Hope changing the plugs isn't one of these deals!

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I'll ask him...but if common sense serves me correctly, I'd have to say the answer was "No"


I'm still waiting on a response from the miriad of addreses I sent my letters to Ford requesting reimbursement. I should probably just call up the dealer... but I'd rather not drag them into it. I like them, I'd like them to continue to like me too.

 

I really wish a somewhat simple solution would arise that would set our minds at ease(other than just selling the truck). I have sat on this issue since I put 10k on the truck and now with close to 38k, no simple solution has been devised. Now that my warranty is over, I'm really nervous about what to consider. I'm going to go postal if I wait years and mileage thinking Ford will engineer a way to correct this extraction only to see them snap them in the head. If it didn't take years to design this crapola plug design, it sure shouldn't take years to design a fix to remove the things. I'm keeping all documentation on my attempts to get an answer from Ford b/c if things continue as they have, there's no doubt it will be a Class Action case. Does Ford not do any type of long term testing on these engines besides just cranking them up on the dyno?

 

My truck is due to have the plugs changed today. I bought a set of Autolite plugs to replace the factory ones. The truck had recently developed a misfire at around 2000 revs and a slight lumpiness at idle.

The truck runs on LPG which is less than half the price of pump gas in England(it starts on pump gas then switches over after a few minutes) which i'm told is drier than petrol and can cause the plugs to get hotter and fail sooner so i figured this was probably the cause. After reading this i'm now thinking maybe i should swap out the coil packs and leads first before getting involved in the plugs.

I only recently purchased the truck to replace a Cummins powered 98 Ram, did i make a wrong choice. I'm in the UK and there arent and main dealerships here to go to so work has to be carried out by owners or local garages.

 

Ok where do I start..... I have 05 fx4 with 37,000 miles. I just received the Whipple SC kit and began disassembling my motor for installation of the SC until I got to the plugs.....I recently read other posts on this topics, about the plugs breaking from other sites. Before I started to remove the plugs I soaked all the plugs for and hour with PB blaster. I started to remove the first plug and let me tell ya it was tuffffff all I herd was creaking and then it came out.... Ok that 1 wasn't bad. Time for cylinder 2 well that 1 snapppppppp, the rest of the plug came out except for the metal jacket and the porcelain....cylinder 3 snappppp cylinder 4 very hard but came out..... cylinder 5 snapppppp cylinder 6 again very hard but came out, cylinder 7 snappppppp cylinder 8 snapppppp. Oh and I used the sparkplug socket with the long shaft that ford made for this motor so all the torque was even not wobbling in the cylinder..... Now at this point I’m sooooooo pissed. I can see all the remainder of the plugs in the cylinders with a mirror and light however I ended up getting 1 out .... I tried everything to get the rest of this garbage out then I gave up....... After all this I saw that ford has a tool made by ROTUNDA/OTC to help get this garbage design out. Well I did a little more research to consumer affairs and found numerous complaints about this problem. I did post a complaint about this garbage design and my problem. It kills me when Ford says the plugs are good for 100,000 but they break at 20,000 and up.... It's going to take more complaints from the new 3valve 5.4 owners in order to get a class action law suit or a recall so Ford will take care of this problem.

Now I went to the dealer and spoke to the service mgr where I bought my truck from and told him my problem.... At first he didn't want to be helpful until I showed him my copies of the numerous message boards from f 150 owners that all have had this problem. Now he wanted to be helpful, he then told me that they have had numerous problems with these plugs. I had to pay to have it towed there and then he will have his engine tech remove the remainder of the plugs out of the cylinders and then bore scope all the cylinders. I got a call back 4 days later from the ford service mgr saying the truck is done and everything is out of the cylinders. He charged me 250 and then 300 for the tow....... I know I’m blabbing but guys don't change these garbage plugs on your own, let the dealer deal with this garbage design...........

I called autolite and they said they have a plug called the HT series made specifically for the 3 v 5.4 and there plug is made 100 time better then fords.... ford racing sent me there Ford racing 0 degree plug for the whipple but there’s no way in hell I’m going to install another FORD plug in those cylinders...... I went to NAPA and ordered Autolites HT series but in the 0 degree plug which is called HT-0. They do make HT1 and HT2 which are hotter...... I did install the Autolites but now with never seize on the threads and the metal shields..... I will have pics of my broken plugs, fords remover tool and the new plugs. feel free to email me FOX540@AOL.COM

 

Bit of an update!

Yesterday managed to swap out two of the plugs OK. One of the heater hoses had been leaking at a union and the plug was completely submerged in water but amazingly it came out easy. Going through the coil packs trying to see which ones were working we also removed a plug from the opposite bank. This one was tight all the way out but eventually came out Ok too.

The misfire is better now, but not completely gone, the OBD is now showing 'misfire on cylinder 3' so as soon as i figure out which one is 3 thats the next plug to try to get out. I replaced the plugs with Autolite ones.

My truck is an 04 S'Crew Lariat with 65k miles

 

Good update JohnnyBravo! Thanks!

 

I hope people continue to chime in here on their experiences with plug changes. Back when I was considering the early changeout to try and get it done under warranty in case something bad happened, I couldn't hardly get anyone to talk about it. Now the cats climbing out of the bag.

Ford, you had better tighten up. Many a 5.4 3v soul will be coming to you for answers on a fix soon. Breaking to have us foot the bill won't cut it.

 

The Ford Racing 0 degree plug is an Autolite HT0.

 

it will get worse news later on when most of owners w over 100K without aware what going on with plugs! yikes.


I read the forums all over ford about this, it got me scare of course. My truck 04 FX4Screw 5.4.
I removed all 8 sparks at low 20'sK it was scary feeling when trying to screw it out..SCCREEEHHH!! but lucky got all out. I cleaned it really well then put it back in.

At 40K i got correct sparks as per TSB, ptz-1 (mines ptz-2) and it removed pretty okay than first time i tried. it took me 2 hrs .

Its peace of mind now with new sparks and some anti seize.

Later!
YOMAN!

 

This is the reason I havent bought a new truck! I fixed the ejecting plugs in my 2000 by putting the inserts in the head but why trade one fixed headache for another? I will never buy a 5.4 untill this stuff is fixed. Even if it means I have to drive a Toyota, chevy, or dodge. I have also seen ads from Toyota and Dodge for lifetime powertrain warranties.These warranties are non transferable for the original owner only, but hey, I drive them a long time anyway! Will Ford follow suite? I am a loyal Ford owner but there are limits to my patience.

 

Horseapple- I'm with you. I've got a trouble free 2003 F150 King Ranch, which I'll be keeping until a) Ford fixes the 3v plug issue, or 2) I buy a new Chevy. There's no way I'd knowingly set myself up for a problem like this. It's a shame that Ford engineers can't keep a simple thing like a spark plug change simple. But, I'm sure glad for websites like FTE which keep us informed!

 

My 2004 F-150 with 102,000 miles is sitting at the local Ford dealership right now with a $2,000 repair bill for pulling both heads. They said all 8 plugs broke
off. I cannot believe they followed the service bulletin. What is the best course of action? I need my truck! I can't afford $2,000 spark plug changes!

 

Most everyone has probably seen this list of complaints, both for blown plugs and removal difficulty. It's interesting that the complaints are still coming in, the latest one on 8/1/07.

It's unreal that FoMoCo pretty much doesn't acknowledge that the problems exist.

No wonder Ford is in a "world of hurt"!

 

My 06 F150 only has 13k miles on it.I'll trade it before 100k and not deal with the spark plugs.I'll leave that problem for the next owner.

FWIW I didn't change the plugs in my 97 F150 until 165k miles.