Hi ya'll! I find myself in need of some help. I greatly appreciate the help - I know that I just showed up and started asking questions and I am sorry for being kinda rude, but I am pretty desperate.

I have a 2000 Expedition with just over 200,000 miles on her. She has been the truck love of my life and I fear I am watching her life slip away. I need some diagnostic help before I decide what to do next.

I went to buy groceries yesterday morning and when I loaded her up and started her up BAD THINGS HAPPENED. It sounded like velociraptor was trying to kick its way out of the engine. I turned it right off opened the hood and didn't see anything. Checked the oil level and it was really low (yes I check the oil, no I don't know why it was so low). Went in and bought oil and put in a couple of quarts waited a bit for the car gods to be appeased and started up again. Drove her to the back of the lot, most of that time she still sounded like something was trying to kick its way out and she was running very rough. I parked her and turned her off and caught a ride home.

I assumed it was a bad rod and began planning a memorial service - but my brother (who is the only car guy in my life and lives cross country) pointed out that the triton engines blow plugs. I had never even heard of this as a thing. I went back up to look at her, but it was POURING rain and if there is a plug actually blown out it is one of the back ones (of course).

So I am begging for a bit of diagnostic help. How can I tell if I have a blown plug or a bad rod? Will the plug necessarily have literally blown out? Is there some trick to seeing the back ones or I am just going to have to climb up on the truck in the middle of the parking lot? If it is a blown plug is there someone in the Ft. Worth Texas area that can fix that for me that y'all know of or am I going to have to just start calling people?

For the record I knew that I was going to need to let go of her before long, but I REALLY need to try to convince her to run just until February or March if at all possible. She has earned her retirement but I am not ready to let her go just yet if at all possible. I don't leave town with her any more but she really needs to let me put 10 to 15 miles a day on her for just a little while longer.

Thanks so much for any help you might offer to me.

 

I don't think you can drive normally, turn it off and come back after 5 minutes and have a bad rod. Unless she was bone dry of oil of course, and you were driving with the oil light on, but I'd suspect you'd notice bad sounds on the way to the store in that case. Describing the sound a bit more accurately might help us in giving a more helpful tip, "sounded like a velociraptor trying to kick its way out of the engine" doesn't actually tell us what type of sound it is.. For blown out plugs, depends on how it was blown out. Usually they spit out and break off the screw holder on the coil (if it has the coil-on-plug setup, you didn't say if it was a 5.4 or 4.6). You have to wait for a day when it's not pouring down and climb in there and check each plug closely.

 

Thanks Skauber. It is the 5.4 triton. Obviously I am not a great car person or I would have known to say that.

No oil light on and no loss of oil pressure prior to bad things. The sound was a loud knocking - first a bigger "bang" (it really did sound almost like something trying to kick its way out of the engine compartment) and then a rhythmic loud banging. It sounded high in the engine compartment and maybe a bit towards the passenger side - at least more towards the middle than the driver seat. When I turned of the truck it stopped instantly ( no backfiring noises or anything like that). When I turned it back on and drove it to the back of the lot it made a loud rhythmic banging in time with the speed of the engine. Strangely, I did notice that the noise stopped for just a couple of moments during the drive. Maybe 2 seconds worth. It did drive rough during that time. My check engine light is obviously on now. My oil pressure showed fine but it was a very short drive, 50 yards or so.

Thank you again for trying to help me. As I said, in a few months I would have been in better (financial) shape to absorb this. I hate to have it towed and looked at if I am pouring good money after bad.

 

Ok, a loud bang and then a rhythmic knocking after does sound like a blown spark plug. Check engine light probably has a misfire code behind it if that is the case. You'll need to get someone to look at it if that is the case, it is possible to fix but it requires someone who knows how to do thread inserts. What you can do to confirm a blown spark plug is to climb into the truck and try to inspect each coil, take it out and try to get a look at the spark plugs. If you find one coil that has snapped off the screw tab and looks out of place, you've found your problem.

 

Thank you so much. I am going to head up in a bit and climb up and try to see what is going on with her. Remembering that there are no stupid questions, I have to ask, assuming it is the plug, can I drive her out of the parking lot or am I making things worse if I do?

Thanks again so much. I stink at asking for help but I am so far over my head that I don't have a choice on this. I really appreciate your kindness to a stranger.

 

Depends on how far it is. If I were to drive it home, if it was a short trip, I would disconnect the fuel injector to prevent it from pumping fuel into that cylinder. There is a risk that something might make its way into the cylinder though, and that would ruin the engine.

 

The best solution is to get a buddy of yours to tow you home. Go slow and with the ignition on/engine off, and you should be fine. If it's a long trip, you need to call a tow truck

 

OK, thanks. If it is a blown plug it is going to have to go to the shop. I am pretty handy with home improvement stuff and swimming pool stuff, but anything harder than a new alternator is well beyond my skill set. I will let her sit in the lot until I figure out what it looks like. Thankfully I am in a friendly area and the store will be patient with me. In fact, I am willing to bet that I will have several people stop to see if I am OK when I go up to figure this out. Wish me luck! Y'all keep your fingers crossed for me. I really need this to be a blown plug.

 

Good luck, keep us posted

 

We were camping a few weeks ago and had a plug blowout on the way back to camp the night before we were to leave.
The COP on #3 was sideways with a broken tab and sounded like yours.
Pulled the fuel injector plug and drove back to camp about 2 miles.
Made a lot of noise, didn't run very smooth, went real slow.
Had a Time-Sert kit with me, got it repaired and towed the trailer home 120 miles.

 

Why do they cram these engines in so tightly? I can only reach/see the first 2 on the passenger side, but I can't see anything specifically looking blown. I am guessing there is a chance that something bad could have happened without actually blowing the thing off? or maybe it is one of the back ones. I came home to get some tools and something to stand on but I made this video - hoping that one of you wonderful folks will say "that sounds like a blown plug" or "no... sorry, that is something else." Also, would the car smell funny when it is running if it is a bad plug? I am trying to think of the smell - like unburned fuel or a little dieselish? Here is my video link in case anyone is on pins and needles wondering what I am doing in the Walmart parking lot.

 

Sounds like a blown plug to me, and yes, the smell of unburnt fuel would be tje fuel mist getting blown out of the open spark plug hole.

 

Thank you so much. I am going back to take one more look (mirror and stool and more tools) and unless someone on here tells me something different. I am going to start looking for a garage that can fix this. If anyone is in Ft. Worth area I would love a suggestion on where. I know most of y'all handle stuff like this on your own, but I don't have any help with this and it isn't something I want to try to figure out - so, any guess what a fair cost for the job would be? I always worry that I am going to really overpay for something after many (many) years ago one of my sorority sisters payed $350 to get her thermostat changed. Eeek!

 

That sounds exactly like the blown #3 plug I had a couple of weeks ago.
Also, sounds like the passenger side.
The coil might only be tilted a little, but definitely loose if you can wiggle the top.
I wonder if most blown plugs are the passenger side because of higher heat from all the stuff in the way not letting air flow thru.

 

Put your finger tip on each of the COPs. The one that dances like crazy is the one that's got the blown plug under it. #3 & #4 seem to be the ones most frequently blown. My hypothesis is that its due to the difficulty getting in there properly with a torque wrench due to all the other crap in the way and that leads to improper plug torque and blown plugs down the road.

If iif a plug is blown, disconnect the associated fuel injector and you can drive it. It will make a ton of racket and will run like a 2-legged pooch, but it will drive.

Any reasonably equipped home wrench turner can install a Timesert if they're motivated enough. I do have a kit sitting on the shelf that's for hire.