I've got two 2006 5.4L Triton engines, one in my rig and one in my wife's Expy (60K miles). I've been dreading removing the spark plugs and had resigned myself to ignoring the issue. A couple weeks ago I had to take my wife's Expy in to get an issue addressed which resulted in the dealer saying the plugs needed to be replaced. No way I'm letting them do it and turn the job into a head replacement. Long story short, after breaking the first two I tried on the Expy I decided I needed to pull the ones in my F150 which has 20K less miles (40K) than the wife's Expy.

Overall, once I got the Lisle tool it was an easy job. I only ended up breaking 2 on the Expy and 1 on F150. However, if I had let that plug soak a little longer I think it wouldn't have separated.

Here are my suggestions for making it go easier. I did each bank separately over 2 weekends trying different methods:

1. As others have mentioned, use the Motocraft Carb cleaner, PM-2 or PM-3. I bought both just in case but ended up using the spray, PM-2. Seafoam Deep Creep and the PB Blaster stuff didn't work. I tried the Seafoam on the first plug on the Expy and when that didn't work, Blaster on the second. After finally getting the ground shield out it was clear neither had been able to wick down. The motorcraft stuff is something very different than the "over the counter" penetrant (and it's known to the state of California to cause cancer...good thing I'm in Texas). It has a hint of bug spray smell and is nasty stuff.
2. I suggest doing this on a warm engine. I know the TSB says room temperature but, the carb cleaner seems to work better and faster with a warm engine.
3. Remove the PCM and bracket to get to bank 1.
4. Remove the intake. If you don't you'll be knocking you knuckles into it while use your ratchet. While it's off you might as well pull the TB and give it a good cleaning.
5. Once you've pulled the COPs, spray the MotoCarbClean down there; about 2sec squeeze is all that's needed. Wait 10 minutes. (perhaps you could use this time to remove the COPs from the other bank or enjoy a frothy beverage).
6. Crack each 1/16 to 1/8th a turn. It could take up to 40-45ft-lbs to do. Wait another 10 minutes. (perhaps you could use this time to remove the COPs from the other bank or enjoy a frothy beverage).
7. Now work the plugs back and forth. After you get a full turn or two, they will start to squeak/squeal. This is a good sign. All of the ones that came out in one piece made this sound. No sound equalled broken plug in my case.
8. My plug socket almost never "grabbed" the plug. I had to use extended reach pliers to reach down and grab all of them.

The last bank I worked on was the passenger side (bank 1) of the Expy. I saved it for last thinking it would be the hardest judging from the driver side bank. However, after applying the lessons learned from the other banks they all came out in one piece.

The first pic is from the F150. As you can see I got all of them but 1. This truck has only 40K miles and there was a lot of carbon on the plugs.

The second pic is from the Expy with 60K miles. As you can see, two of the plugs broke and all had a decent amount of buildup. There are only 6 because the dealer replaced #5 and #8.

 

Post adds somewhere else please.

Bridge, After looking at your pictures I can now see why others have refered to them as two piece plugs. I don't understand why the inner section would separate. Is the threaded section not well bonded to the other part?

Qs: 1. Are any aftermarket plugs available that are less prone to this separation (I saw a reference to Champions on the other thread where no-one answers questions)?, 2. Does the use of anti-seize on the threads help?, Do all Triton engines have plug removal issues?(I just bought a '06 with a 4.6)

I'm brand new to these "new" engines. Thanks for the pictures and explanation/hints. Much better than all the griping.

 

Your 4.6 doesn't have this issue.

Yup, Brisk and Champion make a more robust design plug.

 

I see alot of references to knucklebusting while changing plugs. I'm wondering if something like the Sidewinder Rachet wrench might help? I got one a number of years ago and when I had my 91 T-Bird I had a bear of a time getting to a couple of sparkplugs and was able to get it onto the the plug socket and using the rotating end get them out.

I don't know if it would crack them loose, but once that's taken care of I wonder if getting them out is where it might help.

Just a thought.

 

Holy chit you guys. I'm in the market for a crew cab F150 with 6.5' bed & a 5.4

What years have the plug issues??

 

Yikes!!! That's kinda scary! My 2006 F150 has just over 55,5XX miles on her and still has the original plugs. I bought it with 49000 miles. I think I should just bite the bullet and replace the plugs now. This has got me a bit concerned hahaha. In those pictures, you can really see the shortcomings of that design. At least the ground shield cannot fall into the cylinder.

Hey Bridge, how much did the new plugs cost ya for a set of 8?

 

a few things i'd point out....

1....DON'T do it on a warm engine as the tolerance between the two will decrease when warm due to expansion of metals...

2. Let it soak for 45-60 minutes.....i've done it on two now and not broke a single one

3. I didn't take the intake or pcm off....a shorty ratchet worked wonders

4. Don't let this scare you away from a 5.4....they're great motors and the plugs aren't that bad to do if you follow the tsb....

 

Bridge: Thanks for the tips and the pics.

 

Hey Bridge.....which plugs did you put back in?

 

I went with the Motorcraft replacements, $7.39 each at O'Reilly's. Can't and won't justify the cost of the one-piece plugs at $12/each+tax+shipping for 16 cylinders when they're just going to get all carboned up again in 40K miles.

As far as the engine temp when changing, I did that at the recommendation of several other posts here and elsewhere after breaking the first two. A warm engine worked well for me on three banks of plugs, perhaps my experience is the exception rather than the rule My professional opinion is that any expansion of the two dissimilar metals is a zero sum game. However, sticking to the TSB is recommended...until you break some. If any break, let the engine warm up and see if that works any better. Like I said, it seemed to promote the wicking action.

One thing I forgot to mention. The lisle tool instruction mention that there is no chance that the porcelain will get pushed into the cylinder because of the taper on the ground shield, which is mostly true. However, I had one that fragmented a small piece off, approx 5mm chunk. I made sure to thoroughly vacuum that cylinder out.

This is definitely something a shade tree mechanic can do, just be prepared. Have the lisle tool, extended reach pliers and the carb cleaner on hand. The extended reach pliers come into play when the threaded portion of the plug fully separates. You'll need the pliers to work/break the porcelain out. The 45degree angle pliers work best for the cylinders in the back.

 

'bout $60...still more than spark plugs should be

 

Jeez, this is sounding like the truck repair from the "Grapes of Wrath"!!!

Does the use of anti-sieze help for follow-on plug changes?

 

Supposedly...i'll let you know in two years or 40K miles from now.

 

I removed 16 of them at 40-45k, and broke 1. had a hell of a time getting it out. used the ford rotunda tool, 16 months ago before this new tool was out there. that being said, my plugs looked Very very clean. nearly new like. all bare steel, stainless type shine, light rust that would wipe off with your finger, no scale, minimal carbon at all. the plugs above look 3000x worse than mine, yet they mostly came out. that's saying something for the ford carb cleaner. I used Kroil as per the old tsb. also on mine, the one that broke left just the shield down in there...and get this....it was loose enough that it would spin when I tried to get the tap to bite into it, ...made tapping very hard. I will not explain how i got the tap to start in there...lets just say it involved a hammer. I just wanted to add some more horror to this thread.

 

Is the Motorcraft carb cleaner really any better than Kano Kroil? Or did Ford marketing finally realize that they could be selling you the penetrating lubricant direct instead of recommending a third party company's product.