Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | |||||
| 98614 | 03/30/1998 | 601325 | The coolant temperature gauge reading may be inaccurate. *yc | 07/22/1998 | |
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - COOLING SYSTEM | |||||
| 15397 | 11/01/2001 | 630412 | Some vehicles may exhibit a condition of oil contamination in cooling system. *tt | 04/17/2002 | |
| 9983 | 05/03/1999 | 606401 | Experiencing various intermittent concerns, such as low coolant level sensor leaking coolant into wiring harness. *tt | 08/19/1999 | |
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE | |||||
| TB-08-258 | 12/29/2008 | 10029029 | Jerr-dan: anti stall feature for ford f series light duty chassis with v10 gas engine and an engine drive clutch pump. model years unknown. *pe | 06/12/2009 | |
| 11675 | 10/30/2003 | 10004874 | Rough idle, miss and various other driveability concerns on vehicles with 7.3l dit engine. this may be related to injector bore scuffing caused by fuel quality issues. *tt | 01/13/2004 | |
| 16683 | 03/01/2003 | 10001937 | False failure of the vapor management valve (vmv). *tt *jb | 07/28/2003 | |
| 14821 | 04/01/2001 | 619315 | Some vehicles equipped with 4.6l romeo engine may exhibit an oil leak from the cylinder head gasket area. *tt | 05/23/2001 | |
| 14864 | 04/01/2001 | 619335 | Subject regarding certain vehicles with 4.6l romeo engines exhibiting an oil leak from the cylinder head gasket area. *tt | 05/23/2001 | |
| 8058 | 02/01/2000 | 612269 | Some vehicles with 4.6l fqr engine assemblies may have a smaller knock sensor threaded hole than that in original equipped engine assemblies. *tt | 06/07/2000 | |
| 6585 | 07/01/1999 | 610701 | Some vehicles equipped with 7.3l dit diesel engines may develop a cracked flexplate. *tt | 05/11/2000 | |
| 13180 | 09/01/1999 | 6090538 | Information regarding camshaft position (cmp) sensor alignment tool chart. *mjs | 03/21/2000 | |
| 6997 | 09/01/1999 | 6090310 | Some service manuals may list the incorrect camshaft position sensor alignment tool for vehicles with various engine sizes. *tt | 03/14/2000 | |
| 983084 | 02/26/1998 | 607377 | Information on adding or installing a pulley. *tt | 09/21/1999 | |
| 980307 | 04/01/1998 | 602160 | Conditions with pressure being higher/lower than expected. *yc | 09/23/1998 | |
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE - GASOLINE | |||||
| 15901 | 05/01/2002 | 637787 | This bulletin states that some 4.6l fqr engine assemblies may have a smaller or larger knock sensor threaded hold than the one in the original engine assembly. *tt | 12/06/2002 | |
| 15761 | 03/01/2002 | 636408 | Some dedicated cng vehicles may exhibit driveability conditions of hard start / no start / rough running. *tt | 11/08/2002 | |
| 11776 | 08/01/1998 | 615276 | Some vehicles with 7.3l dit engines may exhibit a no start / hard start and / or long crank time. *tt | 01/10/2001 | |
| 12798 | 05/01/1999 | 607112 | Some vehicles equipped with engines produced by windsor engine plant may exhibit an engine knock at initial cold startup. *tt | 01/05/2001 | |
| 4658 | 08/01/1998 | 615194 | Some vehicles with 7.3l dit engine may exhibit a no start / hard start and / or long crank time. *tt | 01/03/2001 | |
| 4664 | 08/01/1998 | 615200 | This bulletin states that for certain vehicles it is not possible to set the check engine light and set diagnostic trouble code p0455 (evaporative emissions gross leak) if a customer refuels the vehicle with the engine running. * | 01/03/2001 | |
| 13331 | 10/01/1999 | 6092152 | Some vehicles equipped with engines produced by windsor engine plant may exhibit an engine knock at initial cold startup. *tt | 11/27/2000 | |
| 7194 | 10/01/1999 | 6092086 | Subject regarding ford quality renewal (fqr) assembly launch of 4.6l 2v engine. *tt | 11/24/2000 | |
| 12767 | 05/01/1999 | 607088 | Exhibiting a vibration that may be interpreted as an nvh condition. *tt | 11/03/2000 | |
| 8058 | 04/01/2000 | 613617 | Some vehicles with 4.6l fqr engine assemblies may have a smaller knock sensor threaded hole than that in original equipped engine assemblies. **mr | 07/26/2000 | |
| 985072 | 11/01/1998 | 613203 | Some vehicles with 7.3l dit engine may exhibit a no start / hard start and / or long crank time. *tt | 06/19/2000 | |
| 12174 | 11/01/1998 | 613224 | Some vehicles may exhibit a hard start/long crank, cold start stall, cold rough idle concern. *mjs | 06/19/2000 | |
| 13832 | 02/01/2000 | 612426 | Some vehicles with 4.6l fqr engine assemblies may have a smaller knock sensor threaded hole than that in original equipped engine assemblies. *tt | 06/08/2000 | |
| 6573 | 07/01/1999 | 610691 | Information on various engines available for the ford qualty renewal (fqr) engine assembly. *tt | 05/11/2000 | |
| 6350 | 07/01/1999 | 610653 | Some vehicles equipped with engines produced by windsor engine plant may exhibit an engine knock at initial cold startup. *tt | 05/10/2000 | |
| 13322 | 10/01/1999 | 609613 | Some vehicles may exhibit an engine knock at initial cold startup. *tt | 04/04/2000 | |
| 7155 | 10/01/1999 | 6090791 | Vehicles equipped with windsor engines only may exhibit an engine knock at initial cold startup. *tt | 03/30/2000 | |
| 13285 | 09/01/1999 | 6090709 | Experiencing engine knock at initial cold startup. *tt | 03/23/2000 | |
| 983316 | 02/03/1998 | 607481 | Some customer may complain of a ticking noise on initial cold start-up in park position and neutral position. *tt | 09/23/1999 | |
| 6386 | 06/01/1999 | 606813 | Information regarding the availability of engine assembly for various vehicles. *tt | 09/02/1999 | |
Investigations
| NHTSA ID | Manufacturer | Date open | Date close | Subject | Recall campaign | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | ||||||
| DP05005 | FORD MOTOR COMPANY | 09/22/2005 | 01/04/2006 | SPARK PLUG EJECTION FROM CYLINDER HEAD | ||
| On september 6, 2005, odi received a petition requesting that the agency investigate allegations of engine spark plug ejection in certain model year 1997 through 2004 ford vehicles with triton v-8 and v-10 engines.odi received a total of 474 non-duplicative complaints on the subject vehicles where the complainant, or the dealer repairing the vehicle, reported that a spark plug detached from the cylinder and/or ejected from the engine.as of december 8, 2005, odi is not aware of any allegations where the alleged defect resulted in a loss of vehicle control, a crash, an injury, or a fatality in any of the 10,319,810 subject vehicles.in addition, odi is aware of only two incidents where the vehicle stalled without restart.information contained in the odi consumer complaints and obtained from 72 telephone interviews with complainants showed the following:(1) 99% of the complaints were on my 1997 to 2002 subject vehicles.(2) most the complainants reported hearing a loud pop while driving or upon starting up the vehicle followed by a loud, repetitive clicking or popping sound.(3) many of the complainants reported that the popping sound was accompanied by some loss of vehicle power; however, in 99% of the incidents reported, the vehicle did not stall.in the very few incidents where the vehicle did stall, most vehicles could be restarted.(4) only a small percentage of the complainants cited that they smelled gas or a slight burning smell when the incident occurred.(5) in all but a very few incidents, vehicle damage was limited to the engine.in one incident, the complaint reported that the fuel rail was damaged and replaced after one of the spark plugs ejected from the engine; however, the complainant reported that the damage did not result in any type of fuel leak or fire.in another incident, the only incident where a fire was alleged, the complainant reported that no fluid leak was observed, but that a fire resulted after the spark plug had ejected from the engine and he had restarted the vehicle and driven to another location.none of the complainants reported any damage to the vehicle hood.(6) only two complainants reported that they observed what appeared to be some drops of fuel coming from the cylinder where the spark plug had failed or on the spark plug itself; however, each of these complainants reported that there was no smoke or flames as a result of his incident.as the petitioner noted, and odi | ||||||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE | ||||||
| DP05005 | FORD MOTOR COMPANY | 09/22/2005 | 01/04/2006 | SPARK PLUG EJECTION FROM CYLINDER HEAD | ||
| On september 6, 2005, odi received a petition requesting that the agency investigate allegations of engine spark plug ejection in certain model year 1997 through 2004 ford vehicles with triton v-8 and v-10 engines.odi received a total of 474 non-duplicative complaints on the subject vehicles where the complainant, or the dealer repairing the vehicle, reported that a spark plug detached from the cylinder and/or ejected from the engine.as of december 8, 2005, odi is not aware of any allegations where the alleged defect resulted in a loss of vehicle control, a crash, an injury, or a fatality in any of the 10,319,810 subject vehicles.in addition, odi is aware of only two incidents where the vehicle stalled without restart.information contained in the odi consumer complaints and obtained from 72 telephone interviews with complainants showed the following:(1) 99% of the complaints were on my 1997 to 2002 subject vehicles.(2) most the complainants reported hearing a loud pop while driving or upon starting up the vehicle followed by a loud, repetitive clicking or popping sound.(3) many of the complainants reported that the popping sound was accompanied by some loss of vehicle power; however, in 99% of the incidents reported, the vehicle did not stall.in the very few incidents where the vehicle did stall, most vehicles could be restarted.(4) only a small percentage of the complainants cited that they smelled gas or a slight burning smell when the incident occurred.(5) in all but a very few incidents, vehicle damage was limited to the engine.in one incident, the complaint reported that the fuel rail was damaged and replaced after one of the spark plugs ejected from the engine; however, the complainant reported that the damage did not result in any type of fuel leak or fire.in another incident, the only incident where a fire was alleged, the complainant reported that no fluid leak was observed, but that a fire resulted after the spark plug had ejected from the engine and he had restarted the vehicle and driven to another location.none of the complainants reported any damage to the vehicle hood.(6) only two complainants reported that they observed what appeared to be some drops of fuel coming from the cylinder where the spark plug had failed or on the spark plug itself; however, each of these complainants reported that there was no smoke or flames as a result of his incident.as the petitioner noted, and odi | ||||||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE - GASOLINE | ||||||
| DP05005 | FORD MOTOR COMPANY | 09/22/2005 | 01/04/2006 | SPARK PLUG EJECTION FROM CYLINDER HEAD | ||
| On september 6, 2005, odi received a petition requesting that the agency investigate allegations of engine spark plug ejection in certain model year 1997 through 2004 ford vehicles with triton v-8 and v-10 engines.odi received a total of 474 non-duplicative complaints on the subject vehicles where the complainant, or the dealer repairing the vehicle, reported that a spark plug detached from the cylinder and/or ejected from the engine.as of december 8, 2005, odi is not aware of any allegations where the alleged defect resulted in a loss of vehicle control, a crash, an injury, or a fatality in any of the 10,319,810 subject vehicles.in addition, odi is aware of only two incidents where the vehicle stalled without restart.information contained in the odi consumer complaints and obtained from 72 telephone interviews with complainants showed the following:(1) 99% of the complaints were on my 1997 to 2002 subject vehicles.(2) most the complainants reported hearing a loud pop while driving or upon starting up the vehicle followed by a loud, repetitive clicking or popping sound.(3) many of the complainants reported that the popping sound was accompanied by some loss of vehicle power; however, in 99% of the incidents reported, the vehicle did not stall.in the very few incidents where the vehicle did stall, most vehicles could be restarted.(4) only a small percentage of the complainants cited that they smelled gas or a slight burning smell when the incident occurred.(5) in all but a very few incidents, vehicle damage was limited to the engine.in one incident, the complaint reported that the fuel rail was damaged and replaced after one of the spark plugs ejected from the engine; however, the complainant reported that the damage did not result in any type of fuel leak or fire.in another incident, the only incident where a fire was alleged, the complainant reported that no fluid leak was observed, but that a fire resulted after the spark plug had ejected from the engine and he had restarted the vehicle and driven to another location.none of the complainants reported any damage to the vehicle hood.(6) only two complainants reported that they observed what appeared to be some drops of fuel coming from the cylinder where the spark plug had failed or on the spark plug itself; however, each of these complainants reported that there was no smoke or flames as a result of his incident.as the petitioner noted, and odi | ||||||
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | |||
| 01/04/2012 | 203000 | ||
| While driving 25 mph the #2 spark plug striped its threads and blew out of the head. the plug remained in the wiring harness cap and continued to spark. the repair cost $220.00. i am told this is an ongoing defect in the design of some of fords engines. | |||
| 12/16/2011 | 193442 | ||
| Spark plug blew out of the head with such force that it cracked the coil and was sparking on the fuel line with fuel vapors coming out of the head at the same time. this could have caused a fire/explosion if the vehicle could not have been shut off quickly enough. i was idle in my driveway and not on the highway where it would have taken longer to shut the vehicle off. internet research returned astonishing amount of complaints for the same issue. | |||
| 03/03/2009 | 113000 | 1 | |
| I have a 1998 ford pickup with a 5.4l engine and just today as i was driving it the spark plug blew out. as soon as i heard the popping sound i immediately shut the truck down. i opened the hood and there was the plug dangling there. i was able to install the plug back on but got 3 turns on it and it was tight. no way should a spark plug only have a few turns on it and no way should a plug fly out of an engine that is spewing gasoline and the plug still sparking. if there is a class action lawsuit against this company sign me up. never again will i buy a ford product. all their vehicles catch fire( remember the cruise control). this is a prime example why the us auto industry sucks and they still want us to bail them out. i have half a mind to go to detroit and beat the crap out of an engineer there. i am all for an attorney to call me if it is a class action lawsuit. if you make faulty dangerous products such as this you should be put in jail! people can die from this! i hope ford goes the way of all the rest of the old american auto makers. we should not have to bail them out so they can make more dangerous products and snowball the public!! *tr | |||
| 05/30/2005 | 84664 | 20 | 03/28/2004 |
| I was towing an ultra light camping trailer with the cruise control engaged when i smelled what appeared to be an electrical fire then the engine immediately failed . i replaced the entire engine at a cost of $ 4000.00 and have had at least 10 more instances where the cruise control stopped working on the interstate. *jb | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - COOLING SYSTEM | |||
| 09/26/2004 | 113000 | 1 | 07/03/2003 |
| I was driving an heard a loud squealing noise from under the hood. lost power and lights dimmed for a brief period. i pulled over and smelled antifreeze before i opened the hood. i checked the coolant recovery tank level and it was slightly low. looked for a leak and found a 1/16th pinhole approximately one inch below the thermostat housing gasket line producing a steady stream of antifreeze directly onto the serpentine belt. this strong leak continues as long as the proper fluid level is maintained, and stops once the level falls below the hole. to refill the tank to it's proper level takes approximately one us gallon of coolant, which immediately begins to squirt out the hole, whether the engine is running or not; hot or cold. took it to my mechanic who told me all he could do is replace the engine, which i have not done. i will be taking it to the closest ford dealer, as several other professional mechanics have looked at it and all agreed that it was a defect in the casting, since there was no cracking- just a round pin hole in an area where there are no moving parts that could have caused such damage.*ak | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE | |||
| 10/25/2003 | 90378 | 0 | 03/18/2000 |
| I own a 1998 ford f150 xlt truck. i maintain my truck as required (oil, etc). on oct. 25,2003 when going to turn the truck on i heard a loud noise in the engine and the truck seem to stall. i looked under the truck and noticed a hole on the right side of the oil pan panel and oil came out. once i got it to talk to my mechanic he informed me that he knew of the 'notorius' or 'infamous' reputation the (4.2l ford engines) have. it seems disturbing to me that ford would use engines like this on veichles and us consumers spending are hard earned money have to pay for something that no matter how good you maintain will eventually break down. i came to find out that people that are involved with cars (mechanics and managers of well known part stores) call this type of motor engine. now i need to put a new engine into a truck that otherwise ran fine. i will never ever buy a ford again and warn all my close friends and colleagues to do the same. | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE - GASOLINE | |||
| 12/09/2002 | 65000 | 01/22/1998 | |
| I currently have a 1998 ford f150 4.2l engine that has 65000 miles and am experiencing head gasket failure. ford moco stats there is no tsp's or recalls reguarding this. i pulled the owners notification 98b33 off your web site. my engine build date is nov 1997 at the essex plant. i am in the army and am stationed in germany. the dealership here quoted me 2500.00 for the estimate. at this time they will not honor the u.s. esp purchased from the original dealer. i am currently trying to get this resolved. ford will not give part to me at no cost to fix there defective head gaskets and lower intake manidols gaskets and engine front cover gaskets. they are giving me the run around and can't get me straight answers. i am continuing working with my dealership. i am afraid they will sit on this until my warranty runs out on the 22 january 2003. | |||