Hi all! Great site you have here. I bought a black 2003 P71 with 97xxx on it last saturday, put maybe 50 miles on it and she blew a plug right out of the head, installed plug back in motor on the side of the road and headed for home (had tools with), drove it to work monday morning and to the dealer after work with no problems(30 miles), it's a toyota dealer and they said they would be sending it to Ford if they can't fix it. my question is, will they replace the head, helicoil it, or do nothing, I have a 30 day warranty on it and toyota claims they will take care of it. any idea's or thoughts? the car seems great other then that and would like to keep it. Thanks. Lance.

I would ask them to replace the Head. Cant hurt if you have a 30 day warranty on the car

If they won't replace the head, Ford has a preferred aluminum thread insert. IIRC, TSB has been posted here recently, but I can't find it right now.

Thanks for the info, will let you know what happens. Lance.

Wow, at least it did it on day 1, and not 31!

I would go to the dealer you bought it from and ask them to replace the head, I wouldn't want they to "FIX" it so it lasts until the 30 days is up.

Copy that, will see what options they give me, thanks.

You got that right Ask the shack lol

Here is a link to the pdf of the Ford TSB concerning this issue.

Ford Spark Plug TSB

Honestly you are lucky that is happened while still under the 30 day warranty period, very lucky. I would talk to them and say they should replace the head, as that what Ford recommends for a warranty repair. If they don't want to then show them this TSB and tell them you don't want a HeliCoil. TimeSert or the one posted above are the way to go. This happened to my car about 8 months after I got it, and with the miles it had I just picked one up with 60,000 for $750. So at least your not in my situation lol

Well they put a helicoil in it and it's 106 miles to chicago! wish me luck..........Lance.

That was a mistake letting them do that. Everyone that had a helicoil put in, the spark plug blew out again with the helicoil on it.

I would absolutely NOT accept that as a "Warranty" repair for a used car you just purchased. There is a very good chance that the HeliCoil insert will come out, and then you WILL be looking for a new head or engine. In all seriousness do not let that pass as a legitimate repair, because it simply isn't and has been proven to fail.

You should take a stand and not let them do it, in a few months when it comes out again you will be really screwed.

Chances are that the helicoil will stay in. If it does not you can repair it with a Bigsert.

(update) 120000 miles on the car now, helicoil still holding! Lance.