Driving this afternoon I blew the spark plug out of my 01 SD. I was doing 30 in a construction zone. I pulled off the road and luckly at the next exit was a Ford Dealer. They told me that I would have to replace the head since the plug ruined the treads. The estimate was around $3000. This engine has 39000 miles. That dealer told me to go to my selling dealer and ask for an after warranty adjustment. How common is this problem? Any advise on how to proceed would be greatly appreiciated.

 

Look on down this forum, There are many threads on it.
Jimmy

 

You don't need a new head!
Go here www.timesert.com
look under sparkplug
Rich

 

I would look to Ford for some help on this one first. With only 39,000 miles they mak take care of it completely or you may have to pay only a small portion of the repairs. If they refused I would go with the insert.

 

"If they refused I would go with the insert."

If they refuse fight like hell.

You should still be covered under warranty. Ford should pick up the tab for a new head.

Read all the "blown plug" posts before you talk to your dealer.

Good Luck,

Bill

 

The guys are right ,try and get ford to do something .

But there are dealers that refuse !

as we all know!

Good Luck !

Let us know how you make out!!!!
Rich

 

I just had this happen on my 98 expedition. I used the Timesert Bigserts in all 8 Holes and had no problem installing them. the cost is around 250.00 for the kit. Sure beat the 2400 + $ that Ford wanted to fix it!

 

Did you have to pull the heads to install the inserts?

Thanks
Pete

 

Pete, I did pull the heads but according to Timesert you do not have to do this. It is possible to install the inserts with the heads on the motor. I had both of the heads on my motor redone and ported so I did the inserts at this time. The web sight is WWWTimesertcom for more info.

 

The Ford Dealer that I purchased the truck from is going to replace the head, injector,and coil, plus all 8 spark plugs for $480. Plus they will throw in a 75,000 mile powertrain warranty. I do want to thank everyone who posted about this problem. I think that it helped that I had alot of background information. I think the dealer would have done the same deal no matter what, but his decision might have taken a little longer if I was not so informed. I should have my truck back in 4 days.

 

Wow, send that dealer a christmas card.

 

I wish that I had a dealer near me like that!!! What a deal!!

 

Welcome to FTE
It's good to hear that you got it taken care of. $480 is a great price for that kind of work and the extended warranty is even that much better!!

Jimmy

 

I wasn't so lucky with the dealer(s)- two of them. I now have complaints into NHTSA, Consumer Affairs, and I've lettered all the way to American drive in Detroit (HQ). I'm getting lip service of this being a rare situation... I have 98 Expy, 5.4L, and at 124k mine blew #2. I had parked at a restaurant, and it blew on start up. Ford told me that Heli-coil was a bad idea (of course they would)... Anyone have any suggestions ? I'm about 4 weeks deep in this fight, and this manufacturing / service issue with threading the plugs, improper torquing and or cross threading the plugs (not to mention lack of decent amount of threads to hold plug) is a FORD issue.... and the sad part...my fix was 4300.00. think they saw me coming. Anyone?

 

With 124k you really don't have too much of a fight. You could do a search here, f150 online, expeditionforum, print out all the threads from peolpe that had this problem, myself included and take them to the dealer. But, like I said you really don't have too much of a chance.