so I got my truck back today
What I have learned is the truck had previously been had some sort of spark plug failure.The previous owner did some sort of shoddy thread repair and secured it with some wire some how.As you can imagine it didn't hold up.Fast forward to now A truck repair shop did a time cert repair and tells me he torqued plug to 7 ft lbs. He said plug torque value in book says 7-14 lbs. any more than that is why they fail. They are truck specialist and seem like they know there stuff.Can this plug stay in the head at 7 ft lbs? should it be able to withstand how much max torque with time cert ? Not only that but I still have issues because I know have a little miss due to some debris that possibly got caught up in cylinder. Not a good week in the Ford stable.I also have 9 more plugs to change so maybe I luck out and that's my miss DOUBT IT

 

Read through this thread and decide for yourself: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ead-heads.html

We've all read the same torque specs, most who use the 7-14 ft/lbs setting on dry Ford spec'd plugs have experienced them loosening up after some mileage. That situation has also been suspected of launching a plug once its loosened enough for the threads to no longer be able to resist combustion pressures.

HTH

 

This is a pic from the Excur forum of a V10 head with the spark plug installed.
Not sure what exposed threads the shop is talking about.

 

So I changed all the plugs today Motorcraft SP-479 Gap to .54
I did All 10 including what repair shop changed.
I did torque them all to 25 Ft/lbs. Dry no anti-seize
It was kinda strange when tightening them it seems like they get to a certain point and that is it, Unlike when you tighten something and it feels like you can keep tightening it and you feel the stretch of whatever you are applying the ratchet to. Anyway thanks to all for the help on this one.
Happy holidays. Life in the stable is back to normal

 

The idea behind using nickel-based anti-seize is avoiding the feeling you describe PLUS aiding their removal 50K miles later.

For me when installing these plugs I slowly pull them tighter until the first click of the torque wrench---then I stop pulling, not one bit tighter.

 

The plugs feel that way because Ford is using an tapered seat and not a crush ring so when it bottoms out it's solid metal today metal with no give.

Denny

 

Well, after about 2k miles the truck spat the same plug out and this time I can't screw it back in.... So it's gonna have to go into the shop. Merry Christmas!! Any ideas what its gonna set me back?

 

Did the standard Time-sert insert popped out along with the spark plug ? or timesert insert remained intact ?

Timesert usually recommends a special insert called "Big-Sert for previously repaired holes (like it is in your case, as PO tried a quick repair );
Here is link:

++ BIG-SERT Oversized Spark plug thread repair kits ++ spark plug thread repair for oversized holes previously repaired spark plug holes threads stripped

Merry Christmas,

 

The time-sert popped out along with the plug. Just like before. This time there are no threads to put it back in place. Not a job I want to take on myself. I rather pay a shop as I dont want to drill into my piston or valves.

 

You didn't use a Timesert, that photo you showed on 11/22 was something else. A Timesert, if properly installed, will never blow out again.

The standard 51459 insert for the Triton engines is already a "Big-Sert". If the hole exceeds .660", Timesert offers a "triple-oversize" insert that can be installed into the head, then a standard 51459 insert gets installed into that insert.

If your hole is already that big, you might as well use one of the SnapOn (CalVan, I think) inserts as they are already very oversized.

 

Ok, I didn't do the install... Whoever did the insert, it obviously wasn't done right or the sleeve is just a bad design... I had the truck towed to a shop today. Hopefully they can fix it and send me a bill. Hoping less than 1k, but who knows. I am hoping they don't say they need to remove the heads and replace because that will get costly quickly.

 

Ok, called around today. No one will repair it with an insert. Everyone said it needs a new head and around $3000-$4000. I called my buddies shop and he said he has done them in the past. If the head isn't damaged he should be able to fix it.

Going to drive it down there and hopefully it's fixable. Otherwise its becoming a yard ornament.

 

Well, mechanic said it should run on 9 cylinders, just unplug the fuel injector for that cylinder so I don't wash the cylinder with fuel. I did as he requested, it fired up and then died after a few revolutions. I tried it a few times and no dice.

The truck has been paid for since I bought it... I don't want to throw money at a lost cause... If my mechanic is right and it should run without the one cylinder and its not... I assume something else may be wrong? I don't want to pay $1000-$2000 just to find out I need to do something else. I don't have a compression fitting for this truck otherwise I would try and check all the other cylinders to see if its worth dumping money into.

I am leaning towards parking the truck and buying something else at this point.

If anyone has some advice I would appreciate it. It's been a good truck up until this point.

 

Buy your own Time Sert kit and fix it yourself. Even if you have to buy the additional oversize kit + inserts it is still cheaper than paying someone else to replace the head.

 

Thanks Sam. My mechanic that I normally uses said to bring it down, they already own the kit and they haven't found one they couldn't fix yet. I am having it towed and will let you know the outcome. I figure by the time I get the kit @ $500+ shipping to Alaska plus the wait.. I might as well just have the shop do it if they already have the tools to do it. If it costs around $1000, it still will be better money spent than me trying to do it myself in the cold. I am hoping this just isn't a sign of future problems to come.