NHTSA Complaint #10920161 — 2003 FORD CROWN VICTORIA

A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO, #2 CYLINDER BLEW THE SPARK PLUG OUT. THIS CYLINDER WAS REPAIRED USING A THREAD INSERT. THE CAR HAD APPROX 130,000 MILES ON IT. TODAY, NO WARNING, AGAIN, BLEW OUT ANOTHER SPARK PLUG, THIS TIME #3 CYLINDER. GOING TO ATTEMPT REPAIR USING SAME TYPE OF INSERT. PLUGS HAVE BEEN REPLACED ONE TIME, WERE PROPERLY TORQUED PER FORD SPECS, THE PROBLEM, IN MY OPINION IS A DEFECTIVE DESIGN OF THE CYLINDER HEAD WHERE THERE ARE ONLY APPROXIMATELY 3 THREADS IN THE ALUMINUM HEAD THAT ACTUALLY GRIP THE PLUG OR ABOUT 1/16'TH OF AN INCH, WHERE THE PLUG HAS NEARLY 3/4 INCH OF THREAD. NATURALLY, FORD WON;T DO ANYTING TO HELP, BUT THERE ARE LITERALLY THOUSANDS OF CASES LIKE THIS, SOME OF WHICH HAVE RESULTED IN FIRES, AND EVEN THE AFTERMARKET HEADS BY TRICK FLOW ADDRESS THE PROBLEM BY FULLY THREADING THE SPARK PLUG HOLES IN THE HEADS.