snoman

THere was a recall/TSB of sorts on it that I saw some time ago that I
cannot locate at this time. This is a classic Detriot screw up. In
this case it is Ford. Theyhave a big problem but rather than admitt
problem, they try to pass it off to consumers. I have heard of a few
getting them fixed for free out of warranty when they complained loud
enough. Given the amount of these engines on the road, to "fix" all of
them could easily run into the hundreds of millions of dollars and
beyond so they try to shift blame. Kinda like the Explorer rollover
thing when a rear tire blows. They blamed the tire (never mind tht
door sticker underinflated it and vehicle was so unstable that a tire
failure was almost a sure ticke to a roll over) to limit liablity even
though Ford quietly did a MAJOR redesign of explore chassi in 03
little was officailly said but it was done to reduce roll over
tendancies.
-----------------
TheSnoMan.com

c. e. white

You are just full of BS. Even the Firestone executives admitted that
the tires installed on the Explorer should have been sufficient to
carry the load imposed by an Explorer if only inflated to 22 psi
(instead of 28). They were recommending the 30 to provide even more
margin. And in fact, Explorers were never particularly prone to roll
over no matter what the press tried to claim. Chevy S10 Blazers,
Toyota 4Runners, Isuzu Trooper, etc all had much higher rates of
rollover than 4 Door Explorers. The whole thing was a media driven
feeding frenzy. And finally, 1996 Explorers were sold with both
Goodyear and Firestone tries. Both brands had the same inflation
pressure recommendations. Only the Firestone tires had a high failure
rate. The supposedly dangerous 1990's era 4 Door Explorers were among
the safest vehicles of the period. Among 4 door SUVs of the late 90's
only the Jeep Grand Cherokee had a lower insurance industry injury
loss rating.

The Explorer was completely redesigned for the 2002 Model Year - not
2003. The 2002 Explorer was completely different and included IRS.
Your claim that this was primarily done to reduce the rollover risk is
more BS, although I am sure improved safety was one of the reasons. On
the other hand, the Explorer Sport and Explorer SportTrac continued
with the older type chassis beyond 2002.

Ed

chuck

http://www.flickr.com/photos/17035497@N08/1810582306/

I come back here everyday to see what is going on. I found these good photos (5 shown on link above) of a dirty coil over plug (COP) boot and dirty spark plug bore that is a clear sign of a leaking and loose plug. This is a great way to keep an eye on this situation. I admit that I did hear a rhythmic hissing sound that I should have jumped on, now knowing it was the compression stroke gasses blowing past the threads. I am just glad it was the #1 plug and that there was no fuel rail or COP damage other than a broken mounting ear.

You definitely need to be sure you get the proper spark plug model in there, torque it properly, maybe using some anti-seize compound on the threads etc. Its tough to see, but with a very bright flashlight I have visually looked at each of the areas where the spark plug bores are and there appears to be no "blow by." There sure is around the one that blew out though.

Without choosing sides of all the people who helped contribute their thoughts on this incident, I agree with Ed and his EXCELLENT comments throughout.

ps: If you want to read a real horror story on one guys Triton problems, read http://home.nycap.rr.com/tritonlemon/ whew....

c. e. white

Actually proper torque is essential for all aluminum heads. The Ford problem
does appear to be especially common, but it is not unique. One thing I don't
understand is that no one heard of this problem before 1997. Ford modular
engines have been in production since the early 90's. The plug design was
the same from the early 90's until 2003. Why don't we hear about significant
numbers of plugs blowing out of older Town Cars, Mustangs, or Crown
Victorias (all which used the modular V-8s). My personal theory is that
although the 5.4L engines uses the same heads as the 4.6L engines, the 5.4L
engines stress the heads to a greater degree, making proper torquing of the
plugs excessively critical. I consider this a design defect but one that can
be avoided if you are very careful. In my family we have owned a total of 5
Fords with the modular V-8:

1992 Mercury Grand marquis - 4.6L no problems in 8 years, 90k miles
1997 Ford Expedition - 5.4L - no problems in 5 years 150k miles
2000 Mercury Grand Marquis - no problems in 6 years 80k miles
2001 Ford Mustang - 4.6L - no problems in 4 years, 50k miles
2003 Ford Expedition - 5.4L - no problems in 4 years, 100k miles

The plugs were changed in the two Expeditions (100k miles for the '97, 80k
miles for the '03).

http://www.babcox.com/editorial/ar/eb40340.htm

http://autorepair.about.com/library/faqs/bl466h.htm
http://www.tundrasolutions.com/forum...k-plug-thread/

Ed

cryotek

Welp Here it is Friday. :evil: my 02 F-150 5.4 just blew a plug. Original plugs 76k miles. Drivers side 2nd to last one. Seems to be something with the head. Seems to be Bullshit if you ask me. Turns out I'm lucky enough to have a bunch of Friends that are Mechanics with thier own shops. They told me that they just fixed the same problem on a Lightening, about 1 month ago. Found out this afternoon that the same guy just blew out a second one as well. Fortunutly, they have the repair kit already just have to order more inserts on Monday to fix it.

So if this is a mechanic issue then it seems to me that Ford needs to get some serious training through there Service centers, because this seems to be an ongoing very well known issue. First hand here, as well as 2 times on the same vehicle from another customer. not to mention all the other known situations.

The sad truth is that Ford is getting away with murder on this one. Still going to cost me $400+ dollars to fix and I got an inside track. what about all these other people that don't have connections. This should be recalled and they should compensate anyone that had to shell out Repair costs for this problem.