general problems of the 1998 Ford F-150

Was parking truck and before I even knew it the whole truck was on fire ! no not know what cause it.

I have a 1998 Ford F-150 v6 4. 2 liter with 92435 original miles. I woke up this morning and started my truck up and there was a loud knocking coming from the motor. My anti-freeze was low. I now have the same problem as earlier posts of a bent rod and need a new motor. I believe Ford motor company should have had this motor recalled and properly fix the problem. Glad they have the job because I am about to losing mine. Walking 6 miles to work today.

The contact owns a 1998 Ford F-150. The contact stated that the vehicle leaked anti freeze into the number two cylinder as a result the engine blew apart. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 77,000.

I was driving, and the truck started losing power, and sputtering, I finally got it to a mechanic and he found that there were 3 cracked coil pack assemblies. These were replaced and it runs fine. This could have been a bad deal if I had been in a situation pulling into traffic, crossing a rr track or something similar. This idea of individual coils on each spark plug is not a good idea, and dangerous. I realize there are a lot of miles on my truck, but this could happen at any time.

Driving the vehicle at a normal speed I started to lose power and the truck began to misfire. The problem had been known to Ford, because our mechanic received an e-mail bulletin from Ford directly. Which stated the problems with the F-150. I have copies of this bulletin. Needless to say I was fortunate that this did not occur on the highway because my son and I would have been killed. Because the truck just lost total power.

The contact owns a 1998 Ford f150. The contact stated that while driving 35 mph, the vehicle started to misfire and a loss of power to the accelerator pedal. The vehicle was taken to a mechanic who advised that water had entered where the spark plugs were located. The contact was advised that the spark plugs would need to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified who advised the contact that there were no recalls for the failure and offered no further assistance. The VIN was unknown. The failure mileage was 153,000.

The contact owns a 1998 Ford f150. The contact stated that smoke was seen coming from under the hood area. The vehicle caught on fire and the contact extinguished the fire by throwing water on the vehicle. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for inspection or repairs. The manufacturer was contacted and provided no assistance. The failure and current mileage was 147,000.

Had the 7 cylender spark plug shoot out of the head and strip the threads.

The contact owns a 1998 Ford F-150. The contact stated that the engine caught on fire while the vehicle was parked and turned off. There were no injuries. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but the vehicle was not repaired. The exact cause of the fire was not determined. The failure and the current mileage was 188,000.

I was driving down the road and my spark plug blows out. It left me stranded on the side of the road. Stranded. Then you have a cost of towing the vehicle somewhere. Then the repair cost.

I am the unhappy owner of a 1998 Ford f150 with a 4. 2l v6 engine. It slung a rod this morning as soon as I started it. I did some research an found out that there was a recall on the 98 4. 2l's due to faulty gasket. I've read alot of story's about the same trucks with the same engines. There is a countless number of people getting ready to spend 3 or 4 grand for Ford to replace the engines. Isn't Ford responsible for the defects that there trucks had coming off the production line.

04/17/2010 at approximately 4:00 am our Ford F-150 XLT was parked and turned off in our driveway of a single dwelling home. We and neighbors heard multiple explosions that shook our house. The entire front end of the truck was already engulfed in flames shooting up 12+ feet. Fire department was called and responded immediately. When the fire was out the entire front half of the truck was gone, burnt into the fiberglass topper, blew out all but two back windows and melted all wiring back to the rear shell window. The only thing that remains is the back half of the truck and back tires.

When I woke up this morning at 7am, my 1998 Ford F-150 was on fire in my driveway. It had been parked since approximately 10pm on the previous evening.

My 1998 Ford f150 truck ejected a spark plug while driving at low rpm's. Numerous websites have stated the head design is flawed and only allows 3 threads to catch. Upon ejection of the spark plug the threads on the engine head are removed. Ford has a new designed aluminum head to omit the problem. Why hasn't it been made available through a recall? not only is a safety issue, driving down the highway and suddenly losing power, but a bad design.

Spark plug blew out of cylinder head.

I have a 1998 f150 pickup with a 5. 4 engine that is known to have a defect in getting the #4 spark plug removed. This is a $1200 to $2200 repair that should be taken care by Ford not the consumer. This plug has is suppose to be good for a 100k miles, I have 97k. All mechanics know this is a problem and they have to buy a special tool to try to remove this plug. Problem is if it doesn't work then they have take the engine apart to do this. This is were the problem lies. Ford is acting like it is not a problem and/or I should get over it because it is a 1998 out of warranty. A lot of people won't know this until they reach 100k miles and want to replace this plug. In all my years I have never seen or heard of a problem like this on any vehicle. The government needs to make this a mandatory recall so the consumer doesn't keep getting screwed for such a huge repair.

I left my 1998 Ford f150 pick-up truck in parking lot at work while I was away on business. I left on Monday July 30. I was called Tuesday night around 9:00pm and notified that my vehicle had caught on fire. Fire dept. Put out fire. Fire report suspected equipment failure in engine compartment causing electrical short and subsequent fire. Fire was put out, but vehicle was total loss and towed from property.

- the contact stated that the 1998 for F-150 engine seized. The contact stated that in the morning of 02/09/07 he had no indication that there was a problem with the engine. After a day of driving he tried to start the vehicle and it wouldn't start. The contact had the vehicle towed to westerly tire, and they informed the contact that the engine seized. The current and failure mileage were 76000.

Spitting out spark plugs.

Contact owns a 1998 Ford f150 pickup. Whiile driving on the interstate the spark plug blew out. No warning at all. The contact pulled over to the side of the road, and had the vehicle towed 650 miles back to the contact's home.

Head gasket/ head bolt failure at 66,000 miles. Mechanic reported it during routine service. Said 3 things cause this failure. 1. Lack of coolant (overheating), 2. Defective gasket or 3. Factory defect during the milling the head. Mechanic reported this as a known problem with this model of Ford truck. Since the coolant level has always been maintained, that leaves the other two possibilities. Since this vehicle is regularly serviced, problem was caught right away. No indication of problem before hand. No TSB issued for this vehicle but some for other Ford vehicles in same manufacturing year. Searching the internet found similar problems with other Ford 150s' with premature blown head gaskets. Repairs at Ford dealer were $2300 with little choice to go elsewhere. Problems with dealer in getting repair done correctly, but that is a different complaint. I have seen other recalls for defective head gaskets over the years, this engine should be considered.

Consumer said that spark plug blew out of the cylinder head. Consumer was traveling in vehicle at about 30 mph up hill. This happened in the day time. Consumer saidthat his vehicle was in garage to be repaired. Consumer did not know which cylinder. Consumer did report this to Ford.

Overnight hydrolock condition, caused by faulty intake gaskets and cylinder head gaskets, causing immediate and unforseen internal damage up to and including damage to pistons, rods, crankshaft, and bearings. We were non-informed due to Ford's neglet to send appropriate recall notices for both vehicles owned by our family. This is a well documented problem within the internet community, and although Ford did issue recall notices, we did not recieve any to our current knowledge. Ford motor company will not fix this problem because apparently it is too late to turn in a recall. The response given by Ford motor company does not seem ethical in my eyes, and many consumers are out of transportation and be out the money that this will cost them to fix the problem themselves. These are honest, hard working citizens that have believed in Ford for many years, and for this kind of problem to come up and to have them not do anything about it, removes any shred of confidence still remaining in todays manufactured goods.

When I started my 1998 Ford F-150 today, a great deal of noise occurred and finally a rod shot out of the bottom of my truck's oil pan. The truck has only 72,000 miles on it. Upon investigation, I have discovered that many people have had the same problem with their 4. 2 liter engine. Apparantly Ford know about this problem, but refuses to acknowledge or fix it. From what I have read, the problem starts with the head gasket going bad putting coolant into the engine creating the failure. Please help others so that won't have to shell out $2,500 for a new engine or possible get hurt from flying parts!.

This complaint was received via e-mail. 4. 2l engine became disabled and burned a bearing in the crank shaft. Had to have the engine replaced by Ford at consumer's expense. Mechanic indicated that this was a common problem with Ford and this size engine.

1) around may 2004, I noticed I was needing to add water to my 1998, Ford f150, 4. 2l v6 quite frequently. 2) water entered the block of the engine, long story short, my motor slung a rod through the oil pan, in turn, costing around $4,000. 00 out of pocket to fix. 3) Ford knows of the many, many failures of this particular motor which was manufactured during the years of 1997, 1998, and part of 1999. I, like many others, never received any type of notice concerning this situation. I wound up rebuilding the entire motor due to an intake gasket malfunction that Ford could have and should have prevented by way of a recall notice.

We have a Ford f150 clubcab pickup. It was performing fine and I came to work and went to start it and it would not start. My husband came to help me and it finally started but it had a severe knock in it. He took it to the gargae for repair and was told it was the engine. No warning pf any sort. It had great oil pressure , chnaged frequently, coolant was fine etc. We were told that it has a bulletin out on it for this very problem but no recall. We now have heard of 3 other people with the same identical problem around our small community. Ford says they will do nothing about it as it is just a bulletin not a recall problem. The garages around here have told us this is a common problem with this engine. If Fords would even pay half of the $3600 repair we would be satisifed but they tell us no.

Vehicle was parked when all of a sudden the engine caught on fire. Manufacturer was contacted by consumer but the cause was undetermined.