changem now or you'll be sorry later when we all tell ya
"we told you so"... $500 is nuthin on a $50,000 vehicle...(watch this thread start burnin' now!!)



;-))

 

1. change them early with roughly a 50/50 chance of breaking
2. change them at 100k on schedule...more possible chance of breakage, but it still isn't guaranteed


if you choose option 1, and they break...you're out hundreds if not thousands of dollars. no breakage = happy dance and hopefully the mechanic gods smile upon you at a later plug change



if you choose option 2, and the break...you are still out the money, but at least the motor/truck has significant mileage. at this point it is either time to pay the $500-$4000 for the repair...which to me would be to get a new motor (screw a head replacement), or get a new truck.



whereas if they break at say 30,000 miles...and you get boned like MBBFord (his broke at 100k) did for $4,200 to repair the motor...you essentially shot yourself in the foot with a shotgun...and you call this "prevention"?

 

and the best part is that there is about 0 proof that a plug change prevents breakage

now if you change your plugs to the solid style plug, I'll concede you are probably never going to break a plug. but there was a few incidents of even the solid style plugs that seperated (late 2005, early 2006) even though they weren't supposed to



the best a plug change-out does for you is to limit the rust that occurs between the electrode and the head itself. if you read far enough back, it isn't actually the carbon that is causing the breakage. it's the rust formation in that tiny little space.

frequent plug changes removes this build-up before it can become an issue. so I guess if you are dead set on pulling plugs earlyas I said, there is no real proof that pulling them even works. we need some people who did this early on (say sub 40,000 miles) to get to the 100K mark and tell us what happens when they changed plugs out

 

if they are gonna break now or they are gonna break at 100,000, im gonna wait until 100,000. if they are gonna break either way, then why not let them run their useful life.

 

YABUT statistics show that when people gamble, the house usually wins and gets rich so govern yourself accordingly.

;-)

(i'm never lucky)

 

I called a local dealership and they said they would put new plugs in for 195 plus cost of plugs. Guess I'll let them do it cause if one breaks on them then they will fix it. What are yall talkin about being $500-4000 if you break one and have to get it fixed yourself???

 

Just about every stealerships policy is they'll charge you that stated price.. BUT if they break a plug for whatever reason, YOU pick up the bill for them to fix it. Before rotunda rolled out a line of tools to pull the broken plugs they would have to pull the heads to fix the problem, a $3000+ job. Just buying both of rotunda's special tools to DYI will run you about $600. That's the route I went.

 

I guess the way I see it, the truck is running fine. My last F150 (1992 w/5.8L) went 130,000 miles before it needed new plugs, wires, and dist. cap. I figure if I wait until the '06 F150 has 100,000 miles, the dealership should have plenty of practice changing plugs on other F150s, so it will likely be a non-event.

Dale

 

I dont understand how they could charge the customer that when the customer didnt break the plugs. It has always been my understanding that if a shop messes something up (like breaking a plug) they are responsible for covering that cost.

 

My thoughts exactly but if you go back and look through the archives there's quite a few people who took a beating at the dealership. I think MBBford took the biggest screwing at like $4400 bill from the dealership. OUCH.

FYI Snap-on makes an extractor for the ground electrode shell that only costs $90. Thats CHEAP. You're still S.O.L if you break the ceramic though and have to get the rotunda tool.

 

That's what this great debate is all about..
It pretty much all boils down to this.........

Roll the dice and hope for the best.

 

Agreed. So far (As of Aug 26), 50 truck owners have responded to the poll. Only 2 have experienced plug breakage, and both replaced them early. Few of us have racked up 100,000 miles on our '04 and newer trucks, so the poll is going to be skewed. However, I am encouraged by how many respondents replaced their plugs with no problems by following the TSB.

The TSB procedure seems to be working. Between now and the time I have 100,000 miles on the truck, there's a chance that an improved/simpler procedure may be discovered. I plan on keeping the truck for the long haul, but things may change and I may trade before 100,000 miles, so why tempt fate? BTW, I spent close to $30,000 for the truck, and I will end up spending around $25,000 in fuel alone by the time I rack up 100,000 miles, so even if it costs a couple thousand (worst case) to put new heads on at that time, it's still pretty cheap in the big picture.

Dale

 

I agree it will be a cold day in hell before I pay for their screw up!!!!! Thats why I would take it there in the first place to get it done right (hopefully) I'm sure they've done enough to know what to do.

 

1.... 50/50 chance? check your own poll....its no where near 50/50 if you do it early.

2. You'd be stupid to not put a 1 piece plug back in.....

3. Find me one example of someone breaking a 1 piece plug....

4. why would you buy a new motor rather than pull a head and get the plug out....this hear shows your inexperience in dealing with mechanical repairs.....if you get a flat tire you don't buy a new car...

5. Your last statement really makes me laugh.... if it breaks at 100k, buy a new truck? and do what with your 4 year old 100k mile truck...throw it away....your still going to have to fix it...and at this point...i'm pretty sure you'd be wishing you had changed to 1 piece plugs at 30k miles...

 

bolded stuff

at 100,000 miles and a plug breaksif you really and truly like the truck, and intend to keep it forever, why not take choice #3? motors are traditionally the weak spot of a truck anyways. Now the tranny is the weak point. Choice 2 is pointless. More of a finger in the dyke style of repair.


I think you and I don't see eye to eye on stuff Ryan50hrl because of percieved value. You see a vehicle as still worthwhile in it's older age. I find them untrustworthy and a money trap at/above the 100,000 mile point. My usual practice is to ditch them at 75,000 before I ever even experience a single problem.

To me, an older vehicle is not worth the effort in time or money to maintain. At a certain point, they become a negative investment (funny choice of words I know). We've all had money pit vehicles. I had more than my share of them. I would rather buy something new or lightly used every few years and ditch an older vehicle.

I can't take it with me when I'm gone. My family lives a very good life. My daughter(s) and wife are/will be well taken care of. So why not have nice things? And refuse to accept the issues an old vehicle causes.