I am more than just a little mad so please excuse my language.
That gosh darnN #4 spark BLEW OUT OF THE HEAD AGAIN. Of course it shattered the coil AGAIN. It happened to me about 2 months ago. I got a new plug and coil and fixed it with minimal problems. Today I went to repeat the procedure just to get me home. NO GOOD. I could not get the plug to catch the threads. I think it is one of 2 things.
1)I could not find the rubber portion of the coil SO iI am thinking it might have worked its way into the plug hole and got hit by the piston and is either pinched into the cylinder head by the piston OR it melted in there.
2)The other possibility is that the head is screwed and needs to be replaced.
WHY THE HELL DOES THIS HAPPEN?????????????????

So now on to the "funny" part. I call my extended warranty company and........................ THEY"RE CLOSED for the weekend. You know NO ONE BREAKS DOWN ON THE WEEKEND. So now my Expy sits in my fathers driveway in NJ while I had to borrow my sisters TAURUS to get home. Not a bad little ride I might add. And I sit home here on Long Island and now have to begin the process of getting this thing towed to a real shop and getting it fixed. I will keep everyone posted on my new dilemma.
Looks like the headers are going to have to wait a little while.

 

Damn that sucks! I have been very fortunate that i have not had anything like that happen to me<-----knocking on wood. Hope you have positive results from your ordeal. Good Luck.

 

Wow, I feel for you man. Good Luck XLT.

LH

 

It was towed to the shop this morning.
Before I even had towed to the shop , I spoke with the mechanic at length about the possible scenarios. I asked him if he would be comfortable fixing it if the the worst case scenario came to be true(seeing as it is a rather large undertaking).
And he said get this " It has happened to other people before" then I got a laugh when he said "It figures its the friggin #4 cylinder. It ALWAYS has to be the hardest one to reach". So with that I said take your time and let me know what you find. I will keep everyone posted. I should here from him today maybe. I also asked that instead of installing a Heli Coil ( I am no fan of them) to replace the head. We'll see........................

 

Imagine if a supercharger or a turbo was added. You would have dents in your hood.

 

Ok here is the update............................................

The WAR has begun.

My extended warranty company (GUARDIAN) are saying I do not even have a warranty(even though I have a bill and contract and ecevything) They can not find any record of me or my truck in their computer. To top it off they said it would not even be covered under the warranty unless the cylinder head was bad. So now I am praying for it to be bad cylinder head that needs to be replaced. I know I WILL get the no warranty issue resolved. So I hope he has to replace the cylinder head and BANGS them for every penny he can!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jesus christ it never ends does it?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Hey mitch funny thing is......If it had a superchrger or turbo it WOULD BE COVERED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

You might want to check this out instead of replacing the head.

http://www.timesert.com/bigsert.html

 

Ok here is the NEW update.

Warranty trouble straightened out (with the help of my calm, cool and collected NY attitude).
Head will need to be replaced.
The warranty does not cover the spark plug, coil pack, or the oil filter. Luckily I have a spare coil for just such an occasion. Looks like I will be picking up another spare.
It will take 3 days.
It will cost me $120.00.
It will cost the warranty co. about $1700.00
Just goes to show, YOU NEED and extended warranty.
Mine just payed for itself.

 

Do you get to keep the old head? It would be interesting to look at it under magnification to see what is causing this problem.

 

Mitch, I was told that is was a flaw in the casting that caused the spark plug hole to be " a few ten thousandths of an inch too big" which over time causes the spark plug to vibrate loose nomatter how tight you make it. That would explain why there is no apparent damage to the plug after it is blown out.
I am waiting to hear from the shop about its condition. I'll keep evryone posted.

 

Won't be ready until MONDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ARGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

 

I think I am going to SNAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So the repair shop orders a replacement head, he opens the box and what was in there??????????????????????????
A cylinder head that was REPAIRED for the SAME PROBLEM!!!!!!!!
So he calls up the warranty co. and explains to them about the POTENTIAL of having to do the job all over again due to the repair failing (NOT SAYING THAT IT WOULD but just raising the possibility) and all the ADDITIONAL EXPENSE that they would incur. Once they realized that might be a POSSIBILITY and they would have to do this all over agin, they agreed to send a NEW head. It will be here on Monday .
SO , now I wont be done until at least WEDNESDAY.

Looks like I might be a little late for the Xpedition Expedition in MAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you guys save me a spot in line??????????????????

 

ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The machine shop only had 10 REPAIRED CYLINDER HEADS. They were ALL repaired from the no. 4 plug blowing out. So needless to say, the repair shop is ordering a new head from Ford. So now it look like I wont be fixed until FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! Going on 2 weeks now I am going nuts driving a CAR!!!!!!!!!!!

 

What a PITA!!!

 

You guys are not going to believe this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I spoke to the shop yesterday. They said they were putting it back together and I should call this morning to see about when it would be done. SO I was happy I figured I would have the beast back today. Nice day to drive from Long Island to south Jersey. SO I call about 10 AM today. He tells me that after he got it back together and before he tightened it down he was looking at all the hoses and pipes etc. He tells me he noticed a Long crack in a "WATER PIPE" in the rear of the block. Needless to say to replace this pipe he has to remove the cylinder head AGAIN to get to it to replace it. He was taking it back apart when I called. He said he can't get the replacement pipe until Monday. He said it will be fixed and put back together on Monday. He said it was a good thing he noticed it when he did. I am getting the feeling she does not want to come home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!So looks like I am STUCK WITH THE TAURUS FOR ANOTHER 4 DAYS.!!!!!!!!!!

Does anyone know what "WATER PIPE" he is talking about? If so what is it and what does it do?

Until then..................................Patiently waiting her return............................................ ..................