No, I'm not complaining about changing the spark plugs. I was travelling home from cheyenne whyoming, and in North Platte, we had a spark plug blow out on the passenger side. The third plug back on the passenger side blew when I was getting back on the freeway after getting gas. It made a pop, and then sounded like a belt or tire flapping. We stopped, and I pulled the COP of, and sure enough, the plug had blown out. We were travelling with our neighbors, and they stopped behind us. We decided to load up and head up to the dealership I happened to see, and they towed the truck in. We used our neighbors van to retrieve our pop up trailer before it was towed. It was a sickening sight seeing the truck being towed by a chevy. *shudders* Of course, the only rebuild head is in tennessee, so we will be here a while. We are waiting on the dealership to open on monday, so we will know if it needs a new block, or what is gonna happen. They won't re-thread the head, so the only choice is the new ford head, or an aftermarket head which they have had problems with. If it does need a new block, because of cylinder scoring, we are gonna drop the lightning motor into it. So, if anyone is near North Platte, let me know. I'll be here for a couple of days. I will be taking pictures of the fix and everything, so let me know if you want to see them.

 

That's crap they won't put a sleeve in there. I just had the same thing happen on mine, only in an easier spot, the #1 plug. Scared the hell out of the cop ahead of me when I stepped on the gas and it blew....lol. My mechanic drilled, tapped and sleeved mine. The reason Ford won't do it is because they don't know how. My mechanic had to make an extension for the tap, he welded a 6" socket extension on to it. In order to replace that head, they will have to pull the motor, my mechanic said screw that. Necessity is the mother of invention, to bad about the situation, hope it works out. BTW, I was told it would cost about 2500 to 3g's to pull my motor and head.

 

They kinda got me by the short hairs. I have a pop up camper that I need to get home, and a truck that broke down in North Platte. I live in the twin cities, so its a good 10 hour drive back home. I can't drive the truck, so I am kind of at their mercy. We'll see what happens. I am praying that the cylinder walls are not scored, so that I will not need a new block. If they are scored, I think that I will put in the lightning motor.

 

I doubt the walls are scored, though with the cost of a possible new head and/or labor to yank it, it may behooth you to consider that lightning motor now. Those heads aren't cheap seperately and they are different for each bank and thus cost differently.
I know its expensive, but have you thought about a rental and flying back to pick up the truck later, since they will have to probably order any parts?

 

Yeah, we have, but the cost is prohibitive. I thought about getting a flatbed truck, and putting the truck and our pop up on there, and driving back home, and having the truck fixed there. However, we decided that it is best to just stay here until they can get it fixed. They should have us (my dad and I) on the road by tuesday. Which, won't be so bad, considering we were already on a family vacation. I just had to call into work and get another day off.
If I do decide to go with the lightning motor, will I need to swap the computer and wiring harness? I am hoping that it is only the computer, since the wiring harness wouldn't be fun to replace. I also am wondering if the transfer case will handle all the power of the lightning motor. The tranny will, since it is the 4r100, Fords beefy tranny.

BTW: We are over-nighting the head in from tennessee.

 

Bad luck.

I hope everything works out ok for you. Keep us posted.

 

Bummer you can't get it back to the Twin Cities. There is a local shop here that works on these all the time and can repair the threads on the plugs. They even installed a Lightning engine in my Navigator so they are familiar with that swap (if you decide to do it).

www.dgmotors.biz

They have a link on the first page with my Navigator. If you click that link on the bottom of the next page there is a link to a photobook of my engine swap/buildup.

The nice part is they do all the machine work in-house, they do not need to send anything out. They also have the facilities to install what they build. I like that!

 

My estimates::::: 4 hours to pull the engine-8 hours to fix the head-4 hours to put back. If they charge more than a $1000 then it's a scam. For a competent/honest shop this is an easy job. Good luck P:S-spellcheck-Wyoming-behoove :P

 

That is one wicked cool truck. How much did you pay for the swap? Also, what kind of wiring and computer stuff had to be changed?

 

I just ran the stock Navigator computer, it is actually much simpler than the Lightning computer and it works fine. I had pro-m make a meter tuned for my Navigator engine with 42lb injectors - that was the only change.

I got a great deal on all the used Lightning parts. I used the Lightning heads also (PI heads, my heads were the older style). The engine is all forged internals with nice rods - if you try and buy a shortblock like it you will pay around $4,500.

I paid around $1,500 for the Lightning stuff and around $4,000 for the rebuild including installation. WAY cheaper than just a forged short block through most places. I know the machine shop pretty well and I did most of the install work with their help so that helped cut the cost.

Good luck with your truck. If you can find a way to get it back to the cities you will be very happy with the work DG Motors does.

Glad you like my 'Gator!

 

This hasn't been mentioned http://timesert.com/ unless thats what was meant by putting in a sleeve. It can be done with the head and engine still in the truck.
Another mechanic instead of Ford could be a possability.

 

That's what I meant, don't know if my mech. used that paticular brand, but it's the same thing.

 

Well, the new head will be in on Tuesday, and they are gonna start pulling the motor at 2:30 today. Hopefully I will be on my way tomorrow. I am gonna take pictures of the whole thing, let me know if you are interested in me putting them on a webpage, otherwise I won't bother.

 

So they've "determined" that you need a new head? Doesn't seem right-a plug hole can be repaired as mentioned-it's an every day occurance in auto shops. Keep the old head and have then thoroughly explain their deductions! Hope they're on the up and up.

 

I think a repaired head is stronger than a stock head (for the spark plug holes). The repaired head has a helicoil or timesert installed which is much stronger than what the head has from the factory...