First time V10 Owner
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From: Bozeman MT
The other special feature of the V10 is that corrosion eats away the water channel between the heads and intake manifold until eventually the intake gasket can't contain the coolant and coolant flows/drips into the front cylinders through the intake port. The heads eventually have to be decked to correct the leak.
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From: Media PA
I have had the misfortune of owning multiple of these V10s. There are maybe four threads in the head to hold the spark plug. If you do enough research you'll find that they used a slightly off thread pitch, so only the Motorcraft is a fit. The Motorcraft also have the Nickle unobtainium coating and the right seal angle. With any other brand of plug they will eventually work free and blow out of the head. The service bulletins explicitly say no anti-seize, as well as the only authorized repair tool says no anti-seize, I still have the $400 Time-Sert tool set to repair the plug hole in my chest.
My last V10 blew out a plug shortly after I bought it, I had just received new plugs but had not installed them yet. The plug hole had been repaired previously and the replacement collar broke into multiple pieces and dropped in - instantly grenaded the cylinder. It seems to be more of a problem on the 6.8, though the 5.4 and the 4.6 also have the same four threads. I think they finally corrected the heads in 2005 with the 3v and the long two piece plug design.
My last V10 blew out a plug shortly after I bought it, I had just received new plugs but had not installed them yet. The plug hole had been repaired previously and the replacement collar broke into multiple pieces and dropped in - instantly grenaded the cylinder. It seems to be more of a problem on the 6.8, though the 5.4 and the 4.6 also have the same four threads. I think they finally corrected the heads in 2005 with the 3v and the long two piece plug design.
During the model year of '03 Ford increased the number of spark plug threads in the heads to about 7. This change all but eliminated the plug blow outs that were an issue on some of the earlier 4 thread heads. The 2V V-10 continued in production in the vans and motorhomes for years after the introduction of the new 3V motors in the pickups in '05.
The early 4 thread plugs had a factory spec of 11 ft/lbs and the updated 7 thread plugs called for 14 ft/lbs. The very low torque spec on the 4 thread heads is considered by many to be a major contributing factor in plug blow outs. Tests on junkyard motors have ben done using torque values up to 110 ft/lbs without thread failure. While going to that extreme isn't recommend by anyone many owners have increased their plug torque values above the factory specs and have good reliability after doing so. I used 32 ft/lbs on my '05 2V V-10's plugs with a dab of nickel anti-seize.
The 2 piece plug design used in the 3V modular motors lead to a completely new problem, plugs breaking on attempts to pull them requiring a special tool to retrieve the remaining plug segments.
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From: Bozeman MT
During the model year of '03 Ford increased the number of spark plug threads in the heads to about 7. This change all but eliminated the plug blow outs that were an issue on some of the earlier 4 thread heads. The 2V V-10 continued in production in the vans and motorhomes for years after the introduction of the new 3V motors in the pickups in '05.
The early 4 thread plugs had a factory spec of 11 ft/lbs and the updated 7 thread plugs called for 14 ft/lbs. The very low torque spec on the 4 thread heads is considered by many to be a major contributing factor in plug blow outs. Tests on junkyard motors have ben done using torque values up to 110 ft/lbs without thread failure. While going to that extreme isn't recommend by anyone many owners have increased their plug torque values above the factory specs and have good reliability after doing so. I used 32 ft/lbs on my '05 2V V-10's plugs with a dab of nickel anti-seize.
The 2 piece plug design used in the 3V modular motors lead to a completely new problem, plugs breaking on attempts to pull them requiring a special tool to retrieve the remaining plug segments.
The early 4 thread plugs had a factory spec of 11 ft/lbs and the updated 7 thread plugs called for 14 ft/lbs. The very low torque spec on the 4 thread heads is considered by many to be a major contributing factor in plug blow outs. Tests on junkyard motors have ben done using torque values up to 110 ft/lbs without thread failure. While going to that extreme isn't recommend by anyone many owners have increased their plug torque values above the factory specs and have good reliability after doing so. I used 32 ft/lbs on my '05 2V V-10's plugs with a dab of nickel anti-seize.
The 2 piece plug design used in the 3V modular motors lead to a completely new problem, plugs breaking on attempts to pull them requiring a special tool to retrieve the remaining plug segments.
Tuned
Joined: May 2015
Posts: 314
Likes: 9
From: SE WI
This being the case, the question now up for answer is will having used anti-seize on the plugs contrary to the previously unknown factory recommendation produce negative consequences?
Cargo Master
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 2,113
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From: Iowa
To the best of my knowledge, anti-seize isn't a lubricant and shouldn't cause any adverse effects if used. It is used to avoid the spark plug seizing into the threads of the head and stripping the spark plug hole on the next removal.
Postmaster
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 4,724
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From: Rogersville, TN
I've been using antisieze on all of my 5.4's since 2003 and have never had any problems with it and haven't had any plugs blow out in them either. Start them by hand, use motorcraft plugs, torque them the right specs and you will be fine. I prefer to use antisieze but know plenty of people that don't use it and haven't had any problems either.
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