2002 Ford F-150 Engine
Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.
Complaint Timeline
Chronological view of owner reports
The contact owns a 2002 Ford F-150. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle made a loud sound. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed and determined that cylinder #3 spark plug had blown out, but no repair was recommended at the time. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to file a complaint with the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 108,000.
The contact owns a 2002 Ford F-150. The contact stated that she observed smoke emanating from under the vehicle near the engine compartment. The contact stated that she opened the hood and flames erupted from the engine compartment near the battery. The contact threw dirt on the engine to extinguish the fire. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a complaint was filed. The failure mileage was approximately 200,000.
1. Coils on top of spark plug get moisture in them when there is just the right kind of rain storm. This makes the coil or coils fail until the dry out. This seems to make the coil eventually go bad. Yes, it is available for inspection. 2. Not sure if its a combination of heat and moisture but sometime right away and sometimes a few minutes into driving the coil or coils fail and the engine loses power. Then if seems to be a random, unpredictable occurrence until it dries out, Very Unsafe. If one coil fails it loses just a little power, but if more than one fails it loses a lot of power and stalls at times. This is why I am writing it up. A few time now, I have gone to pull into traffic and then I lose power and either have to run off the road or just upset the car behind me if they are not too close. 3 & 4. I have advise all the Ford dealerships in my area trying to find one that has a fix yet. The only fix Ford has, is a new designed coil, which does not appear to be any better. The dealership just replaces the coil. I have had all my coils replaced, some 2 or 3 times. 5. It depends, sometime the engine light will come on and advise which coil is misfiring and sometimes if does not. Right now my engine light is on and it displays the #6 coil misfire. Then the engine light will go out after it dries out and stops failing or it will stay off if the coil had gone bad again. I am sure its not just the F 150, but the 4.6 liter engine that is in other vehicles. I started keeping track in 2012. I wrote a letter to Ford in 2015 and they replied, there was no recall. I have several repair receipts and the letter from Ford if you need that. Just search on your site and you will see many complaints. One example Manufacturer Communication number: 041601. If you google "ford fix for moisture in coils" you will see many forums trying to figure out a fix and just complaining.
SPARK PLUG SHOOTS OUT OF MOTOR WHILE DRIVING. HAS BEEN REPORTED ON LOTS OF VEHICLES FOR YEARS.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 FORD F-150. WHILE DRIVING VARIOUS SPEEDS, THE CONTACT HEARD A LOUD ABNORMAL NOISE UNDERNEATH THE HOOD AND THE CHECK ENGINE WARNING INDICATOR ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED BY A DEALER. THE CONTACT KNEW THAT THE FAILURE WAS CAUSED BY A SPARK PLUG. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 190,000. *BF *JB
WE PURCHASED A CAR FROM NAB AUTOS IN FREDERICKSBURG, VA. AFTER THE 7TH DAY OF DRIVING IT, THE MOTOR BLEW UP. WRONG SPARK PLUGS WERE INSTALLED BY DEALER. ALSO THE TRUCK HAD BEEN RACED WITH NITROUS WHICH WE WERE UNAWARE OF UNTIL WE TRIED TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED TO MOTOR. I HAVE DOCUMENTATION FROM THE REPAIR SHOP. MY 18 YEAR OLD SON DRIVES THIS VEHICLE WHICH BEGAN LOSING POWER AND SHAKING BEFORE HE WAS ABLE TO PULL OFF TO THE SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY.
SPARK BLOW BLOW FROM THE HEAD NO. 6 I THE MECHANIC FIX IT AND THAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY I CANNOT REMEMBER THE HOPPING IN VEGAS I CAN REMEMBER ' THE
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 FORD F-150. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE SPARK PLUG EJECTED OUT OF THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 65 MPH. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED FROM THE CONTACT'S RESIDENCE. MCMAGHN FORD DIAGNOSED THAT THE ENGINE WOULD NEED TO HAVE A NEW CYLINDER HEAD. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED, BUT DID NOT OFFER FURTHER ASSISTANCE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 120,000.
TAKATA RECALL MY SPARK PLUG BLOW OUT ON # 6 HEADER TODAY ON 3/23/2017 ON MY WAY TO WORK AT 4:00 AM ON ROUT 390 IN PA
BLEW SPARK PLUG OUT OF HEAD.
SPARK PLUG EJECTED OUT OF MOTOR WHEN I WAS PULLING OUT OF A DRIVEWAY ONTO A CITY STREET.
VEHICLE IN MOTION, CITY STREET, SPEED AT 35MPH. SUDDEN LOUD BANG, ENGINE STARTED BANGING. SPARK PLUG #4 BLEW OUT OF ENGINE HEAD.
STARTED VEHICLE AND HEARD A REAL LOUD BANG FOLLOWED BY A LOAD CONTINUOUS POPPING SOUND. A SPARK PLUG GOT BLOWN OUT OF THE ENGINE AND IT TOOK THE COP WITH IT SO A FIRE COULD NOT START. WE WERE STRANDED IN BAD WEATHER.
#3SPARK PLUG BLEW OUT OF RIGHT CYLINDER HEAD . SINCE THE INJECTOR WAS STILL PUMPING FUEL INTO THE OPEN CHAMBER THIS COULD HAVE CAUSED AN ENGINE FIRE INOW HAVE FOUND THIS TO BE SOMEWHAT OF A PROBLEM WITH THE 4.6 LITRE ENGINE DUE TO THE ALUMINUM HEADS.
THE SPARK PLUG ON THE PASSENGER SIDE OF MY VEHICLE EXPLODED OUT OF THE HEAD AS SOON AS I STARTED THE VEHICLE BREAKING THE COIL PACK IN THE PROCESS. I PURCHASED THE VEHICLE USED A YEAR AGO AND SINCE THE PLUG BLEW OUT ON ME I DISCOVERED THAT THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME THIS HAS HAPPENED TO MY TRUCK SO IT IS AN ONGOING PROBLEM.
WHILE PULLING UP TO A STOP LIGHT MY TRUCK STARTED POPPING AND SHAKING. I PULLED OVER AND OPENED THE HOOD TO FIND OUT A SPARK PLUG HAD BLOWN OUT OF THE MOTOR. IT EXPLODED WITH SUCH FORCE IT BROKE THE COIL OVER HOUSING ON THE HEAD. I HAVE CALLED FORD AND THEY SAY THEY DON'T KNOW OF ANY ISSUES OF THIS. IT IS ALL OVER THE INTERNET ABOUT IT. THEY ARE IN COURT RIGHT NOW OVER THE 2005 AND UP VEHICLES HAVING THE SAME ISSUE. I AM THE ORIGINAL OWNER AND HAVE NEVER HAD TO REPLACE THE PLUGS SO THEY ARE STRAIGHT FROM THE FACTORY, AND THE TRUCK HAS ONLY 123,000 MILES ON IT. IT IS NOW GOING TO COST ME OVER $400.00 TO FIX THIS ONE PLUG WITH NO GUARANTEE IT WON'T HAPPEN TO ANY OTHER PLUGS. I'M RETIRED ON SOCIAL SECURITY AND CANNOT AFFORD A NEW TRUCK PAYMENT, OR CONTINUE TO FIX THEIR DEFECTS.
ABOUT 6MONTHS AGO, CRUISING ABOUT 60MPH; HEARD A "POP", LOST ENGINE POWER, ENGINE LIGHT ON,...PULLED OVER AND DISCOVERED #3 CYLINDER MISSING THE SPARK PLUG AND THE COP BROKEN. HAD IT TOWED HOME (APPROX 25MILES); WENT ONLINE AND DISCOVERED IT'S A SYSTEMIC PROBLEM WITH MANY OTHER FORD V8-V10 1997-2003 MOTORS.
DRIVING HOME FROM THE RIVER TOWING MY BOAT A SPARK PLUG BLEW OUT OF THE ENGINE WITH NO WARNING LEAVING ME STRANDED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DESERT.
THE SPARK PLUGS WERE BLOWN OUT OF THE HEADS; THE THREADED PORTION OF THE HEAD WAS STRIPPED; HELI COILS WERE USED TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM; THIS HAPPENED THREE TIMES NOW IN LESS THAN A MONTH. *TR
I BLEW THE 3RD CYLINDER SPARK PLUG OUT ON THE PASSENGER SIDE, 2 TIMES IN 600 MILES WHILE DRIVING AT NORMAL HIGHWAY SPEEDS. THIS CAUSED RAW FUEL TO LEAK ONTO THE HOT MANIFOLD CAUSING A SAFETY ISSUE. I SPENT 1142.17 TO HAVE THIS ISSUE REPAIRED.
WAS DRIVING MY VEHICLE AND THE SPARK PLUG WAS BLOWN OUT OF THE ENGINE. COULD HAVE CAUGHT ON FIRE. NEVER HEARD OF THIS HAPPING BEFORE UNTIL THE TOW TRUCK DRIVER TOLD ME HIS EXPEDITION WITH A TRITONV8 DID THE SAME THING. DEALER WANTED $700 TO FIX THE SPARK PLUG AND $1200 TOTAL TO REPLACE ALL COIL PACKS AND PLUGS WHICH IS RIDICULOUS FOR A NON-CUSTOM PICK UP TRUCK. WHAT IF MY WIFE WOULD HAVE BEEN DRIVING AND NOT KNOWN WHAT TO DO? IT COULD HAVE CAUGHT FIRE OR CAUSED A CRASH. THE DEALER RATTLED OFF THE ESTIMATE LIKE THEY DO IT ALL THE TIME WHICH TELLS ME THIS IS A DEFECT IN MANUFACTURING AND WHY HAS THIS NOT BEEN RECALLED?
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 FORD F-150. WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS PARKED, SMOKE APPEARED UNDER THE HOOD AND THE VEHICLE CAUGHT FIRE. A POLICE REPORT WAS FILED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 107,000.
EXHAUST MANIFOLDS HAVE DEVELOPED HOLES IN THEM. I BELIEVE FORD'S SUPPLIERS PROVIDED INFERIOR MATERIALS IN THEIR CASTING OF THE MANIFOLDS. THIS NOT ONLY OFFERS MORE POLLUTION TO THE ATMOSPHERE BUT IS A POSSIBLE FIRE HAZARD. MY VEHICLE HAS BEEN WELL CARED FOR AND HAS ONLY 37000 ORIGINAL MILES. I HAVE VEHICLES BUILT IN THE 1950 AND THEIR EXHAUST MANIFOLDS CONTINUE TO FUNCTION. I BELIEVE A RECALL ON THESE VEHICLES IS IN ORDER AND FORD MOTOR COMPANY SHOULD MAKE THE NECESSARY REPAIRS AT THEIR EXPENSE. UPDATED 10/01/15*LJ *CN
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 FORD F-150. WHILE DRIVING AT 5 MPH, THE ENGINE STALLED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC, WHO DIAGNOSED THAT THE ENGINE NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 140,000. UPDATED 5/20/15*CN UPDATED 10/05/2017*CN
SPARK PLUG WAS EJECTED OUT OF THE ENGINE.
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Quick Summary
The 2002 Ford F-150 has 260 Engine complaints on file. 3 crashes have been reported. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.