I was driving to work Monday and the engine began popping. This was the second time I heard that noise and knew it was a ejected plug because I had the same issue and was able to fix it relatively cheap. I had purchased spare parts just in case.
I limped the truck home at as slow an idle as I could muster so as to not damage it too much more, only about three miles and I popped the hood. Kept trying to put in the new plug I had on hand and it would not thread. I got frustrated and figured I could not do much with it, so I might as well get on my bike and ride to work. Asked around did some research and found out that the Triton engines have this common problem.
Called Ford and asked what they were willing to do about it and was told that they did not have it listed as a known problem. I told Jennifer with the foreign accent that maybe she should search Google because its all over the internet.
With no help from the manufacturer, I am now forced to find a mechanic who knows more about doing this type of thing than I do. What it looks like is installing a helicoil or replacing the cylinder head.
This is a huge pain in the ass because although I love riding my bike that hour to and from work one direction, I DO NOT LIKE RIDING In 30 degree weather especially with rain in the forecast!!
I think its ridiculous that spark plugs can strip and come out of an engine! And no one at my dealership could tell me why it happened or how to prevent it. Always been a loyal Ford owner, now I'm second guessing it. After reading numerous reports of this same problem on the internet, I am shocked that Ford has not done anything to repair or prevent this from happening to their customers, such as a recall to fix the problem before it begins. This has happened TWICE to my vehicle and its absurd!
When the plug ejected it also destroyed the coil sending debris from the coil down into the cylinder and then the valve destroyed itself. Seeing that this is a reoccurring problem in these Ford engines, they should replace the heads when they fail.
- Eric C.,
Warren, OH, US
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Purchased truck new March of 2010 dealer serviced every 5000 miles. The sparkplugs are the original factory installed plugs, planned on replacing them near the 100,000 mile interval per Owners manual. Driving on the Interstate with cruise control and sparkplug fly's out of the head on my way to my Daughters house for Thanksgiving. Sitting on the side of the road with Holiday traffic with the cab full of items for dinner was not a comfortable feeling. I was a mile from a parking lot where I could exit so I drove there and called a tow. A relative came and picked me up and all went well but this sort of breakdown is preventable and should of never happened. Now a good portion of my holiday money is spent I planned to use on Black Friday. Ford needs to recon with issue and stop building these inferior heads. My next truck will be a Dodge Ram because of this.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
Okay, it caught on fire and between my insurance and ford mechanics it was fixed along with all other problems from the fire.
Now a few months later, the same problem occurred with the spark plug ejection.
I don't feel I should have to pay for this as your mechanics fixed it in the first place. It hasn't even been 6 months.
- David S., Bedford Hts., US