any warranty success with plug blowing out of head

usd2ba6 · May 24, 2004

Ok I have a 99 GT with minimal bolt ons (k&n, cat back) and my #3 plug blew out of my head a couple weeks ago. Im reading that this is turning out to be a common problem, but the real disheartening thing is almost every post says that the warranty co wouldn't pay for it. I bought the car used and apparantly the previous owner changed the plugs, and now my (3rd party) warranty co is using the excuse that they werent factory plugs. I was gonna get a lawyer involved, but if everyone else is getting stuck with the bill, then it would look like I really dont have a chance. So has anyone actually been covered when this has happened? Downs Ford wants to charge me $3200 when it looks like other peoples bill has been around $2500. Downs also told me they dont recommend a helicoil, but im sure thats just cause they want to bend me over for a $1100 head. Anyone have any bad experiences with a helicoil? Any help would be appreciated.

68 & 00 GT · May 24, 2004

I'd imagine if you did replace the plugs at one point they will blame it on improper installation. I'd look into getting something used, and maybe even get work done on another set, and have someone else do the work. You should be able to find a much cheaper way to do it. I hope you car is paid off now. The dealer will always be the most expensive option.

bdcardinal · May 24, 2004

helicoil is not the way to go. plus you can get PI heads for $395 new from gefracing.com or sean hyland. and there wouldnt be a warrenty on your car becaue its 5 years old. the problem that arises with the spark plugs blowing out is from someone not correctly tightening the plugs. to properly fix it you have to take the head off, if you are doing that you might as well get a set of P&P'd heads for what the dealer would charge you for stock heads.

leitrim · May 24, 2004

How many miles do you have on it? My GT blew the same plug at about 35,000 miles. I towed it to my local stealer and they quoted me $3200 as well. I then had it towed to another dealer that was recommended to me by a friend and they told me that I'd have to pay the deductible of $1800 and then they'd submit it to FoMoCo for warranty. So I paid the dedeuctible and got my head replaced. Then about 3 weeks later I got a call from the service manager and he said that Ford found it to be within warranty and had a check in the mail of $1800 for me. So this whole head issue didn't cost me a dime. Ford's road side assistance even towed me twice. Once where it broke down, once to the other dealer. I also had NGK plugs in my car and that was the reason the first dealer didn't want to submit it as a warranty repair. The first dealer also mentioned the fact that I had a Steeda T/A and said that could be a contributing factor.

Anyway, depending on the dealer it is possible that will replace it under warranty. That dealer told me that it was a somewhat common occurence with the 4.6 and 5.4 liter motors. I guess it has happened quite a bit in the F150s. Anyway, good luck.

ImportEater98 · May 24, 2004

Well if you got the warrenty when you bought the car from the previous owner, the warrenty should cover the car as/is how you bought it. My gf bought a VW and got a thirdparty warrenty and the engine blew, and they replaced it...after months of These companies love to play hardball when it comes to paying up. My advice to you is to tell them that you are making two phone calls after you hang up with them: The Better Business Bureau and then your lawyer. That seemed to do the trick in our situation...they of course told us it was all our fault and we were responsible for fixing it (New Engine = $8000). But that lawyer bit above worked. Again, you bought the car and put an aftermarket warrenty on it, so i don't care if the old owner put diesel in it, they have to warrenty the car, in the condition its in, at the time you bought it. Case Closed.
Good Luck
John

usd2ba6 · May 24, 2004

bdcardinal- what is your reasoning for not recommending a helicoil? Bad experiences?

As far as me not having a warranty, I paid an extra $1500 for one when I bought this car a year ago(JM&A I think) and the aftermarket plugs were already in it. The warranty co claims that they cant prove that I didnt install them even though I have a service report from Downs of a complaint I filed because of a miss when I first bought it(Is that good enough evidence that it wasnt me or no?). $395 for a set of heads is a nice price, but are they assembled? Because Im sure that will wind up costing me a few bucks as well. As far as p&p work, I think Im finally tired of used cars breaking on me, so once this is fixed Im most likely gonna sell it for a snake. If Im gonna sell it, I could just throw a helicoil on it, bring it to a cheap shop and call it a day, but I do have a conscience and dont wanna screw the next owner like I was if the helicoil isnt the way to go. Around here all the reputable shops (outrageous, jdm, etc) would probably wind up costing me as much as Downs if not more. So basically I guess what Im getting at is are helicoils good or bad? (sorry if this didnt make much sense)

bdcardinal · May 24, 2004

helicoils can be done. its just safer to do it with the head off. its very hard to get it exactly perfect with the head on the motor. $395 is for each head assembled. so you would need 2, but when you think about it, $800 for 2 assembled sohc aluminum heads isnt that bad brand new out of the box.

any warranty success with plug blowing out of head

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