Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE - GASOLINE | |||||
| 15717 | 03/01/2002 | 636359 | Some vehicles may exhibit an oil leak coming from the camshaft / valve cover area where the positive crankcase ventilation (pcf) valve mounts. *tt | 11/07/2002 | |
| 15716 | 03/01/2002 | 636358 | Information on oil capacity changed. *tt | 11/07/2002 | |
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 | |||
| 10/26/2011 | |||
| This is regarding the intake manifold on ford v8 engines. my intake manifold on my 2002 ford mustang v8 cracked and caused me to replace the entire intake manifold. when this happened, it leaked coolant rapidly. there was a class action suit filed (in which ford was held liable) in the past years and i was never notified of this lawsuit regarding this issue. ford has since stated that they will not honor any repairs after march 2006. however, this is still an issue and needs to be looked into further. my mustang only has 89k miles and the manifold cracked without warning, causing a major repair bill of $1,231. ford should be held accountable for any/all repair costs for an extended period of time regarding this weak engineering. | |||
| 06/30/2003 | 33000 | 3 | 04/16/2003 |
| I was driving and all of sudden the car lost all power which i could not turn or brake and i almost hit the pillar of a bridge. took it to ford and said they did not find any problems. the transmission has been rebuilt because of grinding in transmission. it was built 10,000 miles ago, it started doing it again. also i have talked to other mustang owners having the same problem where the camshaft position sensor codes are being thrown from the computer. nobody has figured it out yet. i took the car to ford, they told me they couldn't find what was wrong with the car...they would have to take it apart. didn't do that because i couldn't afford it. i don't understand, the car only had 49,000 miles on it, i expect the car not to give me this much trouble. *jb | |||
| 08/01/2002 | 500 | ||
| While braking the vehicles engine died. when this occurred the consumer was not aware that the engine had died until he attempted to press the accelerator. *nlm | |||
| 06/01/2002 | 1000 | ||
| Consumer states engine stalls without warning while driving resulting in loss of steering and brake functions. dealer unable to determine cause. ph | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE | |||
| 04/10/2010 | 46383 | ||
| I own a 2002 ford mustang gt with a 2-valve 4.6l engine with only 46k miles. around 1 apr 10 i started hearing a distinct ticking noise from the engine. not being that mechanically inclined, i assumed some lifters needed adjusting; so, i brushed the noise off. on 10 apr 10 i was driving on the interstate when i heard a loud bang and then sounds that patted like a harley running out of gas. my check engine light flashed several times. fortunately, i was only 2 miles from home; so, i sputtered the rest of the way. as i have a diagnostic tool, i checked the code and it read the #3 cylinder was miss firing. i called my mechanic and he told me to change the spark plugs. once i figured out how to get all that done, i removed the coil from the cylinder and it was shredded with the coil dangling. i extracted the spark plug with no resistance because it was just sitting in the hole. to my surprise, it was the original spark plug that came with the car. i tried to put in a new spark plug, but it would not tightened at all. i attempted several times and even tried to make it cross-thread, but it would not take. when i took a good look at the spark plug, i saw where the bottom three threads were smashed flat and the metal that you gap was mashed against the electric diode. i called bob moore ford in okc and the service writer, gerry, told me there were no recalls for that event. i asked him what could have caused it and he responded improperly torqued spark plugs. when i told him it was the factory plug, he said then hot rodding must have caused it. i told him its my wife's car and the car doesn't take any abuse. i asked how much bob moore charges to do a helicoil and he said $500. i let him go. i ended up taking it to a mechanic shop and getting the cylinder re-thread for whole lot less and whole lot better attitude. hopefully, it holds. | |||
| 01/26/2010 | 77000 | 1 | |
| Spark plugs ejecting out of cylinder head on my 2002 ford mustang gt. had one blow out 1 year ago and now another on the other head. used heli-coil kit to repair the first one on the drivers side head. just this past october in 2009 the spark plug blew out again. got new head installed in january 2010. a week later , just today, another spark plug blew out on passenger side head. *tr | |||
| 02/16/2002 | 122000 | 1 | |
| I have a 2002 ford mustang gt that i bought new. i was driving to work on 2/16/09 & i heard a loud sound like someone had hit underneath my hood with a hammer so i immediately pulled over & turned the car off. i smelt a smoke / burning smell & when the hood was raised there was no fire. it was 31 degrees & i had no cell phone service so needless to say was i late for but i was stranded. i was there for 45 - 50 minutes before i was able to intouch with someone. it cost 75.00 to have it towed to a ford dealership & they are saying it blew a spark plug through the coil & cracked the very front pulley. they have not said whether it has put a dent in the hood / fender. they will call on 2/17/09 with the final estimate & report. the service dept said that if it has messed up any heads then i will be looking at 1500.00 each head.... there is enough of people that this has happen to. not only is this aggravating because of there neglect to produce a vehicle that is safe. but this can harm whom ever is the vehicle @ this time. my vehicle could not be moved any further because of this it had to be towed. i feel that ford motor company is responsible for this problem that is happening to alot of us right now because of there neglect. i would like to know if there is a new / any petition to sign. also is there any right that i have to proceed with this in the form of a petition or lawsuit & is there anything that i need to do to be able to do which ever i choose? *tr | |||
| 04/14/2007 | 85138 | 1 | 02/02/2002 |
| I own a 2002 ford mustang gt. i bought this car brand new from the dealer, i have never had any mechanical problems with the engine ever. car mileage :85,138 while driving my car in town,a loud bang came from the engine, followed by a popping noise and seamed to be a loud leak. had the car towed to a garage and the mechanics informed me the #3 spark plug blew out. he informed me that this kind of thing has been happening to fords.had to get the ignition coil replaced, new spark plugs, and heli coiled the #3 spark plug thread. final bill $694.00 now i am wondering how soon before the other spark plugs decide to blow out.i read on the net that this has happened to many other ford vehicles, not just mustangs. ford needs to fix this problem as soon as possible. *jb | |||
| 11/01/2006 | 16000 | 1 | 08/07/2002 |
| Car will bog/ have little power on acceleration then you will feel the car pick up and go. also, when accelerating from into a turn car will bog down then pick back up. if gas is pressed quickly the car will bog then pick up. mass air sensor replaced in 2003 but problem still happening. *jb | |||
| 02/01/2005 | 64224 | 1 | 12/26/2001 |
| Coming out of a red light, i heard the sound of compressed air being blown out. i immediately parked in a local store parking lot and got towed to a local pep-boys. pep-boys indicated that one of my spark plugs had blown out and that the threading on the head was damaged. however, they indicated that they did not do that type of repair and recommended that i take it to a ford dealer. the first time i contacted ford was when i towed my car to the dealer for repair. after performing an inspection, they indicated that the one of my spark plugs had blown out and that the threading on the head was damaged. ford indicated that there were two methods of fixing the problem: 1.) i could replace the engine head (and associated hardware) on the side that blew out. this option was estimated at approximately $3200.00. this option however only included 1 yr. warranty on the side that would be replaced. in addition, ford would not guarantee that the same problem couldn't occur on the other side of the engine or to another spark plug. 2.) the other option ford recommended was to replace the entire engine. this option would cost approx. $4565.00. this option included 3-yr or 36,000 miles of warranty on the engine. this is the option that i chose. prior to taking the car out of the dealer, i asked the service techinitian if there was anything that i could do to prevent this from happening again. he indicated that there was nothing that i could do. furthermore, he indicated that they had seen this problem before. he explained that they had seen these types of failures on ford trucks like the f-150 and specially the f-250. | |||
| 03/20/2003 | 9650 | 09/15/2002 | |
| After stopping at a red light during a rain storm. i attempted to pull out after the light turned green the motor died. i started the car right back up. the next day my belt started squeaking. i have an appointment for service. also, during the first 10 days of buying the car the throw out bearing had to be replaced. | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE - GASOLINE | |||
| 03/13/2008 | 80300 | 1 | 11/17/2002 |
| 2002 ford mustang gt (4.6l v8) blew out # 2 spark plug after 80,000 miles. the dealership put in a helicoil to replace the stripped threads caused from the blow out and replaced the other spark plugs and boots. i was told that ford does not warrant the helicoil repair and the only way to get a repair that ford would back would be to replace the head. replacing the head was a ridiculously expensive option. after researching the problem, i found that there have been numerous complaints about this problem. the fact that this problem has been known to cause a fire and burn a vehicle to the axels in 12 min and no one has done anything about it is absurd. ford needs to recall and replace the heads with no cost to the consumer. *tr | |||
| 35600 | 1 | 09/01/2001 | |
| Consumer called complaining about having electrical problems. while driving vehicle completely shutdown ,leaving the consumer with no steering power or brake power to handle the car.dealer was contacted, and has asked the consumer to take the vehicle into the shop to be seen. *ak | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - ENGINE - GASOLINE - BELTS AND ASSOCIATED PULLEYS | |||
| 06/30/2006 | 15656 | 1 | |
| I was traveling home from work on june 30, 2006, in my 2002 ford mustang gt during a heavy rain storm. upon turning into a subdivision near my house i went through some water in the street that was higher than usual, but not high enough to stall my car's engine or to spray up over the wheel wells. shortly after that, the steering and brakes of my car quit working. i opened the hood and saw that the drive belt was missing. the next day i had my car towed and the person towing the car indicated that this type of failure happened frequently. according to this person, the drive belt hydroplanes when substantially wet and comes off the pulleys. i had the dealership fix the car and was astounded to find out that ford knows of this problem and has not notified the owners. on the invoice for the repair it is stated that the tensioner on the engine needs to be updated to a tensioner with a rail. i was also astounded to find out that my extended warranty didn't cover the work ($186.32). if this kind of failure can occur at speeds in excess of 40 mph, i believe that an accident could happen. *jb | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - EXHAUST SYSTEM - EMISSION CONTROL - CRANKCASE (PCV) | |||
| 03/10/2006 | 47929 | 1 | |
| We took the ford mustang gt2002 to metro ford in tueplo, mississippi due to knocking. according to the service manager the entire motor was out need to be replace. we have not had any motor problems at any times. we provided the service manager documents we had regular oil/filter to prevent incidents of this nature. we had work completed or not completed in december 2005 due to previous work completed by metro ford in tupelo, mississippi the motor is out. they want us to pay for a new motor. after filing a complaint march 10, 2005 the service manger with metro ford had a officer go to my son job on march 17, 2005 to escort him back to metro in the loaner. that was harassment, embarrassment and violated law governing employment harassment. *jb | |||