I just talked to one of my best friends who worked for a ford dealer in service for 20 years. He told me there was TSB's on the spark plugs and if you don't remove and install them correctly they will remove part of the thread on the head which, in turn, weakens the spark plug grip and causes the blow out if done incorrectly. He also told me that when they put the helicoil in did they let the truck sit for 24 hrs? We picked the truck up less than 24 hours, so the answer has to be, no. Two people told me that if they started the truck up to move it out of the bay it will make it so the locktite is useless.

He told me that what happened is when they checked the spark plugs first for the problem, and then found that the coil packs needed to be replace, they reinstalled the spark plugs incorrectly as per the TSB. He told me it is funny that the problem occurred immediately after they checked the plugs. The first time took 2 days and the next time was this week, 30 miles. I am waiting for the service manager to call me back.

 

3 days after the first work, #9 goes? Seriously sounds fishy. Did you just buy this truck recently?

 

No had it for 80K miles.

 

Must scare the S!%& out of ya more when your sitting right next to the engine when it pops.

 

The service manager was out of town and the owner got on the phone and told me he will have his best tech put another heli coil in it for free. I told him that from what people had told me it wouldn't hold and would pop out again. He said to let him do this and if and when that time comes we will deal with it.

 

Get it in writing before they do anything.
Denny

 

Are they using a heli-coil? These guys are supposed to be the Ford approved repair.

Full-Torque Spark Plug Inserts

 

I have a 99 F250 S/D V 10 with 62 K miles and am the original owner. Should I change out the plugs at this now?

 

Yes they are.

 

My buddy who was a Ford mechanic for 20 years told me to never change the plugs unless you are having a problem with them.

The problem is that there is carbon buildup on the threads and they are supposed to put something around the spark plug that seeps into the threads and loosens it up so that when they remove the spark plug it doesn't tear out some of the thread.

 

They spray AeroKroil to "melt" the carbon buildup.

 

This is a Ford dealer? Seems odd to me with a factory TSB on the Full Torque they are using a heli-coil.

http://fulltorque.com/pdf/Ford%20Tec...20Bulletin.pdf

 

[quote=Bowhunter2001;7626587]My buddy who was a Ford mechanic for 20 years told me to never change the plugs unless you are having a problem with them. quote]

Thats part of the reason why they blow. The plugs gets loose from not keeping after the plugs. A loose plug in an aluminum head is a no no and leads to a blowout. At the very least the plugs should be torqued from time to time.

Heli-coils are ok for some things but not to rethread a spark plug hole. I'd send the dealer the TSB number even though when the last plug blew it probably took the oversize threads out that were tapped for the helicoil. Now you'll probably need a double oversize insert.

Heat weakens loctite. Several heat cycles and the loctite will be darn near useless. If I can't get a bolt out that has loctite on it I just apply some heat to it.

 

Update. Today the service repairman called me and said the heli coil won't hold. I told him that is what I told the owner. I told him I need them to replace the head that they screwed up int the first place for free. He said he would relay the message to the owner.

I told him how they screwed up and the ways that they did it and he said that I was probably right. He said that if it was him, he would be more irate than me at this junction.

 

Wow, classic nightmare story. Sorry to hear it. Clueless gorillas should not be allowed to work on aluminum heads! There are so, so many stories out there. People used to working on old idiot proof iron headed engines should retire or get some education before playing with aluminum.

Turns out some CG installed a Heli-Coil in mine after the PO overtorqued plugs and stripped them. Heli-Coils are awesome for many things, but NOT sparkplugs. Yes, it blew out.

You can get rebuilt cylinder heads from Clearwater Cylinder Heads with solid inserts properly installed in all plug holes for under $1K for the pair. Check it out. I did and have been pleased so far. Only 10K miles, but lots of towing with no issues.