Good god...will it ever sink in?
Again....so you can read it again....
This is in reference to those that damage their own vehicles due to lack of maintenance or flat screwed up work on their vehicles, or altered it in some manner. NOT A LEGITIMATE FAILURE.
JL

 

You may very well be correct. I personnally do not have experience with replacing alot of parts yet. I hope it remains this way.

I will say that the Starter for my truck was very EXPENSIVE compared to the starter for my old 302. It was over 200.00 but it weighed the same as 10 starters for the 302. So maybe they are selling it by the pound.

 

That's what I'm talking about.. True,the old 7.3L is a very reliable engine,but the parts that make it work are expensive in comparison to those used on the 6.8L.
JL

 

If the plug shooting is caused because a ford factory trained technician can not put a plug in properly then there is still a design flaw there. It should be as simple as unscrew one and screw in the new one, just like every other engine ever known to man. How many years have factory mechanics, shade tree mechanics, people with no mechanical background what so ever been changing plugs without having issues getting them to stay in properly? If professionally trained mechanics all across the nation can't properly put the plug in, how is that not a design flaw? Either the quality of mechanics has dropped to the level that they can't do something as simple as change a set of plugs or there is a design flaw with the triton. Since those same mechanics change the plugs on other vehicles every single day with no problem, I doubt that's the issue.

 

So your opinion is:
Mechanics cannot screw up regularly,and if they do it's a design flaw?
JL

 

I never said mechanics can't screw up. I just wonder why they only screw up on changing the plugs on the triton. How many threads are in the 5.0 section about blown plugs? They have been around longer than the triton and had the plugs changed many more times and it's not an issue on them. Go to the big block section and see how many 50 year old engines there have blown plugs.

 

Stubborn old mechanic meets new engine.

Customer: "I need my spark plugs changed"
Stubborn old mechanic: "I'll do this like I've always done it-ain't no need to do anything different"
Customer: "It spit out a plug after you changed them"
Stubborn old mechanic: "It can't be my fault-that engine is a POS-it's a design flaw-none of the other engines I've worked on for years have done that. I've got a buddy that specializes in repairing these...here's his number"
Customer: "I'll tell the whole world on the internet that this engine is a POS and has a design flaw....my mechanic said so"


JL

 

LMAO!

However, I do need to agree with phillips that it is the only engine with this problem. It was bad enough that ford retooled their machines to add more threads for the 3v heads. I don't think that changing spark plugs should be rocket science. I think Ford made a terrible mistake on the design and has corrected that problem since.

 

You might should check around and compare parts prices for the v10 and the 7.3 before giving into the "diesels cost more" argument. At advance, using the same name and quality parts, an alternator for the v10 is $255 and the 7.3 is $170. The starter for the v10 is $175 and the 7.3 is $210. Both of them will need replaced at some point, so it's a combined $430 for the v10 and $380 for the 7.3. Spark plugs are supposed to be changed every 30-50k miles and glow plugs every 200-250k miles, so the cumulative cost for plugs is greater than the glow plugs even though the individual part costs less. Some parts cost more on the diesel and some cost more on the gasser, but in the end it pretty much evens out.

 

No,Ford didn't retool anything for the 3V-it's a completely different casting,and uses a completely different spark plug. Could having more threads have prevented alot of the problems we all read about? I'm sure it could have,but it doesn't mean that there was anything wrong.
JL

 

There is too much of a variance in unknown aftermarket rebuilds and the origin of those rebuilds to use them as a comparison.
JL

 

Those aren't rebuild prices. Those are new prices from the same manufacturer for both trucks sold at the same store. It's not like I'm cherry picking new parts at napa for the v10 and comparing them to rebuilt parts from advance for the 7.3. How much more fair can a comparison be to compare the same brand, both new, both bought at the same store?

 

OEM supplier or not?
If not,you're getting a part that MIGHT met the specs and standards as required by the original manufacturer.
I can buy a new chinese/(insert 3rd world country here) made water pump with a lifetime warranty. Does this mean it's a good part?
JL

 

The ones I looked up were made by Remy and yes they are OEM. Go to their page and check them out if you like. Remy International, Inc.

Just because something costs more or is sold at the dealer doesn't mean it's a better part. There are certain brands I wouldn't put on my vehicles if you gave them to me for free, but napa and advance carry some brands that are just as good as anything you'll find at the dealer and for about 1/3 of the price AND have a lifetime warranty.

 

Typically... a well designed part has taken the likely skill level of both dealership and shade tree mechanics into account... and considering how much warranty repairs cost the company, they typically try to keep these repairs. The fact that it's been such a recurring problem is an indication that there is a pretty substantial problem somewhere in the system. Design, application of the design (casting, tooling, manufacturing), properly training the service techs, etc. etc.... and while it's easy to blame the mechanics - it's obviously a delicate part of the engine that requires special attention. This extra attention means an extra cost for labeling warnings in the manual, properly training the technicians and inevitably, a few people who didn't know better blowing a plug out the top. (A good friend of mine is a fellow engineer, gear head and also blew two plugs out the top because he didn't know.)
Yes, the problem is (supposedly) preventable. Yes, a meticulous mechanic who has been properly trained is less likely to have this problem, but let's face it... as much as I love my truck... these aren't Ferraris, and it shouldn't take a team of engineers to properly change a plug. These are trucks that are driven every day be people trying to make a living or live their lives. If there was some mysterious performance or cost benefit to having such a delicate part, then maybe it would be justifiable. All it really comes down to, is that as much engineering as goes into one of these machines, it's easy for something like this to be overlooked.
I think it's safe to say that Ford has realized their (alleged? lol) mistake considering the extensive testing it's putting the new engine through. I still can't help being amused by the sheer number of people who are happy to jump into an... enthusiastic discussion... over whether it's the mechanic or the engineer. As one of those "engineering types", I'll admit it was probably an oversight - but it's just as entertaining how many thousands of times they get everything right... and no one remembers to mention them. I might send a Christmas card to the guys at International that figured out how to build my 7.3.

I declare this thread... un-hijacked.