i'll be there around 4 30 heading to the movies with my kids....

Mark

 

Hey Mark, I'm sorry I missed you, again impossible, I will stop by there tomorrow (Friday) morming, it's the only time of day I have some control over, I don't expect you there, but that was a real nice offer to meet up, I should be there between 730 and 8

 

I've found a problem with the tool: a have a ground shield that will Spin in the head as soon as the tool attempts to start cutting threads. I posted this a while back in this same thread. I'm always fishing for more opinions or ideas. I slid the plug back in and have been driving it. Runs perfect with 7 new plugs and one that was separated from the shield and then pressed back together. I figure once the carbon gets built up some more, I'll take another shot at it.

 

Wow. If it is spinning it must be loose. have you tried using a pick to lift it out?

 

You should try bending a wire in a sharp 90 degree bend and work it down in there and hook it on the strap that goes across the middle there. I tried that and it didn't work but if your piece is loose it should. I used the lisle tool on mine and it worked fantastic.

 

well i got my lisle tool #65600 this afternoon and it worked awesome! I only worked about a half hour to get four broken plugs out of there. I think every ford 3V owner should have one of these tools. I can't say enough good about it.

 

That is good to hear. I decided to give it a try in changing mine. I just ordered the Lisle tool from ebay. $62.00 And just got my champion plugs. $12.00 each. And ordered the motorcraft high temp anti seize and carb cleaner. Just setting myself up to have everything. Plan to do it the July 4th holiday weekend. Only time I have. Anything to look out for using the tool?
Thanks all for the valuable input.

 

Just follow the directions that come with the tool is what i did I also vacuumed everything out thoroughly

 

the 7 plugs that i got out (40,000 on them) are by far the cleanest plugs I've seen, as compared to the numerous pictures I've seen on here of rusty, carboned up plugs. Mine were clean. no rust at all. just a tad bit of carbon on the tip portion. that tad bit of carbon is what is keeping me from getting the shield out. the thing feels tight if you poke at it. it does not offer to spin until the tap starts to grab it, then it spins sort of hard even, not freely. when I did this I had used Krol. when I get my nerve up again I will get the ford carb cleaner (now that I have learned of it here) and will let the shield soak with a dampened rag stuffed down in it. maybe then it will pull out by hand. on second thought, I should try tapping it again first to see if the carbon will hold it long enought to let the tool grip. I'm working with the snap-on tool that uses a M6 tap, can anybody verify if the lisle tool uses the same size thread? perhaps my snappy tap is a bit large and wants to bite to much of the shield.

 

Stronger, The SnapOn toolkit should have plastic plugs that slide into the heatshield. Also, the tap is a M9 not M6. If you tap out the shield you need to plug the hole in the heatshield to prevent metal particals from falling into the cylinder. I had to use the SnapOn tool on one plug because I overtightened the Lisle puller tool (OM-Operator Malfunction on my part). I had a lot of a rusty/ carbon deposit on my shields. At onetime after Hurricane Katrina the gas in Mississippi had a lot of trash in it. I changed my fuel filter a few months later and it was full of rust. Maybe a factor? Who knows.

 

I'm guessing the 2005 4.2L V6 does not have the same spark plug issues as the 8 cylinders? Thanks.

 

Actually, just the 5.4 litre V8s with the three-valve heads have the spark plug issues, I believe

 

2004-Early 2008 4.6 3v's, 5.4 3v's and 6.8 3v's are the ones with the issues....no 2v's or v6's

 

I could be wrong on the M"6" as it's been a while since I've touched it. my truck runs and this time of the year I need it every day so I tossed the tool in the drawer and plan to get back to it after I build up some more nerve. the tap is a very fine thread and its O.D. is just a tad larger than the I.D. of the shield. I have teh plastic plugs, I ordered the kit of the snappy truck guy for, oh, about $125. Looks like the lisle tool is Much cheaper, and superior? is it an M9 on the end then? and its a one piece deal right? in that once you thread it in the other puller body piece slides down over it. i.e. you dont have to first thread an actual tap down in and out and then thread a threaded shank down in like with my kit?

 

If I remember correctly I had to use the tap separately. I used a socket on an extension to tap the heatshield then removed it and threaded the puller tool. I hope yours is not a rear plug like mine was. It can be done but it is a PITA.