I bought this truck about 2 months ago and was really surprised at the power and condition it was in to be such a high mileage truck. The first big hiccup came within the first month (about 2500 miles from the purchase date), the slave cylinder started to leak. When I sank the first $1000 into it, everything from the clutch master cylinder to the flywheel was replaced, leaving me satisfied with the truck yet again.

Another 2500 miles later I started hearing a ticking sound and that made me think it was low on oil, but the level was normal. As I continued to drive the truck daily, I noticed that it would lose power at times. I immediately assumed the clutch was slipping because I was pulling some weight on my trailer that was borderline over the limit, so I pulled over to let it cool off for about 50 mins. Once the truck was cooled off, I went to start it and BOOM! A loud noise came from the engine with a sound that is only comparable to a knocking power-plant. I popped the hood with the expectation of seeing oil and pieces of block everywhere, but was completely wrong. I found the spark plug and coil laying on the top the engine as if someone laid them there.

I called several places to get estimates done and the lowest one was $350 and some stretched above $1300. I've never experienced anything like this before with any other vehicle, but after doing some research, I realized this is a common problem with these trucks.. My first and last Ford..

So we started the engine, heard the "backfire" noise, and instantly the rough running like the truck had been submerged underwater... and then the acrid smell of something burning.. something that shouldn't be. We turned off the engine immediately and popped the hood... a passerby in the parking lot said "is that a triton engine" Sure enough, it was.. and he said "you blew a spark plug. It's a common problem..." and explained a bit more on the fix and how everyone who owns the F-150 will go through this on every plug....

Seriously, Ford? No recall for this issue??

The Tow Truck driver pulled up and said, "Let me guess, a loud Pop, then the engine ran rough, right?" Yeah, it's so well known that everyone expects it- and knows that's what's wrong, I imagine when our mechanic sees the truck parked in the lot early Monday morning (it happened Saturday, so we had it towed to the shop same night) he will see its an F-150 and know its a blown spark-plug without even talking to us or popping the hood.....This problem needs to be addressed by FORD!

Update from Mar 27, 2015: So once we got it to the shop, the mechanic determined that the spark plug damaged the coil on its way out. Had to replace the coil. There is also an ear or lip inside the manifold that holds it all in, well it was sheered off too. Options were - fabricate something inside the manifold to hold the coil in place, or replace the manifold (additional $900) - we went with fabrication. They did have to put some kind of insert into the hold that had blown. It was the #3 plug.

Total charge $583. The mechanic recommended replacing the remaining 7 spark plugs and torquing them down - which is what they normally do to this model. They have special tools for the 2004 and up models too - where they break off. They did say that fix was much more expensive...

Driving on the highway when I heard this loud bang thinking I blew I tire. But then I heard the engine making a real loud noise like I blew it up. Had it towed to local shop, he started it up, open the hood and told me my engine ejected a spark plug, seen it happen several times with this 5.4 L engine. He immediately told me Ford should have a recall but instead there is a temporary fix.. Seriously, what the hell Ford, fix it or I will never buy a Ford as long as I live. Back it up, it's your problem, everyone is complaining about it. This is why there are more foreign vehicles on the road than domestic. Seriously, wtf.

We were on a 300 mile trip back to our home in the middle of the night when the plug blew an hour from our home. Nothing was open and we had to hobble the truck home in order to get it to a garage the next day. It spent a week in the shop and cost $400 for a heli coil kit to be installed. It was then that we learned Ford F150 Triton 5.4 engines were NOTORIOUS for doing this, but that Ford had been avoiding the issue and not put out a recall for it. That is just bad BAD customer service. I used to pride myself in this truck and this first plug blow really made me second guess my decision. I am filing multiple complaints as suggested by this site because it is now 1.5 years later and I am now have had a THIRD plug blow. ENOUGH FORD! Recall this issue!

ONLY NINE (9) YEARS OLD, NEVER ABUSED, NO REASON FOR THIS TO HAPPEN ACCORDING TO DEALER, HEIL CORE DID NOT WORK NOW REMOVING THE HEAD AND SENDING IT OUT TO FIX MIGHT NOT WORK THEN WILL NEED NEW MOTOR SINCE IT HAS OVER 100,000 MILES ON LOWER END AND CANNOT HAVE NEW HEAD PLACE ON IT SO SPEND ALL THIS MONEY FOR THE TRUCK WITH INTEREST FOR ONLY NINE YEARS AND 156,000 MILES, NO MORE FORD FOR THIS OLD MAN NEVER, AND I SAY NEVER PUT SOFT METAL WHERE TOUGH METAL IS NEEDED, BUILT FORD TOUGH, HAHAHAHAH, NOT THIS ONE

i cant believe it ive had the truck for almost a year was properly mainteanced and out of the blue in traffic on the interstate 100 miles from home in rush hour traffic broke down had to pay a wrecker 265 dollars to have towed home to find out that number6 plug blew out of the head and blew the coil pack offthe engine withthe sounds it was making i thought that the bottom end went out but had exhaust leak sound since i still owe on the truck im unsure of what course of action to take from what ive read this is a common ford problem with this engine what do u do in this sitaution?

I had the rear driver's side spark plug blow out at about 40 mph. The is the second plug in 4-months, the other was the number three plug next to it. Both exhibited ticking noises like a loose tappet although it's an overhead cam. The noise will get worse until the plug finally blows out of the cylinder. The fix is relatively cheap at 175.00 compared to $2500.00 for a new head. That also depends on whether or not the coil pack blows also. If this happens to you, do not put a helicoil in. I did that with the first one that blew out and it only lasted about 5-months and ripped out. The permanent fix is to put a Time-Cert solid bushing insert in; properly installed, it will not come out. You can research the insert at www.timesert.com. Don't let someone calling themselves a mechanic say you have to replace the head at $2500; that just means he probably don't know what he's doing (like the egghead that engineered the head to start with).

If you have this happen to you, you'll know it when you're driving along and you loose power and sounds like someone shooting a shotgun at you under the hood. Don't panic, just pull over and shut the vehicle off. Disconnect the plug going to the plug and the coil harness to keep that cylinder from firing and blowing gas out the cylinder and possible starting a fire. You should be able to drive it at this point. Another good idea if you have one of these bad engineered heads and you haven't had any problems so far, get you a blow out spark plug from www.blowoutsparkplug.com in case you have a spark plug blow out. Could be very handy if you are on a trip or far from home. Both of mine happened within 20-miles of home and I just had a friend tow me to the repair facility. Also, if you have to make one of these repairs, make sure the shop checks the cylinder good (recommend a borescope) to ensure no debris is in the cylinder that will cause further damage. Lastly, it's too bad Ford can't step up to bat on this issue and do something for their customers. I understand that this would be an expensive adventure to replace both heads in my case. It would cost me somewhere between $4500.00-5000. The least they could do is send everyone with these badly engineered heads a Time-Cert kit with enough inserts to do all the cylinders and an emergency blow out plug. I've been a Ford person for a long time but that might change soon with all the problems Ford has had with plugs blowing out and spark plugs breaking off in the cylinders. Then, the fix was re-engineering of the heads and a $25.00 spark plug?

I had the number 3 spark plug blow out of the head at about 30-miles per hour. I had the vehicle towed to the repair shop and a helicoil was put in. This lasted about 4-months until it happened again. This time, a Time-Cert solid bushing insert was used. It should not happen again. If this happens to you, don't put a helicoil in, it's like putting a bandage on a gaping wound and you'll be repeating the process all over again. Do it right the first time. Check around and make sure the repair facility uses the Time-Cert inserts or feels comfortable in getting the kit and installing the bushing. If not, move on to the next repair facility. Don't let them try and tell you you have to replace the head at 4-5K either, just means they don't know what they are doing. Unless other damage took place, which is not usually the case, you can have this repaired for under $250.00 depending on whether on not the coil pack went. Thanks to Ford and their lack of engineers, a lot of people are dealing with this problem. To date, Ford has not stepped up to bat and offered any relief or solutions for this. The least they could do is send us a Time-Cert bushing kit and an emergency plug for when your next plug blows out. It's not a question of if, it's a question of when. Read the threads, some experience this early at around 40-50K miles, mine didn't happen until around 160K miles. I've been a Ford person for a long time but it might be time to switch to Chevy. All of Fords problems they claim have been re-engineered out to $25.00 spark plugs.

this happened yesterday and after towing the truck to the shop and realizing what the repair may entail I was surely not a happy camper. I will hopefully drive this thing for a few months then trade it in. Now I understand this seems to be a major problem. Spoke to the dealer rep. today his thought's are that ethanol may have something to do with the problem. 22% ethanol was found at a gas outlet during some technician training. not sure about the ethanol causing, only if i drive it out the shop yard and the next day it happens again?????

The # 3 spark plug did not actually blow all the way out, it came partially loose due to FORD'S defective head design, the boot on the coil pack melted around the plug , and then while driving it, the firing of the # 3 cylinder burnt a pencil size hole right through the head next to the spark plug hole, real sweet , "Built Ford Tough" !!! The fix is pull the engine, because half of it is under the firewall, and replace the heads, not recommended, cost about $2500, 2nd option pull the engine ,and replace it with a used engine, cost about $3500, and probably the same issue, 3rd option again pull the engine, and replace it with a remanufactured engine, that supposedly the "Ford cylinder head issue" has been addressed on , cost $5200?? Ford says there is NO ISSUE with the Triton engine heads, but alas they've created a "FIX" for a problem that doesn't exist, sounds about right doesn't it ?? I've been going through treatments for cancer since this occurred, and can't afford to do anything about having it fixed right away. Oh 4th option, just junk it and start over, losing every dime I've put into this best built, most on the road truck , that I'm very sorry I ever bought.