I own a 1998 Ford F-150 with the Triton 5.4L engine. The engine has a serious design flaw that causes it to loosen and eventually blow spark plugs out of the cylinder head. In none of Ford's publications that come with the vehicle does it state that these spark plugs need to be retorgued at a certain mileage. The problem first occured at 91,000 miles. Ford does not acknowledge this as a problem. I am now faced wit a $3500 repair to keep my truck running. Doesn't sound "Ford tough" does it? I've done some investigation and found hundreds of these problems posted on messageboards. Please do something, innocent people can not be taken advantage of by Ford. We bought Ford because we thought it was a vehicle that would last and provide great service. Replacing a cylinder head should not be considered regular wear and tear. There is a serious problem with the design of this engine!! thank you in advance for your help.

- Westford, MA, USA

I bought a 1998 F-150, 3 years ago. The engine blew up without any warning. My wife drove it to work, it ran fine. She starts it up to come home, and the engine was knocking loud. She had to have it towed home. The 4.2 engine is a lemon, and from what I have read from numerous people, and heard from many friends is that these engines are junk, and Ford knows they are. A friend of mine warned me about these engines, he had to have his replaced 3 times within 3 years. 3 times his engine blew up.. these things are junk!!!!I think Ford needs to do a recall on these engines, or refund us our money back on the purchase price. I am very unsatisfied.

- Dunbar, PA, USA

I own a 1998 Ford F150 XLT truck. I maintain my truck as required (oil, etc). On Oct. 25,2003 when going to turn the truck on I heard a loud noise in the engine and the truck seem to stall. I looked under the truck and noticed a hole on the right side of the oil pan panel and oil came out. Once I got it to talk to my mechanic he informed me that he knew of the 'notorius' or 'infamous' reputation the (4.2L Ford engines) have. It seems disturbing to me that Ford would use engines like this on veichles and us consumers spending are hard earned money have to pay for something that no matter how good you maintain will eventually break down. I came to find out that people that are involved with cars (mechanics and managers of well known part stores) call this type of motor engine. Now I need to put a new engine into a truck that otherwise ran fine. I will never ever buy a Ford again and warn all my close friends and colleagues to do the same.

- Laredo, TX, USA

While under warranty, my Ford F150 blew the #2 sparkplug and cylinder head at 25,000 miles. It has happened again with the same cylinder head 60,000 miles later. The repairs will cost me $3000. Ford Motor Co. At this time is unwilling to cover the repairs. This seems to be a serious problem with the 1998 Triton V-8 engines as I am seeing alot of the same complaints being filed.

- Puyallup, WA, USA

1998 F-150 with 75000 miles. Spark plug #2 blew out while driving 30 miles/hour. This is a common problem. If you do a search on www.google.com for "blown spark plug" the number one hit is for www.F150online.com a Ford enthusiast group. This site, links to lots of people haviing the same problem. The problem is an apparent design flaw in the cylinder head. Only 6 threads are holding the spark plug in place. Since a blown spark plug almost always results in the cylinder head having to be replaced. The cost to the consumer is around $2000 - $3000 dollars. This needs to be investigated at a minimum.

- Brighton , MI, USA

1998 Ford F-150 pickup truck with a 5.4 liter Triton engine. Without engine ever overheating, a spark plug was ejected from the cylinder head. The plug's threads were stripped. Estimate to fix is about $2200

- Cudahy, CA, USA

While driving at any speed and without warning the vehicle would stall and it became difficult for the consumer to control the vehicle..

- Milford, NJ, USA

The consumer detected an unusual vibration coming from the truck. When the consumer looked under the hood he noticed that the harmonic balancer and pulley assembly was rotating erratically. It was later determined that a bolt sheared off the harmonic balancer. As a result there was damage to the harmonic balancer, water pump pulley, belt tensioner pulley and drive belt.

- Jacksonville, FL, USA

I have read through the internet that many of these 4.2L Ford engines have had the same problems with head gaskets as mine has. **dimsii IVOQ entry posted after 12/12/02 cut over to artemis**770816

- Austin, MN, USA

I was coming from the doctor with my wife when my truck starts doing a laud knocking sound. I could not figure what was going on. The temperature, battery, oil pressure and everything was fine. The next day I took it to a mechanic and he told me I had a bad head gasket and found that it damage a #1 cyl, bend connecting rod, crack piston and of course a bad head. To fix it was over $2,500. I live in a social security disability with a fix income since February and cannot afford to pay all that money and barely make the payments. The mechanic told me that it has been lots of problems with these engines and head gaskets. I told my stepdaughter and we went on-line surprised to see lots of people with the same problem. Ford knows about these problems since 1998 on the 3.8-liter V-6 head gasket used between 1988 and 1995 on the Taurus, Sable and Continental, as well as the 1995 Windstar and we think they did not fix the problem not until way after 1998 when they issued a technical service bulletin. Now 1998's F-150 got exaclly the same prablem. I don''t know what to do !!! I have not call Ford credit to tell them yet. Anny sugestions please E-mail me at jessym28@hotmail.com

- North Miami Beach, FL, USA

Started vehicle, then could smell an odor, about 30 seconds later it smelled like a belt burning. After opening the hood and seeing a fire on the distributor cap where the 4 wires plug in. I S/O engine and put out fire with extinguisher.

- Wilmington, MA, USA

The engine failed with out warning.

- Osteen, FL, USA

Vehicle experiencing engine problems with water mixing in oil pan. Engine would make a knocking noise when first starting or intermittently. Owner was informed that vehicle had a cracked block.

- Bossier City, LA, USA

Consumer stated the head gasket failed with no warning.

- Huston, TX, USA

Driving 35 mph when the aluminum cylinder head threads that holds the spark plug failed. The non-Ford mechanic said this is a rare event, seeing only 3 incidents on the 10 years he's been repairing. However, it is commonly reported by F-150 and lightning owners. For further details, please refer to www.F150online.com/forums/showthread.php?S=&postid=686548.

- Edwards, CA, USA

Vehicle was leaking from engine head gaskets. Noticed on dashboard panel coolant going down, . overflow had no coolant. Took vehicle in for service on brakes, and mechanic indicated that gaskets were leaking due to a crack in engine head gaskets. Warranty expired, but vehcle will be fixed.

- El Cahjon, CA, USA

Lost #1&2 cyl due to warpped head. Engine never overheated. Engine pinging at light loads even with 92 octane gas. Research shows this to be more than a chance occurance with the Triton engine.

- Poway, CA, USA

Lost #1&2 cyl due to warpped head. Engine never overheated. Engine pinging at light loads even with 92 octane gas. Research shows this to be more than a chance occurance with the Triton engine.

- Poway, CA, USA

Truck was assembled with the wrong motor mounts causing severe vibration which caused excessive wear to other truck components. Nlm

- Stratford, CT, USA

Vehicle was assembled with wrong motor mounts for standard transmission not automatic.

- Stratford, CT, USA