My truck is at the dealer now. My $338 tune-up (I have a coupon) is now $2500 b/c they broke 7 of the 8 plugs while removing, are unable to extract them and need to pull the heads. I have elevated this to the Regional Mgr and we are in "discussions" to see if Ford is going to take any responsibility. Has anyone else been successful getting Ford to take responsibility for this terrible design flaw?

BTW, both Champion and Autolite make full metal shaft plugs to fit this. The Champions are $20 and the Autolites are $10. I'm on my way to get the Autolites..

 

All I know is that Ford changed the heads on mine, and those made after October of 2007. I have a normal looking plug, though it's a little longer than the ones in my wife's Escape. I think that's the only "responsibility" Ford's taking...They redesigned the head after 4 years of bad plugs...

 

If they had any concern for their customer they would fix it.

 

Agreed....(4 periods to make the 10 character length neccesary to post a reply on this message board so it will take and get read by millions of people looking for answers to their F150 questions, or Dodge and Chevrolet owners lurking around to see if we have problems with our trucks like they do, since a Dodge can't haul anything in their beds, or the Chevrolet owners whose trucks look cheap on the inside and the functional equipment isn't much better. (Run-on sentence, I know) I'm bored so I'll continure on with my inane posting to ensure I make the 10 letter minimum and that my post gets o...What's that, honey? Dinner's ready bbl...

 

Don't pay for the repair work no matter what they try to tell you. They broke the spark plugs, it is their responsibility.

 

Did they tell you what the price would be if they broke plugs? Did they tell you before -hand that the plugs might break? If NOT I'm not sure I would pay this bill, only the bill that was agreed upon.

 

I agree with not offering to pay the dealer anything for their mistake, no matter what they tell you. The service manager at the dealership should realize its their responsibility to make it right since it was their service technician that broke the plugs in the first place. That cost should come from the dealership's bottom line and not your wallet. Especially if the dealership wants to stay in business and not lose their loyal customers. I hope you can resolve this matter with the regional manager.


I use to work at a GM dealership myself and Chevy has lots of trouble with coolant leaks in their 3400 V6 engines and oftentimes this would require replacing the head gaskets. Oneday, one of the techs I worked with had forgotten to place all the lifters he removed from a 3400 V6 engine in oil overnight. When he came to work the next day, he found all the lifters he removed the day previously had collapsed. Our service manager was really upset with him and decided to simply replace all the lifters with new ones at the dealership's expense rather than wasting time refurbishing all the old lifters by hand. The customer paid nothing for the new lifters. It all comes down to how the service manager wishes to run their service department. Especially when they screw up.

I prefer Autolite plugs over the Champions. The Autolites have much better threads on them IMHO and they are usually easier to remove if they have a good coating of antisieze on the threads.

Jim
'06 Ford F-150 SuperCab

 

I am needing help or advice on removing the right head on my 5.4L engine; seems the last spark plug decided to break into 3 pieces; I retrived two , but the third is now in the cylinder. I am good with engines, having overhauled several, but this Ford engine presents new challenges. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Whenever I bring my vehicles to the mechanic, if something is broken I'm told that if it was broken while removing parts for the repair I pay, if it was broken assembling the parts, the shop pays.
Though I agree, since there was a TSB on the issue, Ford is admitting what the problem is and should cover the cost if their own mechanics break the plugs.

 

Don't kill yourself, or me, but there's another post that just started and someone said to pull the right head, you either have to pull the body, or the engine...I have no idea if this is true or not, but that would suck bigtime.

 

They pull the body from the chasis nowadays. It's actually quit simple and easier than pulling the engine.

 

I can see one or maybe two breaking but not seven. Sounds more like the mechanic didn't know what he was doing. A mechanic at a Ford dealer should know better, especially in light of the TSB on spark plug removal. Even if they break there is a kit designed to remove the spark plugs without removing the heads. The dealer should have been on the phone with you after the first on or two broke not after they broke seven.

 

Yes, but it wouldn't be too easy in my garage...

 

i'm going to wait it out until ford fixes their mistakes!

 

Kind of off topic but, does any body know what is different about 08 5.4 heads? I can see that the exhaust manifolds are different.