Hey guys, I have an 05 F350 with the 5.4 in it that I had the plugs done in about 4000 miles ago. One day a few months ago I got a catastrophic misfire. Shook the whole truck, lost a TON of power and could barely get out of my own way. Strangest thing I've ever had happen. So my first thought was the coil packs ofcourse. You never know nowadays. But that didnt work. So I let it sit for awhile because I didnt know what it was and frankly was too mad to work on it (especially after having these just done). Fast forward to the other day, I got ambitious and pulled the problem cylinder plug. Low.and behold I find this. What the hell? What could have cause something this bad to break off the tip of the plug? I'm speechless. I do not know what happened at all. It blows my mind. Has anyone at all seen something like this? Is this even remotely common? What happened?!?! I'm so lost. Either way, I put a new plug in and it runs perfect. No.issues at all. I just do not understand what could have cause this.. Any info would be appreciated.

 

Yes, I have seen something like this- see attached picture. Almost same scenerio. Here is my entire post on it- Champion plug likely saved the day, and multiple new Motorcraft plugs did not solve the misfire.

My 2007 5.4v 3v with 120k miles had a misfire on cylinder 5. Pulled over and discovered the plug was loose. Torqued it down, and went on my way. 5,000 miles later, another misfire, same cylinder. Pulled the plug, and the electrode ground had broke off, not a good thing. I replaced the plug with Motorcraft, still had a misfire. Replaced the COP, still had a misfire. I was suspecting cylinder damage from the spark plug electrode ground. I did not have the means for a compression test, so sent the F350 off to the local ford dealer.

I want to note the misfire would occur within one mile of start up, and a definite loss of power immediately upon start up. It also took two seconds to start the truck typically took one second.

Ford dealer had the truck for six weeks trying to find the problem. Yes, six weeks. The replaced the spark plug, COP, fuel injector, and ran a compression test. They could not figure it out, and said I might need to replace the PCM. I said no, and I picked up the truck.

I read 100 pages of threads on the this Modular V8 forum looking for clues. Found where a guy posted carbon issues might cause the plug to not seat right. I bought a scope, and looked at the spark plugs seat, threads, and top of piston. Did not see anything that could help clarify the issue, but the piston did look black.

Bought a Champion plug, it has a very different design than the Motorcraft, More threads, beefier nut, bigger surface where the plug meets the head, and an old traditional electrode ground. Decided it was worth a try.

Removed the Motorcraft plug, and sprayed about 1/3 of a can of carb cleaner into the spark plug hole. Let the cleaner sit for about one minute. STARTED THE TRUCK UP WITH THE SPARK PLUG MISSING, SO WHATEVER CAME LOOSE FROM THE CARB SPRAY CAME HOPEFULLY CAME OUT THE SPARK PLUG HOLE. Had a fire extinguisher handy if needed. Let the truck run for about 30 seconds, and shut it off. I should also note I had the cable to the COP disconnected, to reduce a spark risk to the carb cleaner, fuel going into the cylinder.

Installed the Champion plug. Truck started right up. Went around the block, no loss of power. Checked toe code reader, no codes. Decided to go to Home Depot with the truck, which is over a major mountain, with a speed limit of 65 mph. No power issues, no misfires, no codes.

Carbon build up? Motorcraft plugs not seating well after driving with a loose plug, where a Champion seated better? I don't know- all I know is my truck is back to normal.

 

You did a whole lot of things before putting the spark plug in. There's no telling what was causing the issue. It very well could have been a piece of the old plug sticking in the valve seat and when you ran it without plug it was blown out of cylinder. I wouldn't put a Champion in my lawn mower.

 

Well looking at the plugs side by side and the broken plug definitely isn't a 4,000 mile plug. That's the old design so it wasn't changed. Did you pay a shop to do this work?

 

Yes I did. I thought the same thing when I pulled it out, just something didnt seem right. Ofcourse it was #4, the worst one to get to in my opinion, so I was wondering if they didnt even touch it at all.

 

Its crazy how similar our stories are.. did you ever find the guard in the cylinder? I believe mine was obliterated and sent out the exhaust but I'm not sure completely positive.

 

Are any pieces left in the cylinder? Very bad if there is...

Contact the spark plug manufacture and see if there is any kind of warranty. They should have the repair done.

That's a manufacture defect.

 

Something here is wrong, the current plugs are PZH and have been since 2012. The PZK plug is the original to the engine. The new plug you have next to it shouldn't be used, the PZH plugs eliminate the welded portion. Where did you get the obsolete new plug from?

 

I went right to autozone. That's the one they grabbed me

 

I think someone owes you compensation, unless it's an owner/operator error.

 

Was the box marked SP-515?

 

I'm 98% sure it was the right one.. but I'm not sure the number on the box on the top of my head. In comparison to the old one that I took out it's the same thing. Same numbers, codes and everything. Motorcraft parts

 

I dont think I've done anything wrong with it.. it's been babied its whole life. I dont touch major engine components or ignition systems for this exact reason (except this one time). I just do not know if it was a possible failure of the plug, or if my engine is too hot, or what's happening. It's been driving me nuts.

 

Like the OP, my plug was recently replaced prior to electrode ground failure. In my case the plug was replaced by a Ford Dealer in Western Minnesota in January 2018. Did the Ford dealer use old stock? Possibly. Did they charge me for a plug change that they overlooked? Possible, but it was cylinder #5 on the 5.4L, which is a very easy plug to replace so I find it tough to understand how a tech would miss #5.

It was very frustrating after the plug failure, that both I and the Utah Ford dealer could not get the truck back firing on #5. I replaced the plug, COP, and fuel injector, all with OEM. The dealer repeated what I did, along with a compression test. Six weeks later the Ford Dealer Tech gave up, unless I wanted to replace the PCM. I picked the truck up from the Ford Dealer, and the truck crawled home, running like crap.

I read one hundred pages on this forum's 5.4v board, likely over a thousand posts. Came to a thought that I either had a carbon issue, or a plug seating issue. Researched the Champion plug for the 5.4v 3v, it has a very different design than the latest OEM. It has a conventional electrode ground, more threads, a wider sealing lip to the head, and a larger "bolt" to secure it.

It is important to share this story, someone shared their story which led me down the path I went to- which resulted in a running truck that was headed for the junk yard. I wanted to share my story as maybe it will trigger some course of actions for someone with misfire issues.

 

No, no sign of the guard (electrode ground) in the cylinder.

And I think we both MAY of have version #1 of the redesign, we definitely did not have the latest and greatest from Motorcraft, but I think both of us MAY of had the one piece design replacement update.