I changed the plugs on my 97 f150 4.6 today. Mine has wires not COP's. Anyway when i got to cyl 8 ( the last one ha) the socket would not fit do to the crud, and after cleaning and blowing it out i got the socket to fit, but the thing was so tight i could not budge it. I even changed to a 1/2" breaker bar, but held back for fear of breaking the plug in half. I soaked it in Kel,(a rust remover i use for most everything) and left it alone for now. Anyone want to suggest a method for surefire removal?
Thoughts are appreciated
Rick

 

BE VERY CAREFUL. Do not use a breaker bar. Add some penetrating oil. When the plug starts to turn STOP and let it soak some more. 97-99 F150's have a defect in the sparkplug thread length in the heads. Good Luck

 

Good advice, I think i might have gotten just a tweek of a turn on it before i quit.Anyone have a miracle oil i should use?

 

My favorite is PB Blaster.

Steve

 

Where can i get it?

 

Walmart sells it or I saw it at PepBoys the other day when I was in there.

 

I'll try some of that, spray some around the base of the plug and drive it for a week or so before i try removing again.
Thanks for the advice

 

Just soak it the night before you plan on doing the plug and let it sit until morning.

 

wow ' the delema continues
After soaking in the PB Blaster for a day, still too much resistance to turn. actually the plug began to round over so i fabricated (ground) a 15mm socket to fit it snug and still wont budge. Im thinkin i need to heat the motor then freeze the plug somehow to give some thermal advantage.I havent given up yet! and the truck still runs good Thank god i havent broken the plug !!
I'm open for ideas for the next step...i need brilliance here!
Rick

 

Not to be the pesimist (and I may be wrong with this thought), but if it is rounding off the socket (or plug) I would be planning on putting new threads in it when you get it out.

 

If the engine is running good I would just let it go until you throw a misfire code for that plug then do the surgery. I did 5 out of 6 plugs in my wife's 95 minivan for years until this year when the tranny blew then I put all 6 in with the motor laying out in the open. Piece of cake. 144000 and still firing. It's not like you're gonna get 30 more hp if you put in one new plug so be patient, you will get your chance.

 

I would have to second the ideas about spraying and driving, let it go for several weeks, PB Blaster is a migrating breaker oil, heat helps this process. If that does not get the job done after a that, then I second the idea of letting the plug in there, they are or should be Platinium Motorcraft and really do come out looking pretty nice even with 150,000 or more miles on them. You may want to find a better quality sparkplug socket also. If you round off the sparkplug hex, you may really want look down the road at what situation you are making for yourself. You think you have an issue now, I personally would not be happy if someone brought in there 4.6 F series with # 4 or #8 rounded on the sparkplug hex. That is pure head removal time and this is no fun.
Hope this helps, Broken wire

 

It has been my backup plan to just leave it alone!. I hate to be the guy that changed all but one plug tho. In the future when that plug fails i am still faced with the same delema. Until an idea surfaces that has some promise, i will do just that,soaking in penetrant every couple of months. For those that expect to go 100k on factory plugs, i highly recommend cleaning the recesses and soaking the plugs with some sort of lubricant to avoid this problem. The plugs may fire for 100k or more, but the plugs may corrode beyond servicabity way before that!

 

Rounding off the hex on the plug was difficult to avoid. Corrosion of the plug makes the hex dimensionally smaller and all 5/8 sockets i had fit it loosely. My fabricated 15mm fits it well tho and i can put significant torque without fear of slipping. The plugs which i removed were the motorcraft platinum and other than a larger than spec gap(.065), did not appear all that bad . So far i've avoided the head removal YEAH!
Thanks for all your responses!!

 

That head removal is not nice at all, I understand now about your sparkplug socket ordeal. Ford 4.6 and 5.4's blows sparkplugs out by themselves, they need all the help they can get usually just to stay in. Good luck. Broken wire