Hello, I bought a 99 superduty this summer with 33k miles on it with a v10 and all the sparkplug blow out troubles I have read about have me a little worried. My truck has a build date of march 98. Just how common of a problem is this? Does anyone have a 99 with 60k miles or more that has not had a loose plug or a blow out? Thank You

 

I bought a 99 V10 SWB SC 4X4 in June 2002 with 56,000 miles. I now have 64,000 miles with no problem. I spoke to the original owner and she never mentioned a blow out on this truck and she pulled about 11,000 lbs with it consistently. I spoke to a mechanic friend the other day and asked if he has heard of this problem. He has encountered it on 4.6's, 5.4's and V10's. He made a tool to repair the head in the vehicle. Evidently, it inserts a helicoil or something similar and it doesnt require a new head. That was a relief to me. I am fighting a vibration in the exhaust or clutch assembly right now. It can be felt in the floorpan and clutch pedal between 2,000 and 3,000 rpm's. This appears to be common on the SC SWB trucks. The Y pipes are junk. I have already cut the heatshields off because I couldnt stand the rattling. I am planning a Flowmaster Y pipe change along with a magnaflow muffler and 4 inch tailpipe. Hope that helps. The local exhaust shop is only charging me $85 to replace the y pipe.

 

I have a March '99 F-250 V10 with 65,000 miles and no plugs problems.:-)

Best regards,

Jeff

 

My '99 V10 just flipped 120k. No plug blowouts, and it has the cold start knock and all. I fully expect the engine to give me 200k, hopefully Ford will have a new Super Duty platform by then to replace it.

 

>My '99 V10 just flipped 120k. No plug blowouts, and it has
>the cold start knock and all. I fully expect the engine to
>give me 200k, hopefully Ford will have a new Super Duty
>platform by then to replace it.

I just turned 70K, no flying sparkplugs here either and I too have the dreaded 'cold start knock'. It drives me nuts, but doesn't seem to affect anything so I just turn the radio up on cold starts. My last van went 200K, I intend for this one to do the same, or more. I use high quality oil and oil filters. I take care to bring it up to operating temps before I stand on the loud pedal. I do not in any way baby it, it sees redline repeatedly. I just couldn't be any happier with an engine, I just love it.

Ken 98 E-350 XLT ClunWagon V-10

 

I just flipped 85K and haven't had any plugs throwing themselves through the hood. I am however going to put new plugs in this weekend. It will be interesting to see if any of the old ones are loose.

 

Well that wasn't as hard as I expected. I wouldn't want to do it every day, but not too bad. Took me about an hour and a half. A few bruised knuckles, a 10 min. break after 5 plugs replaced, and I was done. No loose plugs, but they were in need of replacing after 85K.

One thing that boggled me though is that the "hole" the plugs are in was really dirty considering the boot covers the hole. I can't beleive that much stuff gets in there through the boot.

Anyway...couple of hints for those who are going to do this.

1. Unplug the harness from each coil as you are going to do it. Makes it a lot easier to twist the coil off of the plug. The coil and the boot are seperate units, don't worry if you pull them apart. You can put them back together again when reinstalling it.

2. For the very far back plug on the passenger side, I used a 6 inch and 2 inch extention and then squeezed my hands in there to get the wrench on and pull the plug out. Not to bad and didn't have to use any swivels.

3. Make sure you blow out each hole before you pull the plug out. It was really dirty in there and you don't want to risk it.

4. TAKE YOUR TIME!!!! Its really not that bad of a job if you just take your time.

Let me know if anyone has any other questions!!!

 

Hey Ironmerganser,

Thanks for the info on changing the plugs!!! I am looking to replace my plugs soon and was wondering if there were any tricks to look out for...

What brand and type of plugs did you install? Any comments on whether they are making a difference in performance?


Thanks in advance,

Jeff

 

I used Autolite Double Platinum plugs.

Yes....I do notice a difference. I do notice a little more "pep" when I put my foot down on the go pedal now. My old plugs were the original motor craft ones....they needed changed pretty bad.

 

I have a 99 f250 with 100,000 miles and I just had a spark plug blow out. If you think this doesn't happen your living in a different world than I am. I talked to several different techs and they all know about the # 3 cylinder blow out so beware.The cost of replacement of a new head is unbelievable.

 

MMMMM.... All these posts reguarding blow outs makes me worry. I own a 2000 SD with the V10 and just turned 30,000mi. Does anyone know if these problems are occuring in all years of the V10, or just the earlier ones. I seem to be hearing about mostly in the 99's. The folks that are having the plug problems, are you towning? If so how much and how often? Is the blow out a cause of loose plugs, or just the threads simply stripping out? Is FORD willing to help out on the cost of the head repair/replacement?
So far I LOVE my SD w/ the V10, but it is simple things like this that make me worry!

Morgan

 

I have only heard of it on the 99's. It was/is a big worry of mine also.

When I pulled my plugs out, I really made a point to check them and see if any were loose. All of them were as tight as they should be.

When I installed the new ones, I made sure to tighten them, but not under/over tighten them.....whatever that means. My truck has 86K on it. If a plug blows, I guess I will be spending some cash and some time swapping heads......I have however thought of a plug blowout as an excuse to swap in a newer V10 with the higher horsepower rating and maybe a whipple supercharger?? :-)

I guess the way I look at it.....there is always something with automobiles. I was a mechanic for 8 years and one thing I have realized is there is always a risk that something can go bad. All you can do it take care of your truck and take the good with the bad.

 

Those who changed thier plugs; did you use 2002+ spec plugs or the 99-00 spec plugs.

I got a look at the two plugs today side by side and there was a substantial diffence in thread surface area. Meaning: more threads for the newer plug. Other dimensions, of course, were unchanged.

Any reason NOT to use the later style plug in a 2000?

 

>Those who changed thier plugs; did you use 2002+ spec plugs
>or the 99-00 spec plugs.
>
>I got a look at the two plugs today side by side and there
>was a substantial diffence in thread surface area. Meaning:
>more threads for the newer plug. Other dimensions, of
>course, were unchanged.
>

Monsta,could you elaborate?


>Any reason NOT to use the later style plug in a 2000?

I can't think of any.