had to be towed from the travel lane of the highway. the ford dealer that the vehicle was towed to, stevens ford in milford, ct claims that there is a open wire in the dashboard wiring.

Since the purchase of this brand new vehicle, the exhust has been black. the dealer's computer says that nothing is wrong, i think it is an epa violation, but because state emissions is not a required test in south carolina, they say that since it's not a saftey hazard, there's nothing they can do about it.*ak

This was 2nd transmission failure; both times the transmission fluid sprayed under vehicle & tires, making vehicle slide on road. both transmission and drive shaft were replaced; tech stated the rear seal had blown.*ak

Engine was leaking oil and a new one was on order. it was replaced on 2-12-2001. on 4-17-2001 oil was leaking from same spot. dealer said it was coming from transmission. dealer was inspecting the transmission. consumer will add more information if possible. *ak

Spark plug blown out of engine and stripped threads in engine head. due to poor engineering of original thread length. short thread length in aluminum block will not hold compression pressures over time. i must either repair the head or replace the head with newer design with threads of proper length. has not been fixed yet. *tr

Engine failed. vehicle is under warranty. dealership will not cover the cost.

F-150 supercab with towing package delivered with ford specified wrong radiator. standard radiator is a 1.02" width core. super cooling, which is included in the towing package specifies a 1.42" core radiator. request ford replace my smaller radiator with the properly specified radiator.*ak

Tl*the contact owns a 2001 ford f150 lightning sbt. the contact stated that the spark plugs are blown from the engine. while driving 45 mph the sparks plug blew out while the engine was running. the vehicle was towed to a repair shop where they replaced the spark plugs. the manufacturer was called and informed him to call nhtsa to file a complaint. the failure mileage was 56,000.