NHTSA Complaint #10122147 — 1999 FORD EXPEDITION

1999 FORD EXPEDITION WITH 5.4 TRITON V8. SPARK PLUG IS EJECTED FROM THE ALUMINUM CYLINDAR HEAD. IMMEDIATELY UPON THE PLUG BEING "BLOWN" FROM THE POSITION ON THE HEAD I COULD SMELL FUEL AND THE ENGINE BEGAN TO VIOLENTLY MAKE A LOUD "POPPING" SOUND. I HAVE FOUND NUMEROUS COMPLAINTS ON THE WEB REGARDING THIS BUT CANNOT FIND ANY RESOLUTION MEASURES. BOUGHT THE TRUCK USED WITH 85K MILES BUT I HAVE READ OTHER COMPLAINTS WHERE THE PLUGS BLOW OUT AT MUCH LOWER MILEAGE. HAD TO HAVE IT TOWED BECAUSE I WAS ADVISED BY THE DEALER THAT, "IT WOULDN'T BE A GOOD IDEA TO DRIVE IT IF YOU SMELL FUEL." I HAD THE SERVICE REP TELL ME THAT, "THIS IS PRETTY COMMON IN OUR LIGHTING MODELS WITH THE V10, BUT NOT WITH OUR V8 MODELS." HE ALSO TELLS ME THAT THE PLUGS WERE TOO SHORT FOR THE ENGINE BUT I CHECKED WITH THE MECHANIC THAT CHANGED MY PLUGS AND HE SAYS THAT HE PUT THE REPLACEMENT SPEC PLUGS THAT FORD RECOMMENDED. LINKS TO OTHER SITES RELATED TO THIS: HTTP://WWW.F150ONLINE.COM/FORUMS/SHOWTHREAD.PHP?S=&THREADID=103042 I KNOW THESE ARE NOT FILED COMPLAINTS WITH THE NHTSA BUT THIS IS A SERIOUS ISSUE. WHEN I TOOK IT INTO THE FORD DEALERSHIP AT DOBB'S FORD, 7925 HWY 64, MEMPHIS, TN 38133-4007, THEY TOLD ME ORIGINALLY IT WOULD BE $2600. I WAS ALMOST SET TO HAVE IT DONE THEN HE TELLS ME THAT LABOR WAS NOT INCLUDED IN THAT PRICE AND THE TOTAL PRICE WOULD BE $3800.