My 2002 Ford E-350 Triton V8 with 52,000 miles blew a spark plug out of the head - threads and all. 6 months out of warantee and Ford Customer non-Service will not even give a discount on this $3,000 to $4,000 repair. I did a quick enternet search - turns out to be a VERY common problem with these 2 engines. The Fed's are considering forcing a recall on 17.5 million vehicles with these engines. For now I need to spray a lot of Scotchgard to off set this repair bill lost business. My next truck will be anything but a Ford.

i dunno but i have a 97 ford with 201,000 miles and it still runs pretty good lol. but i also just got a brand new 2006 ford e 350 also lets see if i can get thaat 1 to last that long also i think ford is pretty good

1) You might be able to use a thread insert instead of replacing the head - call an ASE certified mechanic and ask about it...
2) If you call Ford corporate and tell them your problem, they might help...I had a friend that had a camaro that blew the tranny right after the warranty expired - Man, he went right to GM and complained big time, threatened them, etc... They finally helped him out with a new tranny...

Joe

I have been arguing with Ford for the last week. The best they could do is tell me they were sorry. I think they are wait out the Fed's decision on a possible manditory recall or the class action law suit in the works out of CA.
I tried the polite approach, the threatening and the no more Fords for me and I'm going to spread the word approach. www.consumeraffairs.com has a lot of info on this problem. My problem is not a rare case.
I did talk to a very reputable repair shop. They were aware of the problem. He said it is a VERY difficult fix. The book calls for about 20 hours labor.
I finally got the dealer I purchased the thing from to give me a discount after speaking to the General Manager.