NHTSA Complaint #10302149 — 2002 FORD EXPEDITION

MY 2002 FORD EXPEDITION WITH LESS THAN 49,000 ORIGINAL MILES BLEW A SPARK PLUG AND BLEW A HOLE IN #3 CYLINDER ON JANUARY 17, 2010. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO JACK MADDEN FORD IN NORWOOD, MASSACHUSETTS AND WAS REPAIRED BY REPAIRING SPARK PLUG HOLE AND REPLACING SPARK PLUG, IGNITION ASSEMBLY COIL AND INSTALLING A HELICOIL AT A COST OF $813.00 PLUS $21 TOWING FEE. AFTER GOING ON-LINE I SAW THAT THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM WITH THE ENGINE IN MY VEHICLE WHICH IS A FORD TRITON 5.4 V-8. I'VE ALSO SINCE LEARNED THIS PROBLEM CAN LEAD TO FIRES DUE TO FUEL VAPOR BEING IGNITED BY LOOSE SPARK PLUGS. ALL ENGINE WORK ON MY VEHICLE IS ALWAYS DONE BY FORD DEALERS! I BELIEVE THERE SHOULD BE A RECALL. THERE IS CONSENSUS THAT THE SPARK PLUG THREADS ON THE ENGINE AREN'T STRONG ENOUGH TO HOLD THE SPARK PLUGS BECAUSE THEY'RE ALUMINUM FROM WHAT I AM READING FROM DIFFERENT WEB-SITES ON THE INTERNET. IF YOU BLOW ONE PLUG YOU CAN BLOW ANY OF THE REMAINING PLUGS AT ANY GIVEN TIME. ANY PLUGS EVER INSTALLED IN MY VEHICLE OR REPLACED WERE DONE BY FORD CERTIFIED MECHANICS AT FORD DEALERS SO THERE SHOULDN'T BE ANY COMPLAINTS OF INCORRECT TORQUEING OF PLUGS AS FORD SEEMS TO BE CLAIMING. I UNDERSTAND THIS WOULD BE A COSTLY RECALL FOR FORD BUT ONE THAT SHOULD BE INITIATED BY NHTSA. *TR