Hi All!

First post, and I don't even have a 150!

My Dad has a 2002 F150 XLT, (4.6L Distributorless). It's not his everyday car, (Mustang), but he's maintained it well. By that, i mean he's been pretty on point about it's schedule maintenance and what not by the Dealer. But there are a few little things I would like to help him with that I've done on my truck, (Explorer), and was wondering if there are some flags I should be looking out for.

For starters, I'd like to change his air filter, clean the MAF and Throttle Body. My Explorer has a protective coating on the TB, but is regular CRC okay for his truck? Also, can anyone confirm that his TB is controlled via cable and not electronically? If the former, I'd also like to pick up some tension in the cable for more response. And finally, the spark plugs. This is been a weird one. I have a 4.6 Triton on my Explorer and of the 8 plugs, 6 of them broke. It's a known problem with the Explorer and I got the snapped ones out via a specialized tool from Lisle. Is there anything non-traditional or alarming about the plugs in his truck? Even my standard 5/8 socket wouldn't work on mine.

Oh, and one last thing: from what I think I found, his generation didn't have a cabin air filter. Can anyone confirm that?

Thanks for any input!

 

That engine should be a 4.6 2V, not the 3V as in your Explorer. You'll probably find you will need to move a few things to get access to the plugs and the back ones will be difficult. That vintage had a problem with plugs launching themselves out of the head, need to be tighter than what Ford "spec"ed. See the YouTube video by FordTechMakuloco on this subject.

Cabin air filter - there may or may not be one. IIIRC it was a dealer installed option.

 

Thanks John - and I misspoke. It's apparently the 5.4, but after looking over Mukaloco's videos, it's still a common problem. . I guess I might just swap his air filter and clean the MAF & Throttle and tighten the TB cable over some beers. This spark plug thing has really got me thinking though. I know one of his coils went bad about 2 years ago, but no clue if it was this blow-out business or just a coil going bad...

Thanks again!

 

I'd go with the bad coil. Changed at least 1 on my F150 (2001 5.4 2V) and most of the ones on my Explorer (2006 4.6 3V).

I could be wrong, but I think the blown spark plugs make a corresponding dent in the hood.

 

Heck yeah! I have a 2006 4.6L Ex myself! Replaced all of them with the Accel series. That's unfortunately when I ran into the terrible spark plug business