I am reading horrible words....should I?

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ignorantmonkey

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I have checked the web and found this page about the 2002 Expos; mine is 2002...so I am worried after reading these horror stories posted by people that have had spark plugs explode and having to plunk down serious money to have that issue fixed:

http://www.carcomplaints.com/Ford/Expedition/2002/engine/spark_plugs_eject_out_of_cylinder_head.shtml

Have any of you had such bad things happen to your toy?... Will it be wise to step ahead of the problem by going ahead and change the spark plugs before guessing when that will happen?...
 

ecqm8000

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I am kind of leaning toward what plug are in it and if changed, was it done correctly? If you are an original owner and know who did the plugs, I would not worry much. I bought one with 144K and I'm the third owner. And the guy I bought it from did not do the plugs. Some have said, use only Motocraft plug. Torque to specification. Retorque (check torque) every 30K. Technicians that crank down when installing the plugs probably have more to do with "tearing" out the soft aluminum threads. If the problem surfaces for me, I will look into a head swap with parts that address this problem.
 

tonydiv

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It's a very well known issue. Happened to me. The problem is that there are only like 3 courses of threads in the head.

There are a few different companies that make inserts used to fix the problem.
 

seeker

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Nope

I have checked the web and found this page about the 2002 Expos; mine is 2002...so I am worried after reading these horror stories posted by people that have had spark plugs explode and having to plunk down serious money to have that issue fixed:

Have any of you had such bad things happen to your toy?... Will it be wise to step ahead of the problem by going ahead and change the spark plugs before guessing when that will happen?...

I have not had the problem.Truck was used at 68k miles when i bought it. Now have 115K. changed all plugs and used anti seize as I have for 35 years. Again no such problem here. I do have the COP failures that have occured on four cylinders. Love my truck. As someone that was in the automotive field for 15 years, I believe that each make and model has at least one problem or another.
 

panda24619

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I have not had the problem.Truck was used at 68k miles when i bought it. Now have 115K. changed all plugs and used anti seize as I have for 35 years. Again no such problem here. I do have the COP failures that have occured on four cylinders. Love my truck. As someone that was in the automotive field for 15 years, I believe that each make and model has at least one problem or another.

agreed. dont have this problem since mine is before the big plug pop outs. but have cops go out. and the big problem with the 98s was the cruise control would catch fire! yeah great! haha
 

tonydiv

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Mine lasted until 123,000 before the first plug blew. Screwed it back in and got another 1250 miles out of it before it spit back out. The second time forced a trip to the dealer for a $450 repair. (timesert)
 

seeker

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unfortunately it happens. lucky for me i know a guy that will do the job for 50 bucks and a six pack.:D
 

tonydiv

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Unfortunately, if you have an expedtion, you have a potential for spark plug problems.
The '97 to '02 model years had the plug blow out issue and the '03 and up had the stuck plug / broken plug issue. There's no free ride in Triton land.
 

MaverikDS

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Unfortunately, if you have an expedtion, you have a potential for spark plug problems.
The '97 to '02 model years had the plug blow out issue and the '03 and up had the stuck plug / broken plug issue. There's no free ride in Triton land.

Heh great summary!
 
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ignorantmonkey

ignorantmonkey

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So it is "potential"... should be nice to find out or make some sort of poll to find out how many out of, say 100 expeditions have had such thing happen.
 
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