Well I did not know to look when I changed the plugs. Wish I knew what I know now.
My curiosity may get me to pull a plug and take a look.
My right front, nbr one, was a piece of cake. If I think I can get an eyeball down there I'll take a look.

or maybe just let sleeping dogs lie.

 

yes, you are missing something




28 ft lbs is the way to install 'em

 

The 4 threads nearest the barrel of the plug just sit there between the seat and the threaded section of the head. The bottom 4 threads are what engage the head threads. There are no threads in the chamber.

 

Ok, Ive got it now. Plugs are exact reach, just that on the 4 thread version there is a void area after the seat before getting to the threads.









Nothing more to do now that just to drive on.

 

2003 F150 XLT 2wd 4.2 275,000mi
I had to helicoil one of the plugs on my 03 4.2 today. It only took about 30 minutes or so. $40 for the kit at Oreilleys. I always expected my 1997 4.6 F150 to blow a plug, but she never did in the 5 years that I owned her.

 

A helicoil is NOT going to last......................

 

Any head that has a plug work loose can blow out. GENERALLY the 4.2 does not loose them. GLC is right that plugs most likely gonna blow again. Timesert or Fords lock-n-stitch. Those are the only repairs that last.

 

the dreadful sparkplug blowout caught me by surprise, as I started my truck to leave the gas station I heard a loud popping noise. I checked under the hood and my coil was bouncing everywhere. I was not aware of the blowout problem but was aware of several other triton errors as I've owned my 2001 f150 for the past 6 years I've spent more time under the hood than I ever had with any other vehicle. With my truck pushing 240k I researched several sites and was surprised at all the others that's had this happen. I went with the dorman cylinder repair kit. I was fortunate that my coil didn't need replacing. It seems like every month there's always something happining to the triton v8 5.4. I'm no mechanic but with the 5.4 I know it like the back of my hand. I'm just curious as to how it would run with that one injector unplugged.

 

With the injector unplugged it will run on 7 cylinders....................

Good luck with that Dorman insert.

 

I believe it was cylinder 6 2nd one from front on driver side, all I would have to do if it blows again would be unplug that 2nd yellow injector clip on fuel rail correct? and how far would it go with it unplugged?

 

You can drive it indefinitely with a blown plug as long as you disconnect the injector. It sure won't be comfortable though.

Now - torque the rest of your plugs to 28 ft/lb before you blow another one.

 

I didn't have any time to research this because I was in a time pinch to get the pickup back on the road and running on full power. After I did some reading I had found a lot of bad helicoil reviews, and if I have to do it over I will buy the Timesert kit. Hopefully this holds up against the odds. 😁

 

I recently installed the dorman insert with the long sparkplug, just wanting to know if this plug is harder to blow due to its size and if this plug needs to be torqued to 28lbs as well I also noticed that the coil pack doesent go down as far as the other ones with this plug is this a problem?

 

Can someone please listen to this V10 (vid below) and tell me it is NOT A ROD KNOCK! If it is, that's ok, but I am hoping it is either a stuck lifter or loose spark plug. Can listening to it rule both of those out? Please advise!

 

It's not that hard to pull the cops and stick a torque wrench on the plugs.............