2001 FORD F SUPER DUTY — Problems, Recalls & Safety Data

MY DRIVER SIDE FRONT SEAT BELT WILL COME UNBUCKLED FOR NO APPARENT REASON.NO MATTER SPEED ANGLE ETC. *JS

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

I PURCHASED A 2001 FORD SUPER DUTY NEW. THE TRANSMISSION FAILED AT 61K MILES AT 6 YEARS OLD. I REPLACED THAT TRANSMISSION WITH A 'REBUILT BY FORD' TRANSMISSION WITH A 3 YEAR, 36K MILE WARRANTY. THAT TRANSMISSION FAILED (DISINTEGRATED) WITH 31K MILES AT 37 MONTHS. ALTHOUGH THE DEALER IS HELPING WITH THE COST OF REPLACING IT AGAIN, FORD WILL NOT HELP AT ALL. THE REPLACEMENT TRANSMISSION FAILED TWICE UNDER WARRANTY AND WAS SERVICED WITH 25K MILES ON IT. *TR

WAS SITTING AT STOP LIGHT, AND ALL OF A SUDDEN THERE WAS A POP, AND THIS TERRIBLE NOISE STARTED COMING FROM ENGINE AREA. PULLED INTO A PARKING LOT, AND CALLED MY HUSBAND. HE CAME DOWN, AND INSPECTED THE ENGINE. HE FOUND THE NUMBER 4 SPARK PLUG MISSING. THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THIS FAILURE HAS HAPPENED. HAD TRUCK TOWED TO A FORD DEALER, AND THEY INSTALLED A SPARK PLUG INSERT, AND REPLACED SPARK PLUG, AND COIL. $424.52 WAS TOTAL REPAIR BILL WHICH INCLUDED TOWING. OLD PARTS ARE NOT AVAILABLE. *TR

MY 2001 FORD F350 SUPERDUTY EJECTED A SPARK PLUG FOR THE SECOND TIME IN A YEAR. I FINALLY HAD TO BUY AN INSERT KIT TO FIX THE PROBLEM MYSELF COST ME 450.00 PLUS A NEW IGNITION COIL FOR 55.00. FORD WOULD NOT EVEN THINK OF TAKING THE BLAME FOR THIS PROBLEM TELLING ME THAT IT IS VERY UNCOMMON FOR THIS TO HAPPEN???????I DIDN'T HAVE A FIRE BUT I DID SEE SOME SMOKE AND SMELLED GAS VAPORS WHEN THE PLUG EJECTED IT ALSO SCARED THE HELL OUT OF MY WIFE AND I..IF IT HAPPENED ON THE INTERSTATE THERE COULD HAVE BEEN AN ACCIDENT FROM THE LOSS OF POWER AND THE SUDDEN SHOCK FROM THE NOISE.. I REALLY THINK THIS FAILURE IN THE FORD TRITON MOTOR SHOULD BE LOOKED AT CLOSELY AND MAKE FORD RECALL THESE ENGINES....THANK YOU DAVE CURTIN *TR