Ford E450 V-10. Problems with #10 cylinder

Thanks for the advice. I will keep our RV.

I agree with everyone else here in that your 2007-V10 E450 engine has no such concerns. That issue was resolved many years prior. Don't sell your rig if that is your reason.

If your chassis is new enough to have "Tow/Haul" on the shifter and not OD Off or "Overdrive" you are well beyond the problem years. Bryan as usual is right on the money. 1997-99 "Modular" or "Triton" engines ALL had too few sparkplug threads. Ford issued new heads called "Performance Improved" in 2000. In V10, that upped the HP rating from 275 to 305 AND added threads. But, again as Bryan points out, SOME PI heads were mis-machined. The alignment from threads to seat was a pinch off. If the engine was V6, all three plug holes would be wrong, all four for V8, all five for V10. Various plants made the heads and not all were affected. Bryan says it was corrected in 2003. My information was 2004, BUT there's always the issue of the Chassis often being a model year older than the year assigned by the coach builder. A Ford dealer may be able to tell you, by VIN, which heads your specific engine has.
An acquaintance asked for the VIN when I was shopping for our coach with 2002 chassis (signature) and came back saying heads were OK. I think he ran the question past an engine remanufacturer.
200-SEVEN?!?!? Don't Worry Be Happy.
All of the above does NOT pertain to Three-Valve Triton/Modular engines as used in F-Series. The E-Series has always been Two-Valve, so don't get derailed by talk about 3 valves, 362 HP and sparkplugs breaking. Different issues. Amazing though that Ford managed to 1. Create a sparkplug problem with too few threads. 2. Flub the correction with machining errors. and then 3. Create a whole NEW set of problems with Three-Valve.

I have a 1998 Four Winds with a V-10 and 39K miles on it now. Bought it last year and had $3200 of preventive maintenance done on it. The only thing I had done to the V-10 was had the engine and radiator flushed and mass air flow sensor cleaned. Had all the hoses replaced, new shocks, tie rod ends ect.... Just came back from a 2400 mile trip. The V-10 was perfect, mpg over all was 13. You are not going to speed anywhere in Oregon giving great gas mileage. The garage that did the work said they have seen blown spark plugs. One time on a V-10 but more on the V-8's. I love the power.

Had a 99 v10 in an F250 bought it brand new and traded it in 10 years later with 200,000 miles on it...awesome truck and motor. We pulled a TT all over the east coast. Only issue we had was the alternator went a couple time in the 200k miles.
Then had a 2000 Winnie Adventurer with the V10, again drove it all over with 0 issues. These were supposedly the problem year motors, but we didn't have any.
Wish the V10 was still an option for the F250, I would have one.
I miss the v10, plenty of power and very smooth.

tomgardner1 wrote:
I have a 2007 Ford V10 E450 engine. Several mechanics including my son state that V10 engines spit out spark plugs, usually #10 that will lead to costly repair. Does anyone know what year Ford changed the heads to alleviate the problem. I have 40,000 miles on a Tioga, and am considering selling it. I love the RV. Ford has not been helpful. Thanks.

I have read, in these forums, many different dates when the problem was fixed. There have been many theories on what caused that to happen. Some say the head did not have enough threads, others say that the backyard mechanic did not torque them properly. This website Consumer Affairs seems to identify the Triton engines versus only the V10. One thing to keep in mind is there are 1,000's of V10's that do not have problems. :)

I have not heard anywhere that Ford admits they might have had a problem.

There is nothing to worry about, assuming spark plug changes are done properly. The V10 threads were increased from 4 to 8 for the 2000 model year. The machining defect (which affected the entire cylinder bank) was corrected in '03.

But just to clarify, because of of the very slight probably of a very low-risk event (which is also very repairable) you want to sell your rig? And what has Ford not been helpful about?

The splitting problem was fixed by the 2001/2002 model year.

You will see the V10 engine is so many motorhomes now. By 2007 they were practically bullet proof! If you are happy with your rig, enjoy it without worry about the drive train.