They’re all hit or miss, aren’t they? Fords have problems with spark plugs blowing out or breaking and camshaft phasers failing. Dodge hemi engines have bad lifters that require removing the cylinder heads to replace. Chevys will use some oil. Of the Big 3 I find the GM engines to be the most trouble free.
The Toyota Tundra is a good full-size pickup.
I have driven several Chevrolet Silverado pickups and Express cargo vans as work trucks, some with over 250,000 miles, and they have all been solid. Of course, these trucks were from model years 1996-2007, as contractors here like to keep the older work trucks on the road. My current work truck is a 2005 Toyota Tundra, with the V-6 engine, and it has approximately 230,000 miles on it.
Yes, they are all hit or miss to some degree. But there are certain year ranges or engine designs that are known to be more problematic than others. The 5.4 3 valve was kind of known to have some issues. Mainly, a goofy plug design and a tendency for the timing system to not be the most reliable (VCT system, timing chain guides, etc). Prior year 5.4 engines, on the other hand, were known to be relatively solid.
Similar to GM, 5.3’s from 1999 to 2007.5 are generally reliable. 5.3’s from 2007.5 to 2013, with the early version of active fuel management, are known for burning oil and lifter failure.
Same with Toyota. Certain year models or engines are considered iconic. Other engines are known to burn oil.
And yes, even Honda laid some eggs in more recent years. Although the year model Tester owns is known to be reliable.
I agree, the Tundra is a reliable truck. Pretty terrible gas mileage and relatively expensive on the front end, though. Well, they (particularly trucks) are all terribly expensive now.
I agree all makes and models have their specific years and issues, which you learn about as the New Models become not so new. I drove a 1964 Ford Van with a straight 6 standard shift for many years. Parts where cheap but the design of the engine specifically the distance between cylinders became an issue with heat and the engine would blow head gaskets every year or two. it has low compression could run on any gas, when the gas became short I installed a second tank put a Holly econo-master single port carb with a mileage master pressure regulator I could unplug the fuel line to the carb and idle for almost 30 minutes. I could travel out of state and back without stopping for gas. But the head gasket had to be replaced on schedule. Tires where $22.00 ea. The problem was not in the engine design alone but the cooling system the water pump was not adequate for engine and air flow the the mid size engine was an issue I made a special air scoop in the front of the flat front to get max air flow which helped on highway.
I’ve been listening to Best of Car Talk podcasts posted in the mid-2020’s. One of the callers on one of these podcasts had a Ford truck with this exact problem. If there’s a way to search the podcast descriptions you might can find which show it is, and listen to what Tom and Ray suggest.
Class action lawsuit? hmmm … well, anybody, for any reason, can file a lawsuit. It seems hard to imagine OP would get much bang for the buck following this approach though. But anything’s possible when courts and judges are involved.
Yup!
Filing suit and winning same are two entirely different concepts.
Many are called, but few are chosen.
Is this a situation where owners should use Time-Serts proactively before the failure occurs? If so, at what age or should it be done as part the the first plug change? Just curious.
I’m not sure I would recommend that
If it were my own truck, I wouldn’t install time-serts proactively
Take your typical V-8 . . . that’s a lot of proactive work, and they may not actually all blow out. In fact, there are lots of engines out there where it’s never happened
Isn’t that like getting your tonsils taken out before they’re actually a problem?
Couple of years ago we had a guy with an E250 6.8 ask about installing thread inserts. Seems he was going on a long trip, heard about Ford spark plugs coming loose, and wanted to avoid problems on his vacation. We quoted something like $2300 to do all 10 and he had us do the work.
He must’ve had money laying around. He kinda had to in order to afford the fuel for that V10 
Used to do that, ya know.
Oh, I dunno. All it takes is a story from one of your friends about how he lost 4 days of his 10 day vacation due to a plug blow out to get you thinking about how to avoid that. People afford what they want to afford.
If I were worrying about the spark plugs blowing out while on vacation, I think I’d just pop the hood & verify they remain tight every morning.
Seriously ? Have you even looked under the hood of a vehicle made in the last 100 years ?
Do you mean Model T’s don’t count.
Labor guide for that van shows 2.8 hours to replace spark plugs. Are you really willing to spend 2+ hours every day on your vacation doing preventive maintenance?
No, but I’d be willing to spend 15 minutes. It depends on how much time it takes to verify the tightness of the spark plugs I guess. Checking how tight they are isn’t the same procedure as replacing them of course. On both of my vehicles, in fact of any vehicle I’ve ever owned, (admittedly none are of recent vintage), it would take 5- 10 minutes.
Unplug the coil pack.
Unbolt the coil pack.
Remove coil pack.
Check spark plug tightness.
Reassemble and repeat.
Coil pack.
It’s going to take longer than 15 minutes.
Tester
Good point. Thanks for the photo. I guess that’s one disadvantage to the coil pack method, vs the distributor.
Tester forgot to mention the part about removing the air cleaner housing, intake duct, and clearing out the center console, removing the interior engine cover, relocating the pcv tube and breather hose, and unplugging the injectors!
