Engine problems of the 2002 Ford Explorer

2002 Ford Explorer spark plug ejection issue on v8 4. 6l engine. This is now the second time that I have had spark plugs eject for the engine. From what I understand Ford reduced the number of threads for the spark plugs to save machining time and costs in the manufacturing of the engine. This is clearly a safety issue. The first time I was lucky enough to get the spark plug threaded back in and was able to drive it somewhere for proper repair. I am not so lucky the second time as the threads in the head are destroyed. Now I have the extra cost of towing the truck for repair. I have read many forums on this issue yet Ford continues to ignore the safety of it's customers. It is time for them to step up to the plate and take responsibilty for their design defects.

2002 Ford Explorer limited 4. 6l v8. Spark plug ejected from head upon start-up. Third time this has happened.

I have a 2002 Ford Explorer that ejected a spark plug. The spark plug was original (it came with the vehicle and had never been changed). My wife was driving to church when the spark plug was completely ejected and broke the coil mount. This allows fuel vapor to escape from the cylinder head and could result in an engine fire. Luckily, my wife didn't experience an engine fire since she was pulling into her destination when it happened and shut off the motor. The spark plug ejection stripped the threads from the cylinder head.

Spark plug blown out of cylinder head under normal driving conditions. Threads and spark plug both blown out of top of cylinder head.

Number 8 cylinder spark plug blew out of engine today on 2002 Ford Explorer 4. 6l.

I was driving down the road and then out of no where the engine started to sound extremely loud and spitting smoke I pulled over and after inspection of the motor I found a spark plug laying ontop of the engine block and the coil laying next to it. The spark plug blew out of the threading. This has happened twice to me in the last 1. 5 years the first time it was under my warranty from used car dealer and they replaced the complete motor with a new one. And the current incident happened today and per my mechanic he is going to put in a helicoil to try and resolve the issue.

The contact owns a 2002 Ford Explorer. While driving 10 mph, the contact noticed smoke entering into the vehicle from the front windshield. When the contact stopped the vehicle, the smoke became darker. The fire appeared from underneath the hood of the vehicle. The fire department extinguished the fire, but they could not determine the cause. The vehicle was destroyed, but there were no injuries. A police report was filed. The failure mileage was 110,000.

Spark plug blew out of 2002 Ford Explorer limited. I've had two Ford vehicles blow a spark plug this year.

I have 2002 Ford XLT Explorer. 102k miles now. I had issue with throttle cable sticking back in Feb 2008. Would not decelerate properly driving home in the evening, throttle stuck open. Came close to rear ending another vehicle. Traced the problem to what was that the inner liner of the throttle cable had backed out in the driver compartment apprx 2 inches and not allowing the cable to retract correctly. I removed that section of the liner. After research found that NHTSA action number : pe05037 matched my problem exactly. Please note here that my issue occurred after a longer period of time than what as noted in pe05037, you may have to open new investigation using longer period. I contacted Ford motor customer service about this and they offered no remedy for this issue.

Events leading up to the failure: backing out of a parking space failure and consequences: Ford acknowledges issues internally with the timing cartridges on the 2002 e code 4. 0l v6 sohc engine through several TSB's, however does not notify the public that this issue exists. I found out about the issue after apparently blowing the entire engine on my 2006 Ford Explorer. Now, instead of having a repair done at the dealership that could cost a little, I have to spend a lot of money to have it fixed. I am greatly thankful that this happened as I was backing out of a parking space and not at highway speeds. Apparently, Ford used several plastic guide way parts to tension the chain, and these parts fail easily because they are oil starved at engine startup. Because they are plastic, they can fatigue and break at any time, causing severe valve and piston damage, and leaving the operator of the car with no control of the automobile because of loss of vacuum for breaks, and automatic steering. Correction of failure: Ford refuses to pay anything to help repair or replace parts even with known issues.

Spark plug blew out of cylinder head while driving under normal conditions, could have caused fire had to replace the cylinder head instead of a tap kit to avoid metal shavings ruining the engine.

Persistent quality problems: engine, transmission, power steering, air compressor, and related safety hazards such as defective rear hinge.

Engine knock in all 4. 6 Ford Explorer engines-know by Ford, due to faulty cylinder heads.

Driving on I-65 nashville, TN. Vehicle experienced a loud and abrupt sound in the engine with significant loss of power. Narrowly missed having an accident due to the loss of power. We managed to drive the vehicle home where upon inspection, a spark plug had obviously blown out of the left side of the engine (left side of the engine from the perspective of sitting in the driver seat).

I have a 2002 Ford Explorer with 52,000 miles. I have an extended warranty through Ford esp. In August, a spark plug blew out of the left head. The vehicle was towed back to the dealer for repair. The dealer authorized warranty work that would replace the head on the left side. I had the vehicle back for 2 weeks and the same thing happened on the right head. I took the vehicle in and the dealer said that they would not cover the fault. Their reason is that there were autolite spark plugs in the vehicle instead of motorcraft spark plugs. I was told that they did the previous repair without realizing that. Furthermore, they only replaced the one plug originally that blew out, re-using the other 3 plugs (autolites) that were in the vehicle. I have talked with Ford in michigan and they are looking into it. First, the fact that they are not honoring the extended warranty because of spark plug brand is something I cannot find written anywhere. Second, if those plugs are so bad, then are they negligent in putting those plugs back in. Third, the fact that this happened and could have pierced a fuel line is very hazardous. My wife was driving the vehicle for half day trip in a desolate area. Should something like this have happened while she was out there, it would have been horrible. Does Ford have the right to deny coverage with extended warranty for this reason? is it negligent on Ford's part to simply tell me after the fact that the plugs that are in there are non-standard and that they would not cover the work?.

I have a 2002 Ford Explorer 4. 6l v8. Within the last month 3 spark plugs have been blown out of the cylinder heads. Each time its a different cylinder. Ford motor company has denied our claim to repair the stripped out threads in the cylinders, with a 75,000 mile extended warranty.

While driving about 30-35 mph, the car completely lost all engine power. I was able to pull over to the side of the road. There, I restarted the engine and drove home. This same incident had occured to my wife the day before, so I dropped off my two sons and took the car to the dealer. The car also lost all engine power on the way to the dealer. After having the car at the dealer for 5 days during which they put 50 miles on my car, they could not duplicate the problem, and therefore did not fix anything.

My wife was driving the car at approximately 30 mph. She tried to accelerate, the rpm reading dropped to zero, and the engine lost all power. She pulled to the side of the road, was about to call me, and tried to turn the engine back on. It restarted and she drove home. My three young children were in the car with her.

The abs activated while on a dry pavement andthe vehicle lost braking power. The consumer took the vehicle back to the dealer, who kept insisting there was nothing wrong. However, the consumer felt differently about the dealers evaluation. The consumers brother verified that something was wrong, but could not take it apart to check it out because of warranty issues and the engine experienced a miss. The master cylinder was found bad.

Transmission failure in a 2002 Ford Explorer, timing chain guide failure (4. 0l previous Ford recall) Ford replaced trans. Now that trans is failing. Replaced timing chain and gear set.

While changing the oil in the vehicle consumer noticed that several driver side motor mount bolts were loose. Manufacturer was informed of the problem, and informed the consumer that maybe the problem occurred at the factory.

On one occasion the vehicle experienced sudden acceleration, and the second occasion, while driving at highway speed the vehicle all of a sudden shut down.

Consumer states that while driving and no warning the vehicle jerks and will lose power and it will be hard for the consumer to control the vehicle. Dealer notified. Mr.