Well my wife was cruising down the road coming to pick me up in our 2001 5.4 Super Crew when we joined the flying sparkplug club.
After limping it home on 7cyl at 10 pm , I call the dealer in the morning to get an estimate on how much for the head change. Well it'll be about $3300 they say. Hmm don't have that laying around .
I then remembered the timesert's . Well after reading for hours over the last few days, I am not sure which kit to get.
I see pn 5553 listed on their site specifically for the triton which I believe is in the $350-400 range, then I saw this thread:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...light=timesert
And kit number 5141 was recommended and it was $127 plus a bit extra for the right inserts. I realize the thread is 2 years old but I figure the 5141 hasn't trippled in price in the last 2 years.

So it boils down to which kit to get, and do I get it direct from Time sert or who else in particular have people gone through with good luck?

Thanks,
Jamie

 

I don't kow about the Timesert kits, but I got one of the "Full Torque" kits for mine. Yep, I am also a member of the flying plug club. I went with them as the inserts were the anodized aluminum and the heat transfer rate would be better than the steel inserts.

10K and more on the insert job and all is well.

 

I just ordered the 5553 hopefully it'll make it by the weekend.
I can wait to have my truck running again.

 

Well I got it back together and have about 1000 miles on it so far and works great.

 

I am seriously considering doing all eight holes ahead of time. I havn't had a plug blow out yet but why wait. Has anyone ever done all eight?

 

Im also am a member of the flying plug club. Im gonna order the 5553 today also and Im gonna do the same thing. Might as well do it that way it dont blow in the middle of a long trip or somethign right? lol hope the 5553 worked for you.

 

The flying plug problem seems to be a big topic. I am a millwright by trade and have been working on cars/trucks for 25+ years. The threads in the head do not grow weak with time, what happens is the plugs start backing out because there are only three threads holding them in and the heads are aluminum while the plugs are steel. This creates an issue due to the dissimilar metals heating up and cooling down at different rates every time the vehicle is started. when the plugs begin to back out you will hear a ticking sound that sounds just like a collapsed lifter, normally only heard if next to a wall with the window down on the same side of the motor that the plug is backing out of. I forget the exact torque settings but the plugs should be checked with a torque wrench every 10-15k or so, to be safe. A little blue loctite would probably help also if you are changing plugs. My 4.6 f150 had this issue and I changed all the lifters on one side of the motor and would have bet I was making the right repair, It was two loose plugs DUUUHHH!!!

 

28 foot-pounds of torque and it's recommended to put the plugs in dry!

 

Nice one tire fire! I dont know whos recommendation it is to put the plugs in dry? possibly the same engineer that thinks 3 threads will keep the plugs tight? Good luck with that "drag race truck" and its 13 ft punds so have fun stripping your heads.

 

Ya better go back to school. There's a hole world of Internet info you need to catch up on!
Try searching on most any Ford site and see what is recommended. And not From all Ford recommendations ether. From real people that know what works!

 

Q: Why do you prefer 28-32 foot lbs torque instead of the factory specification?

A: Over the past few years we have heard from many of our customers that they tightened their plugs to the correct torque but they still came loose. We worked with 10 other Ford Certified Master Mechanics and concluded that 28 foot lbs of torque would be satisfactory. We have been using 28 foot lbs of torque for many years and have never had one come loose or strip out. To verify that we would not damage the original threads we used a test cylinder head with good factory threads we applied over 100 foot lbs of torque to the spark plug without any failure.

Q: Do you use Anti-Seize when you install new spark plugs?

A: No, we always use Motorcraft nickel plated spark plugs to stop any issues with electrolysis.

 

Your right, I should know better than to use my mechanical experiance and listen to people on the internet. Most of which think changing a water pump is a big deal. Let me ask what kind of mechanical experiance do you have? How many motors have you put together, what is your trade or do you have one? Internet and school hardly should be use in the same sentence, it also makes me wonder why you are doing a one tire burn out in the water box at a drag strip with street tires? Did the people on the internet tell you it would make you tires stick better? Because any one that has any experiance will know it doesnt, plus it just looks LAME doing a one wheeled burn out, but thats cool whatever. You and all your internet classmates keep blowin plugs with the stripped aluminum threads still in the plug thread roots and I will keep laughing at people that post stuff purely on hear say and internet B.S. GO GET YOUR HANDS DIRTY BOY!

 

I don't understand all the personal attacks? And don't call me a boy. I'm probably older then you.
You said yourself that it was an idiot that designed the head yet you want to still go by his recommendation?

And I know it's not a very good pic but do you really think I would do all this work to my truck and be running an open rear.

Welcome to the site.

 

Look Lady, I wasnt attacking you. Your right, your probably older than me.Have a great holiday season lady.

 

. Merry Christmas.