general problems of the 2004 Ford F-150 - part 2

The spark plugs on the 5. 4l 3 valve triton v8 are highly common to break while trying to back them out and replace the spark plugs. Ford is aware of the problem and that is it costing customers over $1,000. 00 just to change spark plugs because if they break off, the head has to come off some times to extract the remainder of the broken plug. Ford has refused to fix their screw up and has stated that they will not do anything unless the NHTSA mandates that they fix the problem. I spoke with a local repair shop and he stated that at a bare minimum for a spark plug change on my truck is $700. 00 due to the issue and that most shops wont even touch them. Ford needs to be held accountable for their design flaw and save their customers thousands of dollars in repair bills for a normal $150. 00 job.

Vehicle had been driven earlier that morning. While parked in the rear of the home the vehicle caught on fire in the motor area. It started about 20 min after being parked. There was also damage to the house. Not sure the cause and thankful for no injuries.

Driving 55 on freeway for about 6 minutes when the spark plug ejected out of the head. Pulled over had towed. Only 72,000 miles with perfect maintenance records. There needs to be a recall or a class action lawsuit against Ford. There are thousands of complaints with the same problem.

On 05/16/2014 the number 3 spark plug blew-out of the head causing fuel to be sprayed into the the engine compartment while I was traveling with my family. This is the second time this has happened on this trunk. The first is listed on the approximate incident date of this report. Spark plug blow-out seems to be a consistant problem with the Ford truck engines and could pose a problem of a engine compartment fire, break downs on busy interstates & highways, wrecks and fatalities from sudden slow downs because of engine power loss while traveling or being stranded on isolated roads. These are just some of the possibilities that may happen (or has happened to others). Ford motor motor knows of this problem but won't listen to their consumers. Only the national highway transportation and safty administration can make them aware of the problem so that they will fix it. Also from talking with Ford corporate and Ford consumer affairs department the only way they will address this is through a recall. Please do an investigation of this complaint so that there maybe a possibility of a fix and a life and/or injury maybe saved, thank-you.

I purchased the truck used with an odometer reading of 86,782 miles. I was not told that I needed to replace the sparkplugs or that there is a major issue with the sparkplugs breaking. I assumed that if there was any issue of this nature the dealership would have to disclose this problem on the purchasing agreement. I went to the dealership last week due to the window motor seizing/breaking. I paid for the service to repair that issue, which is another problem as well. During that visit I was informed about the spark plug problem, which Ford has issued a TSB report about. The plugs become fused to the engine block at 100,000 miles, and I am now at 105,000 and just finding out about this! the problem that I am experiencing is that the dealership wants to charge an absorbent amount of money to change the spark plugs, and if any break, its an extra $100 to remove each broken plug. That could potentially be an additional $800 extra to change the spark plugs. That is absolutely ludicrous for Ford to charge an owner for such a task! also it is important to note that the dealership that I purchased the truck from obviously knew about this issue and neglected to inform me in any fashion. I am considering taking legal action as I believe the dealer should be liable to cover the cost of this task, as they did not disclose these problems that according to the dealer had to be addressed within 10,000 additional miles. That is a very short amount of miles to drive for such a major expenditure. I do believe that I should have to pay a typical fee for parts and service to replace the sparkplugs as they are a maintenance item. However, I believe that if the dealer has any problem changing the sparkplugs, it should rest on their shoulders to cover those costs.

To whom it may concern, I have a problem with my f150 with a 5. 4 triton motor. The truck has some valve train noise that I fear will get worse and cause the engine to fail. I found that Ford issued two different tsbs related to this very problem which advised their technicians of the problem and how to fix it down to the parts required. It was such a problem that Ford updated the parts to be replaced in may 2005 according to the information provided in the TSB issued by Ford. This truck has been well maintained and should not have this kind of valve train noise at 75000 miles. I feel Ford only took care of the problem for those that complained under warranty and Ford should be required to fix an engine problem they knew had faulty parts and is evident by their TSB releases. I have contacted Ford, but my complaint has fallen on deaf ears. They want me to sink $1500-$2000 into a fix that I feel they knew about but chose to ignore. Ford should, instead, recall the trucks on the road with this engine. Thank you in advance for your time.

The contact owns a 2004 Ford F-150. The contact stated that the vehicle was taken to the dealer for service and a tune-up. Six of the eight spark plugs that were being replaced fractured during the repair. The dealer informed the contact that the failure was common in the particular model because the manufacturer recommended that the sparks plug be replaced every 100,000 miles but the dealer stated that spark plugs should never be in a vehicle for that long of a period before being replaced. The failure and the current mileage was 96,000.

I just had to pay my Ford dealership $1,270. 00 to replace the "spark plugs" on my 2004 F-150,the Ford motor company states that they have an issue with the spark plugs in their technical service bulletin 08-7-6 in Ford F-150 trucks, Ford mustangs, Ford explorers, Ford expeditions, Lincoln navigator,Lincoln mark lts, and Mercury mountaineers model years 2004-2008. The plugs will break or snap during the removal process in turn the owner is expected to eat the cost of their labor and material to correct the problem. The owners manuals state that the plugs will last for 100,000 miles before replacement, I spoke to the relations department with the Ford motor company and they state that they know that the problem exists but that is all they will say.

I was stopped at a red light and had just put my foot on the accelerator when there was a loud pop and the sudden smell of gas inside the cab of the truck. When I got it to the dealership I was told that the spark plug had blown out of the head and the coil pack was damaged. I was told that the head that Ford decided to use only had three threads to hold the spark plug in place and that the plugs seemed to blow out of 1997-2004 models. They could use a helicoil to repair the threads but they couldn't make any guarantees about the repair. After I had it repaired I discovered thousands of other complaints on the internet about the same issue of spark plugs being blown out of the heads and other people having to replace the heads on thier vehicles. I spoke to a buddy of mine in topeka who told me of his neighbor who just bought a used 2004 model Ford truck and had an engine fire because of this same issue. I got lucky with the cost of this repair but because of the poor construction design of this head, that it should have been covered under a warranty of courtesy coverage. This issue needs to be seriously looked at as a recall because of the potential of a fire hazard and a safety issue because if someone is looking under the hood when this occurs, they can be seriously hurt by flying debris.

Truck blowed out plugs from # 3 at 50 mph truck shut off,I got a h coil got it put in,it blowed it out I done that 4 more times,then got repair kit from Ford put in it didn't stay in 1300 miles and blowed out.

The contact owns a 2004 Ford F-150. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for routine maintenance when four out of eight spark plugs fractured while the technician attempted to remove them to tune up the engine. The contact stated that the failure occurred due to a design flaw. The vehicle was repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 130,000.

I experience a blown spark plug at a cost of $798. 00 to repair. It seems to be something very popular with the larger engines. I have spoken to many people that have had the same issue. No local repair shop will do the work, they send them all to the dealerships, where as we know the price inflates. From all the mechanics I have spoken with, the general consensus is that it is a design flaw.

The engine has ejected a spark plug twice in two months.

The contact owns a 2004 Ford F-150. The contact stated that the vehicle was parked outside of his residence when he was informed that the vehicle was on fire. The police and fire department were called and a report was filed. The manufacturer was not contacted nor was the vehicle inspected by a dealer for the cause of failure. The failure mileage was approximately 214,000. The VIN was unavailable.

The contact owns a 2004 Ford F-150. The contact was driving approximately 55 mph when there was an abnormal increase of acceleration to 80 mph for a brief moment. The vehicle then resumed normal operation. On a separate occasion while driving, the brake pedal was engaged with a rapid increase in rpms, followed by an unexpected increase in speed. The gear was shifted into park in order to stop the vehicle. The failure recurred fifteen times and was taken to an authorized dealer who was unable to duplicate the failure. The contact planned to take the vehicle back to the dealer for a second diagnosis. The manufacturer was notified of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 24,000. . . Updated 04/16/12 the consumer also stated there were times when he started the vehicle and the engine raced at high rpm's and it was not related to the engagement of the choke in cool or cold weather. Also in relation to increased rpm's above after the vehicle was shifted into par, the engine continued to race at 5,000 rpm's.

The contact owns a 2004 Ford f150. The contact stated that the vehicle was taken to the dealer who recommended that the spark plugs be replaced. They also informed the contact that the spark plugs may possibly fracture when being removed from the engine which would result in an additional repair cost for the removal process. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 100,000.

Spark plug blew out of engine. Happend once in 2009 right side of engine. Had head repaired with heli-coil kit. Replaced plugs, plug wires, coil. Repairs cost in excess of $700. Happened again in January of 2011. Same side of engine, same plug. Not repaired yet. This is a tremendous fire/safety hazard. Gas vapors trapped in engine comaprtment with the firing plug dangling free. Could start an engine fire. Very dangerous!.

I have a 2004 Ford f -150 with a sound in the top end . It sounds like a rod knocking but since it is a over head cam that isnt possible. I have looked on line and asked around about this for some time now with no good answers!.

Driving on highway at 40mph, engine misfired, and stopped running. Had vehicle towed to dealer for diagnosis. Was told spark plug was blown out of engine, damaging ignition coil. Was quoted $620 to repair. Went back to dealer 2 days later to pick up vehicle and was told that the repair did not work. Was quoted "at least $2000" to replace head. After researching problem, thousands of other owners of Ford vehicles have had the same problem. Why is this not being recalled? Ford has not remedied this problem and is still guilty of fraud by selling vehicles with a known problem.

Returning from a trip to northeast alabama, my 2004 F-150 4x4 with a 4. 6 liter engine, blow the # 2 spark plug out of the engine. I got the truck back to my girlfriends home in northeast GA. And this is where I'm still at. The dealer I called told me that the plug was at fault before I could even finish telling him what had happened and that it would cost me about $2,800. 00 to replace the head on that side. . . I asked him "if it was the plug at fault and you haven't even seen the truck yet, how do you know it's going to take a replacement head and the cost of it"? he put me on hold and after 20 minutes I hung up and called back and no one would talk to me about it. . !! since then, I have researched this and found that not only has it happened to others, but it has happened to alot of others. . . !! I have also found that this problem has been reported to your agency many times and to date, nothing has been done about it. When this plug blow out of the head, fuel was being pushed out of the head and could have caused a fire under the hood. At speeds on interstates as high as they are, my girlfriend, myself and out 2 dogs could have been killed. . !!!! so why is your agency not doing anything about this problem. . . !!!?????!!!!.

My Ford F-150 truck blew the #5 spark plug. Broke the coil on the spark plug. Had to have the truck towed and the repairs cost me about $90. On March 21st, the truck blew the #3 plug. This time it stripped the threads in the block and had to be retapped and repaired. This repair cost over $200. I contacted Ford and they claim they were not aware of this issue. However, both the mechanics that worked on this truck told me that they had repaired a lot of these Ford trucks. This could be a very dangerous situation since unburned fuel is pumped out of the crater left by the blown plug and onto the hot motor. I have been lucky that my truck hasn't caught fire. If my wife had been driving I don't know that she would have known what to do. If you google "blown spark plugs on Ford f150 trucks" online, you will see that there have been thousands of these issues reported to Ford, and various other agencies that are supposed to take care of these things. Ford motor company is ignoring the problems because they don't want to have to recall all the defective vehicles. Will everyone just sit around and wait until a few people are killed because of these defects. Please do something!!.

Failure of both cam phasers resulting in engine problems and decreased gas mileage along with emission failure.

I own a 2004 Ford f150 with 5. 4l v8 engine. Mileage is 104000. Had spark plugs changed and all 8 spark plugs broke off resulting in a very high cost to me. There are numerous complaints of this on the internet. I believe this is a manufacturing defect and cost is being past on to consumer.

I took my 2004 F-150 to kerry Ford located in the city of springdale because of a window problem I had. The service desk asked me if I was aware of the problems with the spark plugs for my year truck. I told him no, I wasn't. The Ford employee stated that since my mileage was at 89,000, he strongly suggested that I have my spark plugs changed before I get any closer to 100,000 miles. The employee stated that the spark plugs are getting stuck in the engine or breaking off while being replaced. I was told for a tune up, it would be roughly $300. 00 plus an extra $89. 00 for each spark plug that breaks. The employee stated that the spark plug was poorly designed and didn't have enough threads. The employee stated that Ford has accepted no responsibility for the issue. The employee instructed me to goggle, Ford f 150 spark plug to verify that he was telling the truth. I asked that you do the same! people have spent any where from $300. 00-$4500. 00 for Fords poor design. Ford has even designed a special tool to try an assist in getting out the spark plugs without breaking them. Some drivers have had their spark plug literally pop out of the engine while driving. I did take my truck in for service after reviewing all the material on the internet. I now have the distinction of the worst horror story at kerry Ford. I was told prior to having my truck worked on, that their tech has had decent luck getting the spark plugs out. Kerry Ford had broken maybe two spark plugs at the most. I dropped my truck off the night before service so they could soak the plugs in lubricant. After there days of service, Ford called me and stated that 6 out of the 8 spark plugs broke off. Ford had to drill out the broken plugs to remove them. Kerry Ford did show me some compassion and lowered the extra fee from $89. 00 to $39. 00 since so many of my spark plugs broke off.

2004 Ford f150 with a 4. 6 liter triton engine. Ejected 3rd cylinder back on the passenger side . This happened 24000 miles after I changed the plugs.

I have a 2004 F-150 that has spit two spark plugs out with in a year. The second one caught fire . There has been this issue with many owners of Ford trucks and is a on going issue Ford won't take care of. Napa auto parts has a repair kit made just for this issue with Ford engines. The cost is $ 73. 00 plus having someone do the repair.

Factory spark plugs in 2004 f 150 are breaking when removing even from the dealerships.

Ford F-150 with triton v-8 spark plug blowout.

I have recently purchased a 2004 Ford f 150 and today 3/4/2010 has made the second time it has blown out a spark plug. I understand that there is no recall on this and I would like to know why, because this is happening to alot of customers. [xxx] is my email. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

I own a 2004 Ford that the spark plug edjected from the head. I took the truck into a garage and they put a helicoil in, that lasted 1 week and blew out again. Now I need a new head.

The 'engine fuel control module' on my 2004 Ford F-150 4x4 extended cab, 6 3/4ft bed, 5. 4l 3v engine 4x4 has failed due to poor design. The module is located under the bed of the truck, and cracks when hit by pebbles that are inevitably kicked up. Water then gets into it and it fails causing the vehicle to stop and not run at all. Once the mechanic found out what the issue was, he then tried to order the part. The module is on national back order, 3 months I'll have to wait to receive it. This is my only source of transportation and I do not know what to do. I paid over $30. 000 for this vehicle and now I cannot drive it because of a $77 part that I cannot get. Ford should be held responsible for this issue and the time that I will not be able to use it. If it is on 'national back order', then obviously there is a design issue and a recall should be issued. 3 months back order is not acceptable. Is Ford motor CO going to give me a ride to work, the doctors, etc while I wait for the part to come in? something has to be done. Please do your best to look into this and find a solution. Thank you again for your time and consideration.

Since approximately 120,000 miles, this vehicle has experienced spark plug failure at a rate of about two each 5,000 miles. Prior to this period, the vehicle had no history of spark plug failure. The plugs were changed in accordance with the manufacturer's recommended service schedule around 101,000 miles. Between 120,000 and 142,000 miles, eight spark plugs and two coils failed during normal driving conditions. An additional tuneup and complete spark plug replacement was performed at 142,000 miles after two failed during normal freeway driving conditions. Another spark plug blew out and was replaced at 148,000 miles. In addition to spark plug failure, several of these plugs have broken while being extracted, causing needlessly expensive repairs.

Plug failure in v8-triton engines they break off in the heads of the engines is one problem causing a 300 dollar tune up to sky rocket all the way up to 2800 dollars this is all triton 3 valve motors Ford said the fixed the problem they did not and they still break . The other problem is that some of the plugs blow out the heads causing a sudden power loss and possible accidents when I contacted the dealer all they would do is give me a price quote against broken plugs trying to take them out they said it falls under warranty restrictions and that's not fair because one of the selling points about the truck was no need for a tune up for 100. 00 thousand miles you can't hit that number 3 years 3600 miles there are a lot angry people out there because of this me included and I believe it falls under a dangers vehicle problem I no they have fixed other people trucks over the warranty and I had to fix my on truck after it stop running and I couldn't get a attorney I am handicap and don't have the money it took at least week to get the plugs out by my self the new plugs cost a $103. 00 and the time crawling around because my legs or bad I figure 100,000 would be fair or may plugs paid and a trade for new tires.

Had tune up on vehicle at 100,140 miles, per manufacture requirements. Incurred additional costs due to two spark plugs exploiting in block. Mechanic said this is a regular problem, see technical bulletin. Ford has a special way or tool for fixing this problem . Q: I am requesting research be done to see if recall should be in place for this issue in the Ford f150. Q: how many Ford owners have had same repair? q: what are requirements by this agency for issuing recalls?.

I have a Ford 2004 f150 5. 4 l triton engine (3 valve) and it has 51,777 miles on it as of today. I called dave sinclair Ford to check on having the spark plugs changed. They informed me that this job is has been a major problem because the spark plugs designed and made for the 2004 model break off because of poor design. This breaking of the spark plugs has been adding on 1000 to 2000 extra dollars because they have to take special measures and use special tools to fix this issue. Ford motor CO. Has had the spark plug redesigned as of 2006 and has also issued a TSB special instruction for removing the defective plugs. . Read more...