blown spark plug
5th Wheeling
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 39
Likes: 6
At $235 I will do them myself. I have a shop of my own that is heated, and the time and ability to do it on a weekend. I just have to order the kit. I agree though, $235 is not a terrible price to have what is essentially machining done to your head.
Mountain Pass
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 177
Likes: 1
Is it worth trying to put a new plug back in? or should I go with the inserts. I have seen a couple threads were people were able to simply use a new plug/coil, but other threads were it blew the plug right out again. I have not had time to examine the plug that blew yet, but as far as I can tell all the threads are intact on the plug itself. Is there a way to check the threads on the head? try to screw in a new plug and see how it goes?
New User
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 4
Likes: 2
The last post I submitted on this problem was back in 2010. This post is a bit late for a followup but here it is. The first blow out was back on 11/2010. My repair shop said they had the FORD approved kit and would do the repair. 839 dollars and one year later almost to the day the same plug blows out again. Cause....faulty installation by someone who was in over their head and didn't know what they were doing. Fortunately no damage to the block. Since the engine had just rolled over 100 K I decided to pull both heads...do the valves and while they were off put inserts into all plug ports. New shop that i had used years before to build engines for me. Currently 22 K on the refreshed heads and no problems.
Oh BTW it did cost a bit more than 839 dollars this time. I'm going fishing now...talk to you later
Oh BTW it did cost a bit more than 839 dollars this time. I'm going fishing now...talk to you later
New User
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 4
Likes: 1
From: SW Missouri
Blown plug fix with head on motor
I had a plug blow out of my 1998 5.4. My nephew had a repair kit which consisted of a guide, drill bit (looks more like a reamer), tap and inserts. Pretty easy fix.
1st Gear
Joined: Mar 2024
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
Your right I should not have said " owners level" I should have said Its not at Fords level. As far as dealerships are concerned the service departments should back up the work they do. But like I said earlier it is the lack of communication from the manufacturer to the dealership that gives the rest of us the misconception that it is a direct product problem. Mechanical things are just that, Mechanical. There are variables and in this case it is the fact that plugs are blowing out. Why?? It is my personal feeling that it is a manintenance issue, or installation issue, not a bad design issue. Merry Christmas to all!
FTE Community Team
Joined: Jan 2019
Posts: 10,772
Likes: 1,511
Your right I should not have said " owners level" I should have said Its not at Fords level. As far as dealerships are concerned the service departments should back up the work they do. But like I said earlier it is the lack of communication from the manufacturer to the dealership that gives the rest of us the misconception that it is a direct product problem. Mechanical things are just that, Mechanical. There are variables and in this case it is the fact that plugs are blowing out. Why?? It is my personal feeling that it is a manintenance issue, or installation issue, not a bad design issue. Merry Christmas to all!
Welcome aboard!
Trailering
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 15
Likes: 0
Tow might not be necessary
So what did you do to fix the problem and is it fixed???
I had same problem on my 1999 F150 4x4 5.4 Liter (2nd from the back on passanger's side head).
I had a shop use the Screw Thread Inserts from "Timesert" only to have the same plug (and timesert) blow out last night. I may add another timesert and a tube of JB Weld and trade it in on a Dodge.
PS: Has anyone head if Ford ever fessed up to this obvious flaw or is tere a class action suite happening I need to know about so I can get paid - This breakdown happend sever100 miles from home with my family and the truck is still in NC and has to be hauled home - Im out $1000 and havent even got the hole fixed
I had same problem on my 1999 F150 4x4 5.4 Liter (2nd from the back on passanger's side head).
I had a shop use the Screw Thread Inserts from "Timesert" only to have the same plug (and timesert) blow out last night. I may add another timesert and a tube of JB Weld and trade it in on a Dodge.
PS: Has anyone head if Ford ever fessed up to this obvious flaw or is tere a class action suite happening I need to know about so I can get paid - This breakdown happend sever100 miles from home with my family and the truck is still in NC and has to be hauled home - Im out $1000 and havent even got the hole fixed
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Hotshot
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 19,768
Likes: 1,082
From: St Louis
I just watched a you tube video where the driver of a truck with an ejected spark plug said he has driven several hundred miles on more than one occasion with the plug out. He said the trick is to disconnect the fuel injector. It sounds like hell, but as long as fuel isn't being shot into the cylinder it shouldn't be unsafe. A little less power, but still runs on 7 cylinders, and shouldn't do any more damage. Depending on how far you are from NC, a tow can get damned expensive damned fast.
Been there, done that....If you want to kill some of the noise and have time to wait, the guys at the blown out spark plug site have a temporary plug that can be installed in the spark plug hole. It will still run lousy, just quieter.
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 1,812
Likes: 88
From: Thousand Oaks, CA
..... Overall, this issue was caused by Ford producing heads with only four threads for the spark plug to hold on to. If the spark plugs were slightly under-torqued they'd often blow out, taking the coil with them. If they were over-torqued, they'd strip the threads and blow out, taking the coil with them. .... Ford changed the design of the heads to add many more threads for the 2002 model year. .....
From what I've read Ford seems to have installed the OEM plugs with 17 ft-lbs of torque and when left in for over 100K they have a tendency to work loose and eventually blow out.
I change plugs at 50K and torque to 25 ft-lbs and have not any more issues with a blown plug (TimeSert).
What torque would "over-torque" be? There was a post a few years ago where a junk head was used for a test to over-torque and the plug broke after over 100 ft-lbs was applied.
Fleet Owner
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 21,255
Likes: 1,657
From: Reynoldsburg, Ohio
I don't think the issue was with 4 thread heads as I've seen posts with people having blown plugs with 7 thread heads, just takes longer.
From what I've read Ford seems to have installed the OEM plugs with 17 ft-lbs of torque and when left in for over 100K they have a tendency to work loose and eventually blow out.
I change plugs at 50K and torque to 25 ft-lbs and have not any more issues with a blown plug (TimeSert).
What torque would "over-torque" be? There was a post a few years ago where a junk head was used for a test to over-torque and the plug broke after over 100 ft-lbs was applied.
From what I've read Ford seems to have installed the OEM plugs with 17 ft-lbs of torque and when left in for over 100K they have a tendency to work loose and eventually blow out.
I change plugs at 50K and torque to 25 ft-lbs and have not any more issues with a blown plug (TimeSert).
What torque would "over-torque" be? There was a post a few years ago where a junk head was used for a test to over-torque and the plug broke after over 100 ft-lbs was applied.
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mav74
1999 - 2016 Super Duty
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Aug 29, 2003 10:47 AM
