Engine problems of the 1999 Ford F-150 - part 1

Accelerating on ramp to freeway heard a loud bang, vehicle lost power and engine ran rough while making loud unmuffled noise. Found that vehicle had blown out #6 spark plug. Ford F-150 with 5. 4l engine, with 120,000, original owner. Found numerous internet postings on this problem. Contacted manufacturer, no recalls or assistance. Makers fix is to replace heads, at customer expense. Found shop offering in vehicle repair, and expect repairs to be done shortly.

Went outside to start my truck 1999 Ford F-150 5. 4l. As soon as I started the truck I heard a loud banging, shut the truck off, open the hood, and a spark plug had blown out the head ripping all the threads out and breaking the coil. So now my $14000 truck is useless. My only options include $3000 for new heads or a heli coil kit which will eventually allow the same problem or worse to occur.

My 1999 Ford f150 ejected a spark plug - damaging other parts as it ejected - this is a manufacturing defect that needs a recall a fire can easily happen in this situation.

Spark plug blew out of cylinder head while driving down the highway. The thyreads in the cylinder head were sheared off. This vehicle (1999 Ford F-150, 4. 6l engine) has not been fixed due to excessive costs of repair.

Blown head gasket.

I purchased my '99 Ford F-150 in the spring of '04. At the time of purchase the truck had just over 49,000 miles on it. This past Monday (10/16/06) while pulling out of a local parking lot, the #2 spark plug was ejected out of the right cylinder head, ripping out the threads that the spark plug screws into & destroying the coil pack located directly above. My truck on the day of failure had 81,790 miles on it. That's 18,210 miles short if the trucks first manufactures suggested 100,000 mile tune-up. Ford will not even consider the thought of making this manufacturer's defect right. They simply told me that the head would need to be replaced at my expense and at the cost of $2,800. 00 to $3,000. 00. It's a design flaw!!! the aluminum heads for the 5. 4 l engines were engineered with an inadequate number of threads needed to retain the spark plugs. There are only 4 to 5 threads tapped into these heads (approx. 1/4" to 5/16" in length) today is October 19th and I have purchased a repair kit manufactured by dorman products to fix this stripped out spark plug myself. This kit is specifically made by dorman not Ford, to fix this problem of Fords 5. 4l engines. It's really sad that Ford has to use the consumers as guinea pigs and then fail so miserably to back their product. I'm hesitant to check the torque of the other seven plugs in fear that they will not withstand the recommended 25 foot pounds of torque required to tighten them up but if I don't then it's russia roulette as to when the next one will blow out and where I will be stranded when it does. I expect Ford to stand behind their product 110%, especially when it is a well known fact by Ford and the consumer that there is an engineering flaw with the design of the 5. 4l engines aluminum heads produced between years of 1997 through 2002.

Truck started missing, sputtering, pinging, running on 3 cylinders. Valve spring broke in engine.

I have a 99 f150 with less than 60k miles on it. While driving to work a spark plug blew out. Repair was not able to be done on the head. Head replacement was $3600 engine replacement was $5000. I replaced the engine with the same type of faulty engine. . . How long until it happens again??.

99 Ford F-150 197k miles. Cylinder #3 spark plug blow out. Almost broke fuel rail. No fire heads replaced. Seeking reimbursement from Ford 3150. 00.

My Ford f 150 blew the #3 spark plug out of the head on good Friday. The truck lost power but was still drivable. The event occurred on I 39 north of madison WI. Had I not known what to do it may have resulted in an accident. Cost to fix this failure was 4200 dollars. Dealership replaced the entire cylinder head.

Spark plug blew out of engine causing engine head damage. This cost over $3000 to repair and I understand may happen again at any time with any of the 8 spark plugs.

I was driving to work and heard loud bang in engine. Found out spark plug had blown. No accident caused. I have two Ford vehicles and the both had spark plugs blow within the last month. Both enignes are 5. 4 l.

On September 23, 2005 had a spark plug blow out of the cylinder head of the vehicle. This was the spark plug on passenger's side, nearest to firewall. This was the third coil that the consumer had, but this it was the first time the spark plug came out. Contacted the dealer, they towed it. There was no forewarning. At 65 mph, the consumer heard a pop and thought it was the tire, but it kept popping until vehicle stopped. The consumer exited the vehicle and discovered it was not the tire. Raised the hood and could see it flapping. No lights in dashboard came on and gauges did not move.

1. No events led to failure. 2. A spark plug blew out of the engine. The consequence is that the engine runs poorly, is loud and has little power. 3. No repair has been made yet.

Spark plug blow out on 2nd to last cylinder on passenger side of 1999 f150 w\ 5. 4 liter triton engine.

Spark plug blew off when I turned my truck on. Ford recommends new engine because apparently it happens often. There is currently no recall for this problem. Truck needs repair.

I am shocked to discover the thousands of postings on the internet concerning the '99 Ford F-150 that blows a spark plug because of too few threads on the engine in the original design. As a victim of this failure, the dealership acknowledges that this happens all the time and that there is no remedy for it. The cost for repair is almost $3000 and there is no guarantee that it will not recur. Seems that Ford should be forced to recall these engines as it can lead to fire (as straight gas goes into the engine compartment) and the spark plug could spark as it blows igniting fumes or fuel. I will never feel fully safe in this vehicle again and am quite disappointed that Ford is getting away with such a faulty design! please help all Ford F-150 owners that will fall victim to this costly repair and dangerous situation.

I have had different two spark plugs blow out of the head at different times. A heli coil was used to fix the problem.

1999 Ford F-150 with a 5. 4l triton v8 engine. . . Problem: blown spark plug after work, while accelerating onto the freeway, the engine made a "pop" noise, and then began to sound like a steam engine. The engine was running rough and loud, thus I pulled over on the side of the road. I was concerned that I may have blown a spark plug (or possibly a valve) and didn't want to set the engine on fire. I was stranded until I could get roadside assistance. Dealer claims that the entire head needs to be replaced for the blown spark plug with a newly designed head. Other options include to retread the blown spark plug. Seems like a design flaw based on the large number of other users w/ the same problem.

Sitting at stop light in 1999 F-150 w/5. 4 litre engine,slowly proceeded through light and heard a loud bang followed by very loud and rough running engine. This left me stranded at side of road at 3:00am. Turns out that spark plug ripped away from cylinder head causing expensive repairs. This not only is an obvious mfgr. Defect,but a safety concern as well. The manufacturer knows this is a problem and should step up and do the right thing. Thank you. Doug beeman.

While driving approximately 5 mph, the spark plug blew out of engine.

Was driving the truck home, about a mile out after being on the highway, there was a loud bang. The spark plug had been shot out of it's place, per a shop owner. Not sure why it happened yet. It was stated to us that Ford has many complaints of this happening to their trucks. We have a 99 f150 and wondering if there are more such complaints and if so what can we do to push the issue. It could get someone hurt at some point!.

Consumer was traveling at 35 mph and heard noise from the engine. Vehicle stopped, and had to be towed. After the dealer inspected the vehicle engine was found to be defective.

Transmission gears breaking, timing chain loosening.

The number 3 spark plug blew out of my 1999 f150 while pulling away from a stop light. The aluminum head has only 4 threads holding the plug in place, clearly a design defect. I had both heads removed and had all eight holes repaired. . . Total cost was about $3,000. There was 80,000 miles on the truck at the time. Ford should stand behind their product!.

I take good care of my pickup however it has broken down on me. It began with a small shutter. It felt like the pickup was having issues idling/accelerating. Only at low (5-10 mph) speeds did I feel the weakness/shutter. I had this issue for about 4 months, I just assumed it needed a tune up and was prepared to have one done soon. I was towing a trailer (started off fine) then at a stop sign felt that the engine was now shuttering/misfiring even more. Took the pickup to mechanic the next day and found that valve 4 was stuck open and had essentially melted its self open. This in turn caused the piston to get damaged and now I'm faced with replacing the heads or the entire engine. My pickup has 110,000 however (according to the mechanic) there have been other pickups have the same issue with as little as 80,000 miles. I have not been able to find a recall on what I've experienced.

I was towing my trailer and had just left my house and got a mile down the road when I heard a loud pop like a tire blowing and I quickly tried to find a place to pull over. I later found out I had a blown plug and of course it wiped the threads and shot up and destroyed my coil on top so I had a helixcoil put in and a new coil . My truck is a 99 5. 4 with 67,305 miles on it with the original factory plugs .

I was driving my Ford F-150 (after a previous fix of the same problem I was about to experience), when my #3 spark plug blew out of the head unit. 2nd time happened, cost $2500 to fix. Now I want reimbursement for all repair work due to flawed engine design.

I never abused my 99 Ford lightning in any way and @ 21000 miles it blew #3 spark plug out of the head. Ford finally agreed that if I would pay $817. 00 for the deductible they would pay the rest. I don't think I should have had to pay anything since the head was defective from the factory.

While driving 60 mph plug blew out of the cylinder, causing the vehicle to lose power.

I had a spark plug blow out of the head on my truck. It is a 1999 Ford F-150, with a 5. 4 liter triton v-8 engine. I had never heard of this, until the mechanic at my local dealership said they had seen it before. Also at an earlier date the sheet metal on the drivers side door about three inches from the bottom of the window cracked. Its has cracked two more times since then. They (Ford motor CO. ) finally put a new door skin on, but a man who I know that runs a body shop said it's in the door itself and that a skin wouldn't prevent it from happening again. I'm just very disappointed in the products that are on the market anymore they lack quality and they don't last for near as long as they should.

Was driving my 1999 Ford F-150 with 5. 4 liter v-8 engine when I experienced a blown #3 spark plug driving under normal conditions on my way to a soccer game. Extended warranty company would not cover problem. Got it fixed with a helicoil for $400 and same #3 plug blew 4 months later. Got it fixed with a new head unit for $2500. Now I want Ford to reimburse me for flawed engine design.

I have a F-150 pick-up still being paid off and it is leaking for the right hand side. There are technical service bulletins for this but it will cost a couple of thousand to replace the head. If Ford knows about this and I have looked all over the internet and others had similar problems, why hasn't a recall been issued.

I have a 99 Ford f150 with a head gasket problem. The left head was replaced with 3000 miles on the truck because of the same leak. The dealer told me that Ford had some bad millwork on the heads and they couldn't get a good seal. Now with 73000 the heads are starting to seep again. Also my truck has a crack in the door metal near the corner of the window of the drivers side. Here again it seems to be a problem found in many f150's from 97 through 01.

While driving on the highway a spark plug ejected from the right side cylinder head of my 1999 Ford f150 triton v8 truck at 56,978 miles. Cylinder head was replaced at Ford dealership at a total cost of $2,418. 93. I was notified this was not covered by the manufacturer.