Hey all,
Have been replacing all the plugs on the V10. Pulled number 4 (passenger side) and it had sand/dirt even though I had blown out with compressor. Went to put new plug back in and it will not thread back in. Tried the old one and it will not thread in either. Borescoped it and cleaned it some more. Threads look good as far as I can see on the scope. Still wont seat and thread.
Any suggestions and or tips?

Greatly appreciated

Josh

 

If it is a 2000 or 2001 model year, then that plug was probably ready to blow out and the threads are now fubar. The CalVan insert kit is your fix and it is FANTASTIC! I am almost done doing all ten plug holes.

 

Yes, 2001 with 170k miles. That’s what I was so worried about. Being the 4 plug its not in a great place for doing the insert. I will look up that kit though. Any advice for doing that work with the kit?

 

Yeah, I've got a lot of advice! I just did another one tonight, so its pretty fresh in my mind. I'll take some pictures and write something up ASAP with my lessons learned. I'll say this, plug #4 is the worst...#5 is actually easier IMHO.

 

I appreciate it.

Forgive my ignorance, but the threads in the head will strip out before the threads on the plug will? I know they are prone to blowing plugs, so was just confirming that’s the way it tends to go.

 

Yes. In that battle of steel vs aluminum, steel wins.

 

Gotcha. Thanks

 

The hardest part is getting the motivation to get started. It's scary to think that you will be reaming a larger hole in your head and dropping aluminum chips directly into the cylinder bore! The Cal-Van kit makes it easy, but it takes a little time to ensure the bore is free of all chips. Removing these chips results in chips getting EVERYWHERE! This is important to manage.

Things I learned
-Almost all of my spark plugs were so loose that I just removed them by hand. I didn’t need a ratchet. This is a public service announcement to check the spark plug torque frequently if you are not already fixed using inserts. You could eject a plug at any time.
-The spark plug recess hole in the head spends it’s entire life collecting dirt, debris, grime, and other crap. Unless you plan to borescope and clean out your cylinder bores, you need to very thoroughly clean these recesses before changing out plugs. Otherwise, you will inadvertently introduce FOD into your cylinders!
-Don’t ever Ever EVER stick anything into the bore except the borescope, air nozzle, and brake cleaner. If you do you will regret it. On my first one I thought I was going to be 'smart' and use a wooden dowel to gauge when I the piston was bottom dead center. Not only is this completely not needed, but the dowel broke and I had to precision-hose-vacuum out a piece of wood from my bore. I got lucky and narrowly escaped having to do an unnecessary head gasket job just to fish out a chunk of wood. Don’t be stupid like me.
-For the very first insert that you do, pick cylinders 1 or 6 up front and easy. Once you get the hang of it, then do the harder ones.
-Its more annoying than difficult. I spread the pain out by doing mine over the course of a month during winter. It takes about 45 min – 1 hr per cylinder to do properly.
-Not sure why, but some people use a starter bump switch to turn the engine. Its way more precise and so darn easy to just use a ½” drive long handle ratchet and 18mm shallow socket attached to the main crankshaft pully. It clears the fan properly and is easy to access from underneath.
-There are several videos on YouTube that show you how to use the Cal-Van insert kit. However, most of them don’t show the annoying detail of properly cleaning the chips out of the bore. They skip over that. You just can’t use a standard air compressor blow gun to properly blow them out for several cylinders due to lack of space. I created a blow gun ‘contraption’ that works quite well. It consists of a cheapo Harbor Freight air gun that includes a long solid nozzle, flexible 1/8” hose, 90 degree 1/8 fitting, and 2-3” long 1/8” nipple to simply extend the length of the nozzle. I bent the end of the nozzle just slightly to allow air to blow off to the side…but it still fits into a spark plug hole. I also keep the nipple to 90 degree fitting loose so that I can rotate it by hand while blowing chips in the bore. This allows me to swirl the air around inside the bore better. Picture below:


-The process is exactly the same for all 10 plugs, but the passenger side is harder to do than the driver side due to restricted access and due to the plug holes angling away from you on that side. All of the driver side plugs are easy, but you need to remove the cold air intake tube from the air filter housing and the throttle body to access plugs 8-10. I used a bungee cord to hold it out of the way because there are other hoses connected to it. Make sure that you plug the throttle body and the air filter housing so chips don’t get in them.
-Passenger side plug #3 needs the PCV valve/hose removed from the valve cover to allow access. Now is a great time to replace the PCV valve anyhow. On my 2001, the PCV valve has a small coolant line that runs around it to prevent icing in cold weather. There is a metal retaining clip that holds that coolant line to the valve. It easily pops off with some leverage. Make damn sure you plug the PCV valve cover hole so chips don’t get into it.
-Passenger side plug #4 needs some hoses pulled out of the way. I used zip ties to hold them in place to allow access. When my plug #4 ejected, it knocked my transmission dipstick tube loose. I left it loose so I could maneuver it around for better access. You can pull your tube loose as well. It just pops out of the transmission since it is friction fit with an o-ring. I found plug #4 to be the most difficult because it is directly under the cowling and it’s a tight squeeze for both hands and tools. Still not too bad though.
-Passenger side plug #5 needs a small diameter coolant crossover line detached and moved out of the way. It helped to have the transmission dipstick tube out of the way as well. Since this plug is under the cowling, you actually have more room to work once your hands and tools get back into that hole. Here is a picture of how I made the room to work:



Tools Required
Cal-Van Tools 38900-8 kit + 2 extra inserts for the V-10
Spark plugs, gapped to 0.054” (MOTORCRAFT SP479)
Spark plug gaping tool
COP boots (pack of 10, DENSO 6710001)
Spare COPs, just in case (DENSO 6736000)
Dielectric grease (Permatex 22058)
Permanent high temp thread locker (Permatex 27200)
Spark plug magnetic swivel socket (Gearwrench 3927D)
3/8 ratchet and various length extensions
Skinny long neck funnel (FloTool 10701)
Tap magic or other tapping fluid
WD-40 as cutting fluid
3/8 power ratchet (air or electric)
Borescope (models with added side camera is handy to check valves)
Safety glasses
Air compressor (able to flow >100 psi for a long duration preferred)
Cheapo Air Gun Contraption described above
18mm shallow socket and long handle ratchet to hand turn the motor clockwise as if you are tightening the nut

The Process
1. Blow the area clean of all dirt and chips using an air gun
2. Unplug the connector from the COP
3. Use a 7mm socket and remove the COP hold down bolt
4. Pull COP assembly out and inspect for damage
5. Blow plug recess hole out to remove all debris
6. Remove spark plug
7. Insert bore scope to check out your bore just for fun/curiosity, and if the valves are closed then you know that you will need to hand turn the motor before you even put the pressure plug on.
8. Place pressure plug into spark plug recess hole and open the valve to let air in. If it pops off right away, then you need to hand turn the motor until a valve opens up and try again. Once the air flows freely out a valve, then crawl under the vehicle and slowly turn the engine over until the plug pops out. You will be able to hear it pop out. Now you know the valves are closed.
9. Insert borescope and verify that the piston is near bottom dead center. If not, try again because you don’t want to hit the piston with the reamer or tap. If you turn it over slowly, then it will always be near bottom dead center when the plug pops out.
10. Insert the guide for the reamer into the spark plug recess hole, spray reamer with WD-40 as cutting fluid for aluminum, insert reamer into guide, use power ratchet with ½” socket and extension to ream hole larger. You will need to apply downward pressure while reaming. You will feel it pass through and the reamer will bottom out on the roll pins stops.
11. Remove reamer and guide and blow off all chips to clean them. Blow out bore with gun contraption and blow away all chips in the work area. This just an initial clearing of chips.
12. Insert tap from the bottom into the guide and attach the E-clip to hold it in place in the guide. Add some Tap Magic or other tapping fluid to the tap. Gently insert the guide/tap into the hole. Use a 3/8 ratchet and extension to hand tap the threads. When you get near the end it will spin freely and the E-clip will bottom out on the guide. Slowly back the tap out of the threaded hole (you can use power ratchet for this).
13. Remove tap/guide, disassemble by removing the E-clip, and blow chips off to clean it.
14. Use air gun contraption to blow chips out of the bore. This is the hardest part. I start by blowing as many chips as I can out by inserting the gun nozzle up and down and slowly rotating the angled tip to get as much different air circulation s possible. I occasionally remove it completely and blow then entire area on top of the valve cover clean as well. After several cycles of this to the point where you don’t see any additional chips coming out, now is the time to insert the borescope again and see what’s left. Spoiler alert, there is ALWAYS some chips still in there…but you just gotta look anyhow. So, take your funnel and use it to spray some brake cleaner into the bore. You don’t need a lot, just a few squirts. Take a deep breath, hold it, and start blowing out the bore again with the same method. This time you will be taking a brake cleaner shower. Keep doing this until no more brake cleaner comes out. The brake cleaner not only helps to flush chips out, but also helps to clean the crud and tapping fluid out of the new threads and recess hole. I usually do this 2-3 times and inspect my progress along the way. At about that point, the only chips left will be those tiny little buggers wedged between the piston and the cylinder walls. They are stuck there. What I have found works well is to slowly hand turn the engine over AGAIN to open a valve, then put the plug back in, then slowly hand turn it again until the plug pops out. This puts you right back where you started, but the action of the piston moving up and down clears those little buggers and they usually end up stuck to the cylinder wall. Now you can blow them out. I start with a good dry blow and then follow up with as many brake clean assisted blow outs until I don’t see any chips with the borescope. It sucks, but at least I know the bore is clean now.
15. Check the gap of the new spark plug, spray a little brake clean on the threads, blow it clean/dry. Spray a little brake clean on an insert and blow it clean/dry. Screw spark plug into the insert hand tight. Add a small amount of dielectric grease onto the ceramic portion of the plug. Insert plug into magnetic plug socket. Apply thread locker to exterior threads of insert. Slowly and carefully place the insert/plug into the hole and hand start the threads and hand tighten. Use torque wrench to tighten to 20-25 ft-lbs.
16. Grab a new COP boot and spring (or a new COP if yours is broken or cracked). Remove old boot and conducting spring. Apply a small amount of dielectric grease to COP surface that the boot slides onto. Add new spring to COP and slide new boot onto spring and COP. There is a little arrow that shows you how to rotate it. The arrows line up. New COP assemblies usually come pre-greased.
17. Carefully insert COP onto plug and make sure to orient the COP so the bolt hole lines up properly. Insert bolt and hand tighten. Don’t overtighten or risk breaking the COP. Plug the COP connector back on. Wait at least 24 hours for thread locker to cure before starting engine…unless of course you are doing this unplanned in an AutoZone parking lot 500 miles from home 😊.

Don’t forget to put all the stuff you took apart, moved, etc. back in place. And don’t forget to remove the 18mm socket and ratchet from the main pully.

 

Thank you so very much! Awesome write-up! This helps with the anxiety of taking this on.

 

Could this be placed in the Tech Folder? I myself am in the diesel group but for someone else tackling this endeavor it be a big help.

Rob