Hey guys -- ive been chasing a hub problem for a little while, and dont you know, the plug demon got me today..... my 2000 v-10 sd has 150000 miles on it (plugs changed about 40000 miles ago) coming home today i pulled off the highway to go home .when i pulled away from the stop sign, i heard the fwooot of a blown plug, from the posts here i immediatly knew what it was... i was in a good spot to pull over , raised the hood and checked, # 10 pack was hanging off the rail. i found the plug . tried to put it back in but it wouldnt stay, called my buddy at the dealership , had it towed and they replaced the coil pack and put a helicoil in it with loctite and sent me on my way.(less 200.00) it looked to me like the plug had worked loose since last service, they did change the plugs at the d/ship when they serviced it last year. will this hold for a while? what its the timsert i see mentioned? the ford recomended repair calls for 14 hours to pull heads and repair. the service tech told me they do a couple of repairs w/ helicoils like these every week, not just on the trucks. how scared should i be of this repair??? seems to be driving better anyhow. the ford recomended repair on this site looks like it is VERY labor and time intensive and very expensive.!! just wanted to run it by you guys for your opinion. thanks Britt

 

Sorry to hear it! But IMO...I would go over each plug and re-torque them to 168 in/lbs to make certain another plug is not on the way out.

The repair for #10 should be fine. I would not worry to much about it.


biz

 

Sorry to hear that,another one !!!!!.I was just about to change my plugs and now I'm scared about it.
2002EX-90000K and it's time to change,got plugs from dealer SP-479 it's a replacement acording to them for AWSF-22e but I'm not convinced about it.
Did you retiyede the plugs like guys from here recommand ???good luck.
good think there is a lot of help from this forum and I appreciate that.

 

I will go over them this weekend and retorqe--any special tools that i need to reach the back plugs? anything i need to remove? thanks Britt

 

Sorry to hear about your troubles, Britt.

I think, if physically able, that we should all change our plugs ourselves. I know folks like me and Art are just too big and our "toolsheds" could brake all manner of engine associated parts...but we need to find a way. You just can't trust folks to do it right anymore.

As far as special tools, no - just an extension (the right length) and some patience.

Do a search here in the V10 forum for a "spark plug" thread or two and read up on it.

 

Its really not to bad. The worst plug is 5 (I think its 5, passenger side by the firewall). The driver side bank is way easy. Have you ever thought about just buying a new crate motor? Thats what I would do with that many miles. I know that guys have had good mileage with the V10 but I wouldn't want to have to spend money to get it repaired and then have the motor crap out a year or so down the road.

 

That sucks. My neighbor just spit his 2nd plug in his 5.4l F-250LD. I don't think he changes the plugs on a reg basis. Maint. is key.

 

I would have a spark plug socket with either a buit in extension of about 3 inches or weld an extention onto a spark plug socket. After you torque the plugs your socket will probably stay on the plug, pita to remove with a pliers as it will be sunk in the head.

Also, I have just done mine for the first time and found a lot of corrosion in the cylinder head plug recess. After blowing the loose dirt etc out with compressed air I cleaned the threads with a wire brush from a 12 gauge shotgun cleaninig kit.(it fit perfectly). I was more concerned about a proper torque than a the little bit of corrosion dust that may end up in the cylinder. If you want to get carried away with the job you can use a cotton swab, also from a 12 gauge cleaning kit, to clean up the sides of the plug recess.

 

armynavyguy said... Have you ever thought about just buying a new crate motor? Thats what I would do with that many miles.


At 150,000miles? Over sparkplugs? I'm sorry mate, I don't understand why one would say that. At 150,000 miles I would consider my-self only half way through the useful life of this or any motor that was taken care of. I've owned a number of vehicles with engines that were providing reliable, usefull, economical service well into the 200,000 mileage range and beyond.

Maybe I misread your reply?

Enjoy,
RustyFuryIII

 

I neversaid that the V10 wouldn't last him many more miles. And I'm not quite sure how much it would cost to get his head fixed (I'm assuming around the $1000 mark). But, if it were me, I would rather put that money into a new engine. I have heard all the stories of V10s lasting well past the 200,000 mile mark. Thats why I bought mine. A rancher here in Wyoming told me he had like 276,000 miles on his. My V10 hasn't had that problem (yet), but I've already decided that if it happens after I hit 100,000 miles I'm just going to replace the motor. This is just my opinion.

 

armynavyguy,

Sounds good. I just thought it was easier, maybe cheaper to do the timeserts when a plug goes. Not so much replace the head to fix the problem. The plug problem was fixed on the later models, so this is not something I've given too much thought to.

Again I was just curious as to what you meant.

Enjoy,
RustyFuryIII