So, I'm driving down the road the other day, when I hear a sound like a gunshot going off under my hood, followed by more horrible noises. Turns out that a spark plug had launched itself out of the cylinder head and was now pounding against the coil. The threads in the cylinder head are destroyed. I'll need to either replace the whole head, or have a machine shop put in an insert.

I'd heard of this happening on 5.4 truck engines, and a quick consultation with Google leads me to believe that it's pretty common on all of the Ford modular V-8s from 97-04. Apparently there are only a few threads in the aluminum head that actually hold the plug in place. Rumor has it that Ford's been aware of the problem with the design, but doesn't want to admit it.

Anyhoo, the machine shop quoted me a price of $150 to repair it, which sounds a heck of a lot better than replacing the head. Only problem is that there are 7 other cylinders that I can no longer trust to contain a spark plug.

 

I had the same thing happen to me in my 00 gt i had way back. Ford only put 3 threads in the aluminum head. Smart huh. Plug over time worked its way out, im cruiseing down the road and just like you described, BAM!. My warrenty was denied because it wasnt the origional plugs in teh car... so i had hte head heli-coiled and it was fine.

After i had my warrenty denied, there were 4-5 other cars on stangnet that i happened to, same way.

 

I heard this before. A chap in Germany had the same problem. As far as I know, he got everything replaced on warranty.

Check with Ford. Don't let them BS you.

 

The car's got 80k miles, so it's out of warranty, anyway. Not really expecting out of Ford. There are a couple class action lawsuits going on right now, and a recall is not out of the question.

 

Would be nice if you could keep us appraised if you hear anything from your end.

 

my brothers 01 bullitt did this, he did the same as scott heli-coiled back.

Worst part about my brothers is it ruined his coil packs on the way out.

 

My 00 stang did this as well, around 75000 miles. I had mine helicoiled, as Scothew said, but did not have as good of luck. About a month later it happened again and I ended up having to replace the heads.

When I checked the other plugs, they had backed themselves off a little bit and they were loose... so my word of advice to anyone is to check your plugs!

 

Like Knight said, mine did this, i kinda blaimed it on the Super Charger forcing it out but it was a horrible design on Fords part. If you have the money you can get aftermarket heads with Steel inserts for the plugs. Which is basically what a Helicoil kit does, except I'd trust the aftermarket heads a bit more than my in the driveway repair. But so far the Helicol has lasted 10k miles without any problems.

 

Well I agree with you, but i took my 00 gt head to a shop that specializes in cylinder head repair and had them heli-coil it for me.

 

Which plug did you guys lose? I lost the second plug from the front on the passenger side. I was just wondering if all the plugs are prone to doing this or is it just the same plug for everyone.

 

Hey have you been making sure to check your plugs when you go to the strip?

 

No I haven't but I swapped the intake out earlier this year and the plugs were all snug when I removed them and then I checked everything a little later to make sure everything was still tight after driving it a bit and the plugs were still good.

But it's probably not a bad idea to check again now that I've been to the strip twice (even though I've only made 4 runs)

 

I would check them on a regular basis period. Mine popd out at 45mph cruising down a two lane road. It doesnt take hard abuse to pop one out.

 

I had forgotten you were changing out the intake? did you get both upper and lower or jus the lower? and what did you do with the old one? if i ever get another gt i might need a bullitt intake.

 

I wasn't taking it hard on mine either when mine popped out. The funny thing was I was at the store shortly before this happened and I remember saying something sounds a little funny I need to take a look under the hood when i get home, but the car decided to tell me a little sooner!

 

Forget buying a GT - Just buy a Bullitt, I highly recomend them! Or just save your money and get the GT500 like you were telling me about, since you got the wife's approval!

 

GT500 has to be on hold for a year and half til she gets outta school, but i might need a mustang earlier....or i could be smart and save up a larger down on it at that time. darn all these choices...