Ive heard the samething from the guys in our garage at work, There are 4 differant Techs that used to work at Ford dealers and they still have contact with friends at Ford and they all say that the plug issue is not that big a deal anymore, Im not saying that everyone has nothing to worry about but that the issue is not growing anymore, Sure there will continue to be problems with the plugs but as time goes on hopefully it will get better for all ! One thing for sure the longer it goes the better the answer to the problem and less costly to us the Customer. Again like I've said in the past, Why is it we only perk our ears to the problems and not the good things like my truck is the best truck I have ever had ???

 

You are comparing apples to oranges. By chance will the diesel engine you are building to put into your car be Tier 2 Bin 5 compliant? Your new diesel truck engine will be in '09. To get this done it will have exhaust gas recirculation, variable geometry turbo, closed-loop crankcase vent, charged air cooling, catalytic converter, and a particulate trap....and then will be lucky to make Tier 2 Bin 5 NOx standards. These emission toys are expensive, high maintenance and problematic at best. They are also computer rigged now so they can't be by-passed and will knock your fuel efficiency & durability down close to a clean burning gasser.

I'm all for alternative fuels and like a little biodiesel in my engine too but stick to the commercial brews in low % blends as biodiesel is unregulated and can cause major problems in the new 24,000 psi common rail injection systems. The home-brew sounds good but all it takes is an incomplete reaction, suspended glycerine, bad pH, some residual wash water, or a little bacteria growth in your brew to ruin your day. I would stick to running this home-brew in your home-rebuilt diesel.

 

i will! and in the damn meantime, why don't you get a damn bowtie, get off this forum bitchin and whinin and be happy!

 

OK, I'll admit that I don't know a whole lot about diesel engines but 24,000 psi? Or am I reading this wrong??

 

Not a problem to me, I am L1 and L2 certified. Also, these emissions controls are nothing new, they've been on Gas engines for years. Durability isn't going to decrease much if at all,and I am not afraid of the computers on any of them. I still would rather have a diesel. There must be a reason why Europeans who have the choice choose them. 60% of new cars are diesels there. There must be a reason that there aren't any gas tractor trailers anymore, and there must be a reason that virtually all heavy equipment is diesel. I don't think it's because people want to spend more. Diesels are cleaner than gas engines on carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and CO2 (an alleged greenhouse gas). These along with their superior fuel economy offset the NOx item, as far as I am concerned. Thre will be teething problems, there always are. However, it's a proven and reliable technology that is better than a hybrid, and is better for me. I have A 4.9L gas inline six in my truck now, and I don't intend on replacing it any time soon. However, someday, when I need another truck, I'll get a diesel. Someday, when you get a new truck, you can get a gas engine, and we can both be happy. The "evil electronics" thing is the same story we heard about "doom and gloom" in the 1980s. I love it, I'd rather have electronics than carburetors on gas engines, and I'd rather have it on diesels too.

 

We will have to agree to disagree. Worked around heavy diesel equipment for better than 20 years and never before seen the type of issues that are now surfacing. This emissions equipment has not been used on heavy trucks or off-road equipment until this year ('07 is the first year EGR is required on heavy truck engines). EGR has been required on new public transit buses since @ 2002 with disasterous results. The public transit agency where I now work is lucky to get 100K miles out of what would normally be a million mile engine due to upper engine scouring from the abrasive soot being sucked through the EGR system. VGT and EGR failures are a daily occurrance. The last I checked, we had @ 1/3 of the entire '02-'04 fleet (over 80 out of @ 200 buses) down long-term for major engine work from this issue. BTW, we have been paying a premium and running ULSD since '02 to control the soot. This is all stuff the average consumer will discover a couple of years into ownership.

The Europeans do not have this much problems because their engines are tuned to a different emissions standard which favors CO2 reduction over NOx reduction. This makes for a less active EGR function which is less destructive on the engine. Diesels are also the choice of the Europeans because they are subsidized in a $7.00/gal fuel market. Unfortunately, that's not how the emissions laws are written in the US.

 

Your eyes are not deceiving you. This is the latest & greatest from Bosch. These systems can supposidly be pushed to 30K psi. High pressure atomization and multi-pulse fuel delivery is how they can control combustion so cleanly on these new diesels.

 

I think you guys are hijacking this thread, I thought it was about the plug issues ? Just a little FYI ! No punt intended.

 

Sorry about that, just hate to see unsuspecting consumers screwed on their next $45K purchase. Will break it off. You do have to admit that a grenading diesel makes a little frozen sparkplug issue seem minor.

 

I don't know if this has been asked, but, is there a difference with the two valve 4.6L heads? Or are the three valve and two valve heads basically the same? The same thread lengths? I've never seen a picture of either.

 

The 4.6L 2V use the same plugs as always. This plug issue only applies to Fords Modular Engines, the Mustangs 4.6L 3V and the F150 5.4L 3V.

 

Yes, you are right, I got carried away too. Sorry for the hijack, I'll let it rest too.

 

For those whom replaced there plugs, where did you purchase your nickel anti-seize from? I am having a hard time finding it locally, NAPA, Checkers, Autozone etc. I did find it on amazon.

 

It's not that much of a problem, because the 3V 5.4 was out in 2004 and the majority of the vehicles with the 3V 5.4 have not turned 100K miles for a plug change as recommended in the book. I suspect there is going to be an in rush of this problem in the near future.

 

I just emailed my dealer inquiring about the plug change issue. I included the TSBs listed here and am waiting to see what they say. If I need to get them changed on a regular basis to negate this freezing and breaking problem, I think I'm going to buy the plugs elsewhere and have them install them. It appears from what I have seen on here that the dealers are charging a small fortune for each plug (some around $18 apiece). When I hear back from teh dealer, I will let everyone know.