Problems with 2002 Ford F-150 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING

Spark plug ejected from engine. *tr

#3 spark plug blew out of the head going 65 mph. $500- repair bill to place a helicoil. talking to several mechanics, it is a common problem with the 5.4 ford motor. why has there been no recall or safety warning issued? *tr

2002 ford f150 blew the spark plug out of the head when starting engine. gasoline fumes in cab very strong, had to exit vehicle, disable sparkplug coil to keep from having a serious gasoling fire on my hands...... *tr

2002 ford f-150 5.4 v8 - spark plug blew out of cylinder no. 3 under normal driving use. vehicle has 98,000 original miles on the engine. i have ford extended service plan on the vehicle, although the local dealer said this is not covered under the warranty, and wants to charge me $4500.00 to repair. when i called the salesman to inquire about the esp, he said that the 5.4 is known to have those problems with the spark plug, so why will ford not stand up and accept responsibility! *tr

2002 ford f-150 5.4 v8 - original factory spark plug blew out of cylinder no. 3 under normal driving use. vehicle has 78,000 original miles on the engine and plugs and ford does not recommend changing the spark plugs in this engine for the first 100,000 miles. service manager at the ford dealership where truck is being repaired indicated that this is a common issue with this motor, however the repair is not covered by ford. *tr

I own a 2002 f-150 4x4 it has 79k miles and had the original ford plugs in it. i was stranded a long distance from home when the truck spit a spark plug out destroying the coil. smoke and fuel came out from the engine compartment and not knowing what went wrong i thought the truck was on fire. i had the truck towed to a ford dealership where they said yes that's a bummer. they fixed it with an insert and said there is no guarantee it wont happen again to that cylinder or the other ones!! not feeling comfortable leaving town in my truck now, i find out this spark plug issue is so common that there are shops in my little area that fix one to two of these problems a week! i'm sure ford don't even know about these vehicles. so i contacted ford directly and was told the same thing everyone else is being told across the country sorry cant help you!! but we have great incentives on new vehicles!! i was told the preventable fix for this problem is to replace the spark plugs more often although due to the cylinder head design this is only a possible bandage not a permanent fix and it could still happen. ford and chevrolet represent history. i know times are bad but stand up for your product be american!! *tr

Well the events leading up to the failure....there were none we were driving back home when all of a sudden pop and there goes my #3 spark plug. well i was stranded for two hours or more until i got my truck towed to my house. the estimated price on a repair for that is $1700 to take the cylinder head apart and install an insert and that price is just for labor no charge on parts yet. this is a common problem that if you look online you will see that many people have the same problem. we need to make ford stand up for their mistake before someone looses their life do to an open spark and fuel being present and exposed when the spark plug blows out. *tr

Ford triton 5.4 spark plug ejection. *tr

2002 f150 ford triton spark plug ejection. *tr

I got in the truck and started it, there was a funny noise and a loud bang. i shut off the truck and saw smoke coming from under the hood on the passenger side near the windshield. i looked under the hood and decided it needed to go into the shop. i took it to the dealership and was told the spark plug had blown out of the block of the truck, they tried to put it back in but the head had been stripped and the coil was cracked. we were then advised that the truck needed a new head. *tr

2002 ford f150 5.4l,spark plug blew out of engine while driving, gas smell and sparks in engine compartment. this has happened twice to me, 11-25-08 at 70k mi with original factory plugs cly #3 passenger side and 11-03-09 at 82k mi with the replacement ngk plugs cly #4 drivers side. this should be a recall very high risk of under hood fire. *tr

I have a 2002 ford f150 supercrew harley davidson edition with a triton 5.4 l engine. i placed the truck in drive and heard a pop and then a continued rhythmic popping. i opened the hood and could tell air was coming from the #4 cylinder. i turned off the engine and investigated further. the spark plug had blown completely out of the head and broke the ignition coil attached to the spark plug wire. so far this is the only incident for me but after researching online, for possible repairs solutions, i found that this is way too common of a problem with these ford engines. i am only glad it happened while i was pulling out of my garage. if that had happened at speed on the highway with the engine temperature up there could have been a serious situation. after reading all the problems so many others have had, i am afraid of when this could happen again! *tr

02' ford f150 triton v8 5.4 1. loud tapping noise from motor. 2. & 3. spark plug blown out of the head. so far this has happened twice. new spark plug, new coil pack, healy-coil pack, 4 hrs of my time working on this p.o.f.s... there should be a recall on this because it seems to be happening on all the ford trucks out there. only ford. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2002 ford f-150. while the contact was driving 75 mph she suddenly heard a loud popping sound in the engine and immediately the vehicle shut off. a local mechanic stated that the engine seized and needed to be replaced. there were no prior warnings and the current and failure mileages were 100000. updated 11/13/09. *lj updated 11/16/09.*jb

I have a 2002 ford f-150 lightning, i was driving one day and the spark plug shot out of the engine due to lack of threads to hold the spark plug in. the vehicle was repaired using a time-sert kit. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2002 ford f-150. the contact stated that he was alerted by the fire department that his vehicle was on fire. as a result the vehicle was completely destroyed. the vehicle has not been inspected by a technician. the current and failure mileages were 140000.

The spark plugs are being blown out of cylinder heads on all size triton engines. this occurred on my 2002 ford f150, and on my father in-laws expedition. this was on a triton v-8 and v-10s. when i took it to the dealership in ft wayne indiana they informed me that this is common on these engines i also spoke with ford customer care and they claim that this is common. they wont recall it because they claim that this is not a safety issue. i feel that this is a safety issue because it does not shut off the fuel supply to that cylinder. not to mention it just happens with out any sort of warning luckily i was able to limp my truck to the closest ford dealership in my area. with my father in -laws expedition he was just outside of town on his way to arkansas when his blew out. the only remedy is a healy coil or replace the head, thankfully the coil is reasonable in cost but wont last forever. *tr

My 2002 ford f-150 has in the past two months experienced three blown/ejected spark plugs causing the damage and necessary replacement of "coils". this posed a possible safety hazard, and i am very unhappy at the time and cost i have incurred since the initial onset of this problem, that apparently ford has been aware of all of this time. *tr

Event.. i was driving west bound on the 215 freeway in las vegas, nv. exiting durango road. i sat at the intersection waiting for the signal light to turn green. when the light turned green, moving forward, i was making a left hand turn going (10mph) south bound on durango road, just at that time i herd a loud pop noise. as i was pulling over, my truck (f150) was running rough, i stopped, put it in park , shut the engine off, opened the hood and there sat a coil pack including the spark plug on top of the motor. after evaluating the incident more, i notice that the coil pack and spark plug came from the passenger side engine head #three (3) cylinder. my truck has the original motorcraft spark plugs in it since 2002. not sure why the spark plug would just pop-out. nice job ford!! ford manufactures the motor (triton 5.4l) and the motorcraft spark plugs? seems very simple whose responsibility this is. repair cost''the repair shop is estimating $2,500.00 head repair or new engine at approximately $6,500.00 inc. labor. questiions.. how is the consumer going to know prior to the spark plug popping out, to secure it? why are the spark plugs popping out? not enough threads? how do the executives at ford sleep at night knowing that this problem could take someone's life at any time? personal comment.. when the spark plug or the coil pack was ejected from the engine head, this could have hit the fuel rail and started a tremendous fire, like a lot of people in the us we don't always carry a fire extinguisher because an '!@#$% spark plug is going to pop out of the engine head and start the truck on fire. this is ridiculous!!!! ford motor company needs to own up to there mistakes before somebody looses there life. i am not the suing type of person, but if one of my kids looses there life driving my truck because of a spark plug problem and ford motor company did not tell me about it, i am afraid to tell you what i would do. this is not a threat just reality. *tr

There was no events leading up to our problem with our pick up truck. i started the truck and heard a loud bang and then the truck sounded like it was missing. we found out that the 3rd spark plug on the passenger side of the motor blew out. it hasn't been fixed yet it happened yesterday 8/17/09. *tr

I own a 2002 ford f150 with the triton 5.4l v-8. i have had spark plugs eject from 3 different cylinders now and ford claims it is not a recall issue. this problem has been noted on many of the ford vehicles with the triton 5.4 v-8. when the spark plug is ejected fuel vapor can leak into the engine compartment and possibly cause a fire. i have not had that problem but i am frustrated with ford's unwillingness to cover a known problem with their design. *tr

Blew two spark plugs out of the head on two separate incidents about 3 months apart. had plug hole rethreaded and it blew out again about three months later. had sleeve put into the head today. hope that holds it but doubtful. *tr

My 2002 ford f150 truck, with the 5.4 liter engine, has had 2 failures on 2 different occasions in the space of 8 months. each time i was just driving down the highway and a spark plug was blown out of the head, along with the coil. (plug #3 the first time and #7 the last time.) this failure caused an immediate loss of power. luckily the traffic was light each time, being late at night, so i was able to pull safely to the side of the road to determine the problem, whereas if the traffic had been heavy, it could have caused a major accident because of the immediate power loss to the engine, and/or a fire due to it proximity to the injectors. the defects were repaired at the local ford dealership where the truck was purchased using a threaded insert into the old head and a new coil. total cost for both repairs was approximately $600, at my expense. i have emailed ford motor company and they responded saying that because the vehicle was out of warranty and there were no recalls or customer satisfaction programs it would not be fixed by ford. i purchased this vehicle new and it has been meticulously maintained. i have searched the internet and have found that there are thousands of these engines with this problem. it is obvious ford knows of this defect in the heads and refuses to deal with it. if not by recall, it is obviously a factory defect and should be dealt with by ford as the incidents occur. this is a dangerous situation that should be looked into because of the immediate loss of engine power and possibility of fire. *tr

Driving along a river road at 35 miles per hour, after a short highway drive of about 70mph, a spark plug blew out of the #3 cylinder. we were going camping with our 2 young boys, so decided to drive the truck home. during the drive the smell of gasoline vapor was overpowering. we had only a 45 mile drive to home. on getting the truck home i popped the hood and to my horror the ejected plug was still firing on top of the valve cover. this is an extreme fire hazard! *tr

Fordf150 2002 model was driving down hwy 11w approximately 45 mile an hour and heard loud bang the #5 spark plug had blown out of engine spitting fuel the engine is 5.4 trition v8 it broke the coil pack and busted the fuel rail on pick up truck is the a recall ? or needs to be recalled any suggestions as to how to fix this issue? *tr

I own a2002 ford f150. it has about 80,000 miles and it blew a spark plug out of the engine. *tr

Vehicle was in the drive way and caught on fire burned completely up and blew out tires. there is a report with the fire department. *tr

Leading up to the spark plug being blown out of my ford f-150 with a 5.4 l motor, i heard a distinct ticking sound that resembled an exhaust manifold leak. driving on the highway around 75 miles per hour, two hours into my drive the tick became louder and finally a pop came from under the hood. i then pulled over and left the truck idling. looking under the hood i see the coil over pack vibrating a lot and then i shut the truck off and unplugged the coil over pack and out came the coil over pack and attached a spark plug. the coil over pack was broken due to the force of the plug being blown out. i am now in the process of towing my truck home which is 3 hours to do the repair necessary to fix the problem. to fix the problem i am looking to install a thread insert in hopes of saving a lot of money. this is the cheaper easier way to fix it for i do not want to replace the head myself nor do i want ford's investing thousands to replace it. *tr

2002 ford f-150 w/ 5.4 l v-8 engine----spark plugs keep blowing out of engine. *tr

My 2002 ford f-150 blew a spark plug right out of the cylinder while driving on rt 85 in connecticut. the danger from this was great as there was gas splashed throughout the engine compartment. went t the ford dealer and they played down the situation and said it would cost $600.00 to fix. i also incurred a $200.00 towing bill, and had to replaced a spark plug coil which was damaged by the spark plug to the tune of $100.00. the internet has provided information that this is a significant problem with ford v-8 engines, and i'm wondering why the nhtsa lets this continue...many people are suffering financial loss, and safety issues with fires that result from this situation. *tr

I own a 2002 ford f-150 xlt 4x4 with a trition 5.4l v-8. i went out to start it this morning and i heard a loud noise that sounded like a shot went off. then my truck started shaking and making a chugging noise. i shut it off and opened the hood and found that one of my spark plugs just blew out of the engine. it broke the coil and stripped out the threads where the spark plug goes. i had to have it towed to a mechanic and it cost $503.83 for the repair. the mechanic told me this was a common problem with the trition engines. i went online and did some research and found many complaints of the same subject. i think ford needs to issue a recall to fix this problem. *tr

While driving at 45 mph on level surface the #5 spark plug was ejected from it's hole damaging the coil over plug causing arcing from the coil to the engine. the vehicle immediately slowed dramatically and the smell of gasoline was apparent. luckily there was very light traffic and i was able to pull to the side of the road and shutdown the engine. i identified the problem and having some mechanical training knew enough to disconnect the fuel injector wire for the #5 cylinder. this was the only way i could safely move the vehicle. had i not known what to do, an engine compartment explosion would have easily resulted. *tr

My 2002 f150 recently spit out a spark plug, stripping the threads of the aluminum cylinder head. the service shop where i took it told me that it's been a major problem with ford trucks for some time, and refused to fix it. *tr

On my birth day i experienced something like never before i blew the #4 spark plug on the passenger side brought it back to work what a rough ride. then started to look in the hole with a bore scope to find out the treads were gone yeah. called around to find out how much it would cost me and the cheapest was a machine shop called lentech automotive at a price of 300.00 not bad but i made some more calls and found a kit to do it at bensons autoparts 65.00 hope this will fix it. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 ford f-150. the number 7 and 8 spark plugs have blown out of the cylinder head. the vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection. the technician stated that the spark plugs misfired because there was not enough thread to hold the spark plugs in place. spark plug number 8 and replaced and number 7 was in the process of being replaced. the failure mileage was 94,227.

Tl*the contact owns a 2002 ford f-150. while driving 35 mph, the spark plugs failed. the contact pulled the vehicle over and examined underneath the hood. a witness stated that there was a noise when this occurred. the vehicle was restarted and popping noises were heard. the vehicle was towed to a ford dealer and they stated that nothing could be done and the contact would be responsible for the repairs. there were no complaints found for this vehicle. the vehicle has been repaired. the failure mileage was 43,332 and current mileage was 43,600.

2002 ford f150 5.4 liter engine. traveling at approx 25 mph i heard a loud pop from the engine compartment and something hitting the hood. the car started to run rough and gasoline fumes started to fill the passenger compartment. i took the truck to a repair garage who indicated that a spark plug had blown from the head. i was told this is a common ford problem by the garage and subsequent research on the internet has verified this. the head was remilled and the plug and coil had to be replaced. ford does acknowledge an issue and has issued a tsb however warranties do not cover repair. with the plug blown out of the head gas vapors were being injected into the engine compartment and the risk of fire is present. *tr

I experienced a spark plug blow out on my way to work. i was stranded on a narrow road and had to call for help. my dad called a tow tru ck and we had it towed to the dealer in kailua kona, hawaii. we saw that a spark plug had blown out. the tow truck driver said his truck did the same thing. at the dealer they said they did not know why it did that. after getting it repaired for $600.00, my truck would not run. they said, you need a new engine at the tune of $5,000.00. it ran fine prior to that spark plug blow out. with further investigation, an expert mechanic suspects they mishandeled the installation. they want me to pay for their mistake. this started out a ford part defect, but is ending up a destroyed engine. i will demand they fix it, or we will sue. this is outrageous!!! ford should not be bailed out. why can't someone do something about this? jail, perhaps? i am without a truck. *tr

I was driving to pick up lunch one day from work and when i pulled out into traffic to head back i heard a loud pop followed by a loss of power and a sound that made me think the serpentine belt broke. the plug shot out of the head and broke a coil pack in half. i talked to the ford dealer that i get my parts at, and he told me it happens alot on 4.6 liters, 5.4 liters, and v-10 ford trucks so much that they stay well stocked on the parts that i needed to fix what ford doesn't consider to be a problem, the fix is a well greased, extra long 14 mm tap and helicoil, red locktite, spark plug, coil pack, and any other bits and pieces the plug destoys on its way out, from the reports i'm reading i got lucky thtat it was just my coil that took the brunt of it, i've talked to some people around the area and they see any where from 2 to 4 per week, and on top of that there was two people at my work that have had the same problem. we only have 18 employees. one was in a 5.4 and the other was a v10. the dealer told me there was no recall on the problem and that ford doesn't recognize it. the part will be repared and will not be avalible and just cost me more of my time and money doing stupid repares that are questionable at best. *tr

Driving to pick up my son at school for a trip. as i turned left across traffic i heard a loud pop in my 2002 ford f150 and then a loud series of loud pops as my engine continued to run. i pulled to the side of the road and immediately noticed a strong smell of gasoline. i moved the vehicle to a parts store just up the street and was told that my triton v-8 engine had just ejected a spark plug out of the head. i had the vehicle towed to a mechanic who then charged me a great deal to repair the head and replace the spark plug. *tr

My 2002 ford f-150 with a 4.6 liter v8 blew out a spark plug while accelerating on a highway entrance ramp. the sparkplug that blew out was the 3rd from the front on the passenger side. the threads for the spark plug in that cylinder are now ruined as well as the coil for that plug. to repair this problem i will probably end up buying a $250 kit to re-tap the head. *tr

Twice within one year, on two different occasion, my 2002 f150 ford truck has ejected a spark plug. there was no indication that there was an issue leading up to the event occurring. both times i had my truck towed to my local ford dealership and repaired. the repair both times consisted of the instillation of a heli coil and the bill was around $700.00. *tr

Truck maintained according to manufacturer specs. while driving daughter to school, heard loud pop. was able to make it to local repair shop. blown spark plug out of #2 cylinder. with the use of helicoil repairs came to approx. $700. less than 6 weeks later #4 cylinder blew spark plug while driving 65 miles per hour on the freeway. this time (after much research of similar complaints) installed longer thread spark plugs suggested by ford parts department. this time repair costs were $800.00. if ford has made a special kit and new longer spark plugs for this "problem" isn't that a subtle admission or guilt/responsibility. what ever happened to doing the right thing...admit your mistakes and take care of these repairs. "built ford tough" my eye!! my next truck will be a toyota... *tr

Started off from stop sign and around 30-35 mph, heard a loud popping sound and pulled over to find #3 cylinder had blown spark plug out. coil was damaged also. had truck towed to nearest shop 40 miles away. *tr

Purchased used 2002 f-150 lariat with 80k miles in 4/08. sept 9th the spark plug #6 blew out of engine. not covered under warranty. had to tap and placed helicoil to fix. oct 10th the spark plug #8 blew out of engine. current mileage is 90k. *tr

I have a 5.4l engine in my ford truck and it keeps stripping out spark plugs. i am not the only one with this problem. there are hundreds if not thousands of people that have posted the same problem on consumer affairs report .com. one guys truck burnt to the ground in 12 minutes and couldn't even get his navigation system out of his vehicle. flames were shooting out of the dash towards him. i have contacted ford with the matter and they state that it is not a safety issue and you are the ones that have to recall it. i would say that if your vehicle can burn to the ground in a matter of minutes, it is a safety problem. they know about this problem and it keeps happening to people all over and they are not doing anything about it. a recall needs to be called on these engines before someone gets killed or hurt in an accident due to the vehicle breaking down in the middle of a highway. it needs to be taken care of before someone gets killed, not after. *tr

I have a '02 ford f150 with 51,581 miles on it. yesterday, cylinder #3 decided to blow the spark plug right out of the cylinder head. fortunately, i was able to stop the vehicle immediately. after reading many other frustrated customers with the same issue, i found out that i was quite lucky that the engine didn't immediately erupt in flames. ford refuses to acknowledge there is any issue with this design even though it's well documented. ford expects it's customer to replace the head to resolve the problem at the customer's expense. mine $3,322.96. now the better part. because it appears the design has not changed, even by replacing the head there is no guarantee that this will not happen again. *tr

While driving down the road, i heard a loud explosion and the engine began running rough. i pulled over and opened the hood. the explosion had dented the inside of the hood. i found a broken coil laying on top of the engine, and the corresponding spark plug laying beneath the engine. i took the vehicle to a mechanic, who re-threaded the spark plug hole and installed a new spark plug. the vehicle performed as usual for about six months, and then the same exact situation occurred, involving the same exact spark plug. the second occurrence, the plug and coil were so damaged that the head could not be re-threaded and repaired. after researching this issue, i found that dozens of other owners have experienced the same problem, which is due to an engine and/or piston defect. the second occurrence required drilling out the affected head, tapping it, and installing a helicoil before the spark plug could be replaced. i am very concerned about this issue, since in addition to the expense and inconvenience this manufacturing defect has caused me, it is extremely dangerous as well. while i have not had an engine fire, other owners of this make and model have reported engine fires. *tr

While being 250 miles away from home, the spark plug blew out of the engine of my 2002 f-150 truck. i was able to buy tools and perform a temporary repair in order to get my truck home. i then hired a mechanic to repair the engine using a heli-coil. unfortunately i don't trust the truck now as i bought it to pull my camper and am concerned over being stranded. i was told by my mechanic that it is a common problem with the 5.4 triton engine. i am not sure why ford has not performed a recall on it. *tr

My 2002 ford f150 5.4 spark plug blow out of the motor with only 42000. miles on it. $ 890.00 to repair. *tr