E350 5.4. Had a P0303 along with a P0313 and a constant miss. I pulled the COP from cylinder 3 and only got the coil itself and the top 3/4 inch of the boot. The boot had burned through and gotten soft and spongy from oil contamination.
After 2 hours of picking small pieces of plug boot out of the spark plug tube , I tried to put a plug socket on the plug to remove and replace the plug (hadn't fired in over 700 miles) but the socket wouldn't slide over the flats on the plug. Inspection with a light and a mirror seems to show some kind of gunk/schmutz/crap on the sides of the plug. Soaking it with Brake Clean and letting it sit through lunch yielded a nasty mess when I tried to blow the hole clear with shop air.
Looking down the tube again with a mirror showed a clean insulator but still no flats on the plug. Still can't get any socket on the plug because of the hardened gunk but now it's soaking in solvent from my parts cleaning tank.

Any other ideas?

 

You might try a crochet needle to try to dig the gunk from around the plug. They have a small hook at the point and they'll fit into the tight space. You can usually find them at JoAnn's or maybe Walmart.

 

WORST CASE SCENARIO

They have these:
Spark Plug Extractor at AutoZone.com - Best Spark Plug Extractor Products for Cars, Trucks & SUVS

The problem of stuck plugs is common enough for makers to create tools to fix the problem. Never a good thing.
jim

 

Jim I don't think his plug is stuck or broken off in the head---not so far anyway.

If its just gunk or hardened oil the probe or crochet needle to loosen the crud first is a great idea. The boot coming out in pieces says something has worked to soften it to the point its crumbling apart---I've personally never experienced that but am sure its not totally unheard of with the Modular Motor family.

FWIW I've not heard of too many E-Series having broken plug issues---that's more of a 3v head thing I believe. We tend to suffer more from the blown out plugs due stripped threads in the heads. Not sure which is the lesser of two evils?

 

I agree, that's why I put worst case (which is usually my luck! haha)

If the crud is coked oil from leakage, it is almost like concrete to remove. I don't know of anything besides mechanical removal to get it out.

The Mod motor series has its own set of special problems. I like cast iron better.
jim

 

Me too Jim if I had my 'druthers! I say that look back on the first time I tackled a Modular Motor to change plugs---was so scared of the possible failures I paid a friend $140 to basically show/help me do this myself. Had it been a cast iron block and heads already having experience with those would have made it super simple for me.

With a few DIY plug changes under my belt its become almost as easy, most any problem encountered somewhat easily overcome. There is a lot more plumbing and wiring in the way when changing plugs but by now its become almost as easy as back in the 60's through the 90's.