NHTSA Complaint #10630671 — 2001 FORD F SUPER DUTY

FORD F250 2001 6.8 V-10 SPARK PLUG BLOW OUT I JUST HAD TWO OF MY TEN PLUGS BLOW OUT ON MY 2001 F250 GAS 6.8 V-10 WITH 161K MILES. I TUNED UP THE ENGINE AT THE RECOMMENDED 100K MILES USING THE SPECIFIED PROCEDURES FOR THIS ENGINE. I KNEW THERE WAS A PROBLEM WITH THIS ENGINE AND WAS EXTREMELY CAREFUL DURING THE TUNE-UP AND PLUG REPLACEMENT. I AM A CERTIFIED AIRCRAFT MECHANIC WITH FAA INSPECTION AUTHORIZATION. I USED A CERTIFIED TORQUE WRENCH TO INSTALL THE PLUG WITH THE CORRECT TORQUE. THERE WAS NO ERROR IN TECHNIQUE OR INSTALLATION ON THIS SPARK PLUG REPLACEMENT. I JUST PAID $720 TO HAVE TWO SPARK PLUG HELI-COIL INSERTS DONE ON THIS ENGINE THAT BLEW OUT THE TWO FRONT LEFT PLUGS. THERE IS A SIMILAR PROCEDURE FOR AIRCRAFT ALUMINUM CYLINDERS (CALLED JUGS) WITH STRIPPED SPARK PLUG BOSS DEFECTS. AN AIRCRAFT SPARK PLUG HAS A LARGER 18MM DIAMETER PLUG WITH FULL DEPTH THREADS (NOT THE ? THREAD OF THE FORD V-10 AND OTHER FORD ENGINE DESIGNS). AIRCRAFT SPARK PLUGS ARE TORQUED TO 35 FT/LBS (VS THE 8.9 FT/LBS (107 IN/LBS) SPECIFIED BY FORD). THE MAXIMUM RPM OF MOST AIRCRAFT ENGINES IS 2700 RPM AS OPPOSED TO 6000+ RPM IN THE FORD ENGINES. THIS RESULTS IN A SIGNIFICANTLY LESS STRESS ON THE PLUG BOSS AREA THAT IT WOULD HAVE IN A FORD ENGINE. THE ENGINEERING THOUGHT THAT WENT INTO THIS FORD DESIGN IS TOTALLY NONSENSICAL OR NON-EXISTENT. THERE IS NO LOGICAL REASON THAT THEY SHOULD DESIGN THIS THREAD DEPTH WITH ? DEPTH IN AN ALUMINUM HEAD INSTEAD OF THE FULLY AVAILABLE 7/8? OF THE SPARK PLUG THREADS THAT ARE INSTALLED. THIS IS A GROSS ERROR IN DESIGN CONSIDERATION THAT HAS RESULTED IN THOUSANDS OF SPARK PLUGS BLOWING OUT OF FORD ALUMINUM HEADS. HOW LONG BEFORE MY REMAINING 8 PLUGS BLOW? WHERE WILL I BE WHEN IT HAPPENS? WHAT WILL BE THE RESULTANT DAMAGE TO THE ENGINE, VEHICLE OR PERSONS IN THE TRUCK? HOW MUCH WILL IT COST TO REPAIR? *TR