I just got my truck back from having the plugs changed. Before I took it in, I was quoted $160 for labor and $80 for plugs. I was also told that if any plugs broke, they cover the additional cost since it is a known problem with these trucks.

2 days and six broken plugs later, I was happy to see that there was no additional cost for the broken plugs. The service manager told me that Ford now recommends changing these plugs at 60k miles, not the original 100k.

I was just wanting to let everyone know that if they look around, they should be able to find a dealer that will take the responsibility and not charge for the known plug problem. I went to 4 dealerships before I found this one. All of the others wanted an extra $100 for each plug they broke.

 

I changed the plugs in my 2004 F150 with 5.4 myself when I still had it.

It was not a difficult job, just took a while to do, and I must have gotten lucky, because not 1 plug broke on me.

 

I changed my neighbor's and mine recently. He had 40k on his 05 F150 and I had 20k on my 06 F150. We broke one of his plugs and all the rest came out in one piece. He later fabbed up a home-made extraction tool and got the broken one out himself. All 8 of mine sounded and felt like they would break but came out in one piece. We replaced them all with the one-piece Champion 7989 plugs instead of the 3 piece come-apart design plugs from Motorcraft or Autolite. Luck should have NOTHING to do with changing spark plugs!

 

This is really something. Ford has been making the ohc V8 since 1991, 18 years! why is this still such a problem?

I have not personally owned one of thease engines as my 99 F150 had the V6. Other than needing to stand on a stool to get high enough to reach down to the plugs on the V6 it was a easy 1/2 hour job.

My current Ranger with the 8 plug 2.5L four on the other hand is tricky to get the intake side plugs out, but they come out in one piece.

 

Only the 3-valve heads used in the V-10, 5.4L and the 4.6L in the Mustangs have the sticking/breaking plug problem. The previous generation 5.4L 2-valve heads in the 97-03s had a penchant for spitting out plugs, now this generation won't let go of them. Talk about going from one extreme to the other!

 

I plan on changing out my plugs at about 50,000 mi.

 

I am in the process of changing mine on a'04 F150 but I am not having any good luck. I am only 1 out of 8 for a complete plug coming out. I am ordering the SnapOn tool to tap and remove the heatshield. I still have to remove the porcelain portion from the shield. Any suggestions?

 

carefully chip at the porcelian with a long punch and hammer,keep blowing out the chips with compressed air. when you have enough chipped out you can tap and pull the ground electrode.

 

i had a dealership quote me 350 for parts and labor. I asked him if they would cover the cost if the plugs broke and they had to remove the heads. The service advisor looked dumfouned when i explained the problem of the plugs breaking in the 3v 5.4's. And i quote " ive never heard of that happening before". my trucks an 04 model and this was three months ago I called. I figure after 4 years everybody in the ford system would know about the spark plug issues. trust me, im gonna shop around for another stealership.

 

I replaced my plugs a month ago, had 2 break one with the porcelain in and one without. I purchased the Lisle tool # 65600 to remove the broken plugs. The tool worked great, just as advertised. I is a two part tool ,one will push the porcelain further into the plug in order to get the threaded piece to thread into the electrode.

 

is there anything you can add to fuel or oil or external to plug to prevent the carbon buildup?

 

Yes, when reinstalling the plug you apply a coat of anti-seize to the electrode portion of the plug.

 

From what I am reading you should take out the plugs when you buy a new truck and put antiseaze on them. Why doesn't Ford do this at the factory?

 

I awill be buying a tool to push the porcelain down so I wiil be able to thread the heatshield tomorrow. I hope it works. I was wondering if anyone has put the antisieze on, run 70,000 and changed a set of plugs with no problems yet.

 

Had mine changed yesterday at 50,000km. Took it to my local mechanic with the latest service bulletin (TSB 08-7-6) in hand and all plugs came out in one piece. Out the door with all taxes in for less than $230, $142 of which were the Motorcraft plugs. I'm one happy camper