I own a 2001 F-150 4x4 offroad nice 5.4. About 3 months ago started hearing what seamed to be a lifter tap or exhaust manifold leak. Then tonight taking off from a read light truck began to sound like a tank and lost all ***. Under inspection I had BLown the Spark plug out of the head on the # 5 cylinder. My questions are; Expensive fix? Could it have damaged the cylinder and/or piston (there was no gap left on plug, although still intact)? And could that have been going out for a while and that was what I thought was a lifter tap? Any imput would be greatly appreciated

 

Mine just blew two days ago on a 2002 5.4. I'm going to replace the head instead of helicoil. $2500-$3000. Make sure you visit consumer reports and ford and decument the issue. We're def. not alone!!! Sorry Man.

 

Sorry to hear about your truck. I have heard this is a common issue with the 2003 and earlier models while us 2004 and older model owners have to deal with the plugs breaking off inside the heads. Ford definitely missed the mark with these plug issues.

 

Hate to sound like an idiot but what does that mean. Blown spark plug? What really happens?


John

 

on the 99-03 triton motors, there were only 3 or 4 threads in the head that made conact with the threads on the plug, so under load it is posiable to "blow" the plug out of the head.

 

I replaced mine about 2 years ago. Should I recheck them? What is the SOP for preventing this?

 

Thanks Ty...

 

Was it spark knocking?

 

Same thing happened to me. I have a 2000 F-150 2wd 5.4 Triton

 

I have fixed this issue on an expedition on #4 plug. i actually pulled the engine for ease to get to the plug hole. i drilled out the plug hole and tapped it to put in a pipe nipple and threaded the inside of it to the spark plug. I used a shop vac with a custom made attachment to get on top of the cylinder to get all the shavings out. then put loctite on the pipe nipple and installed. Have changed plugs since and still going strong after 2 years since fix.