So today..after a couple weeks of gathering parts/tools.. I began the arduous task of replacing the spark plugs on the wife's 05 expy (5.4 triton). I've read the horror stories but felt that I was prepared and had prepared.

Well I got the first plug out no issue, the 2nd broke but I had already bought the lisle tool. It worked great..moved on to the 3rd plug and it broke but this time the tool has failed me or I have failed the tool. Either way I feel screwed.

For those that have used this tool you are familiar with the procedure. I put the pusher screw in and tightened it down. And when I went to put the puller screw in I thought I had a good bite into the broken piece. Started to twist the nut to get the piece pulled out and instead I stripped a couple of threads on the tool itself. It appears that only the first 2 threads got ahold of the broken tip.

I tried pushing the porcelain into the tip again just to be sure it did get pushed down far enough and tried again. This time though the tool will tighten up slightly but then loosen.. great...

So I figure the threads on the tool have me jacked up so I went to the parts store to get another lisle tool. Unfortunately the one they had has been used but the puller screw appeared to be in slightly better shape than my own. Came home and it felt like it was tightening up pretty good..go to twist the nut and the tool pops out of the broken tip. *&$%#

Have a I royally screwed this up or should I go find a brand NEW lisle tool (puller screw) with nice, fresh threads and try again?

Any other tricks?

B.

 

Oh.. and I did spend a few weeks using fuel injector cleaner, and then soaking the plugs down before removing. Plugs never been changed in this thing me thinks.

 

I have removed 20 or so with my Lisle tool . I had to use a new teflon washer , but the screw threads are still good . Sounds like the porcelin is still too far up to get a good bight , to me .

 

Google is my friend.. you guys too of course. In any case I found numerous issues where peeps had trouble with the lisle.. seems maybe I am not exerting enough pressure on the puller screw for it to bite into the metal of the tip. Also found several other backup ideas if the crowbar idea doesn't work

B.

 

Ok...nothing worked. The top of the shield (broken tip) is stripped and the Lisle nor the 3/8 allthread can get a solid grip. I've pushed the ceramic down as far as the Lisle tool will allow.

I'm almost calling it quits but I have one more idea and need to know if I should or not. Don't have the money to have the head removed..reason I did this project in the first place because we're broke.

Should I take a punch and bang the ceramic down some more? I realize I run the risk of pushing stuff into the combustion chamber if not the whole tip.

Maybe I could drill the ceramic out? I just need to get enough metal for the Lisle to grab.

I've put the truck back together and it fires up other than the one cylinder. I've unplugged the fuel injector and coil on that cylinder. Would it be safe to drive to get it to a shop? Could I get lucky and the pressure of the cylinder blow out the tip or at least ceramic?

Any help/suggestions are greatly appreciated.

B.

 

Ouch ! You are between a rock and a pile of s#!t . I would opt for professional help at this point . Safe to drive ? No good answer there . Hard to say without seeing it in person . Best of luck to you . Really , I wish you luck .

 

I started up the motor and ran it for a minute. I decided to take my punch and tap on the ceramic a little and it moved down!? I started up the truck and did the punch again and yup it moved again. So this time.. which I should have done to begin with was stuck my iPhone over the hole and snapped a photo so I could see the issue better.

It appears the ceramic is back at the lip of the shield. The motor blew it back up..now if it would blow it on out. Ideas?

B.

 

I finally got it out! Took the looong punch I had and ground the end to a nice sharp point and started chipping on the porcelain and blowing out the pieces. I've got 5 more plugs to go but I think I'll wait until the next weekend so I have plenty of time for a disaster. I might have a shop do the 2 far back plugs.

B.