We have an 04 250 super duty 5.4 v8. A friend was having his truck with the same motor tuned up, and the spark plugs broke off and the truck had to be towed to the dealer where it ended up being super expensive to get it fixed. He was told that all of these motors are having this issue of the plugs breaking off and that tune ups need to be done at a Ford garage because they are trained and ready for this problem. So we are getting close to 100K miles and wanna do a tune up, but are looking at atleat $400 for a basic workup and then if they break the plugs, its like $90 per plug that breaks for them to fix it... Is this a problem that a lot of people are having? Is there any recall on this yet? or any other advice...

thanks guys!

 

Very common, good article I remember reading a little while back.
The Ford Three-Valve Broken Spark Plug Blues | Four Wheeler Magazine Article at Automotive.com

 

his 04 doesnt have the new 3 valve motor or the breaking plugs like the three valves, his two valve 5.4 has the better plugs but bad threads in the head. but ford fixed this in late 02 so your 2004 should be good. i changed my plugs at 50k on my 2004 f-350 and they came out with no problems. just make sure they use the silver never-seize on the new plugs and only torque them to 12ftlbs!

 

Good to know!

 

If you were to break one off, you can use the same removal tool they are going to charge you $90 per plug to use at the dealer. I just changed mine on my 04 Expedition and a buddies 00 F250 with no issues.

Ford Spark Plug Removal Kit | OTC Tool Manufacturer for Cars and Trucks