That's the best news yet! Hope it's an Iridium plug. One of the finest plugs I've ever seen.

 

That's enough for me, - Champions = still bad.

 

I might be missing something here but..I'v been a mechanic since the 70's..a master tech since the late 80's,and I'v seen my share of broken plugs..and charged a lot to get them out.
But thats not the point..the point is..when you install the plug MAKE SURE you put a dab of anti seeze on the threads.That way whatever brand plug you put in will come out.Personally I like Autolite double platinum plugs..I'd swear by autolite plugs..then NKG..I use them in my dune buggy and the bikes.. then AC..I put them in the vette..this of course is just my opinion,but I'v done this for a long time.
BUT remember platinum plugs may say that you can leave them in up to 80k+ miles but thats BS !yeah they'll last that long..they wear great but they wont come out to easy if they come out at all.You really need to break them loose or take them out and put them back in every 20-30k and they won't freeze in the head.People put them in and forget about them because ther platinum and then sell the truck and the next guy breaks them not knowing they've been in for years.
By the way they sell a anti-seeze crayon that you just rub on the threads..a great item to keep in you tool box.

Just my 2 cents worth
Posttal AKA Ralph
Cleveland,Ohio

 

These plugs are not sticking and breaking off due to seizing at the threads.

Have you even tried to remove one of these spark plugs?

 

Your fired!

 

I don't care how experienced and/or certified you are, the 04-07 3V Ford Tritons are a unique situation, and conventional wisdom does NOT apply. If you have not dealt with one of these yet, you are no better than the average Joe on the street and still have more to learn.

Are you also aware that the use of antiseize is NOT recommended on the 2V Ford Triton 4 thread heads, and the factory torque specs are way too light? Are you aware that in general, the 2V Tritons HATE Autolite plugs?

These are the kinds of things you learn around here. Amazing what you can learn for free without having to go to expensive schools.

 

Dude I'v CHANGED more of them than you have TALKED about..and conventional wisdom not only works but to ignore it causes the problems usually performed by backyard mechanics and younger kids that THINK there mechanics because daddy bought them a tool box.
Plugs have been breaking in this EXACT manner for years..mostly in cars that were maintenence was ignored..The Quad 4's were a prime example..coil on plug equaled ignoring it untill the plugs became part of the engine..so this may be new to you but NOT to the industry..sorry.
Yeah the Tritons exhibit this problem a bit more but ALL the direct fire ignition systems show this problem because the plugs are harder to change thus people DON'T change them until its too late.
As far as hating autolite plugs..are you on drugs..sounds like it..go back to reading..while some of us actually DO it.
And the people that are breaking them have no buisness working on them..
As stated above somewhere..a guy said his dealer has NEVER broke a plug on one...thats because REAL mechanics know what there doing..unlike backyard internet mechanics.

Hey and I saw on the internet that cows ****ting in the pasture causes excess methane gas causing global warming...guess you believe that to !!

God are you ignorent..and I mean that in the nicest way since I dont personally know you.BUT its people like you that paid for my truck and vett..boat and house...thank you very much.
Stick to what you know..doing google searches.

Posttal AKA Ralph
http://www.lorileedesigns.com/files/...phsCorner.html

 

Ford did not tell Honeywell to make a two piece plug. They gave Honeywell the dimensions and performance requirements and left the plug engineering to the company that specializes in them. Honeywell came up with the 2 piece design. Ford should have rejected it but in their short term testing they did not have a problem. I would not be surprised if they did not even test plug removal as that was never a problem before. I am sure they test it now after washing all the egg off of their faces.

 

Hey posttal -

I'm not going to get in a pissing match with you on this but 3 guys who are diesel mechanics at 2 different local ford dealers have said the plugs are a nightmare. In fact one had all 8 break and that truck had 80k and some change on it. My boss who has been a mechanic for 45+ years, ran his own business has also said they are a job he passes up on.

Now a friend of mine who has no mechanical experience at all changed his plugs in his 06 that has 53k and he broke 1 out of 8. I mean for crap sakes local shops won't even give a plug change price out, they simply say "we charge $xx.xx and hour and hope for the best".

That to me sir, seems like the Tritons are a special situation.

 

Anti-seize doesn't fix this problem. It is not the threads that are sticking. Do some googling yourself or use the search tool here and try a spell checker as well if you want credibility. Noobs.

 

Posttal, It is very obvious you have no idea what you are talking about when discussing the two piece plugs for the 5.4 3v engines. It's a big enough problem that Champion came out with a one piece plug, Ford issued several TSBs and designed special tools for extracting the pieces, and then Ford redesigned the heads in early 08. Now, I doubt they did all that just because they wanted to. On one hand, I agree that the problem has been blown out of proportion. However there has been a learning process for the plug extraction. But it's hard to convince the first few guys that had to have the heads removed and paid $2500 for a plug change, that there is no problem. If you have had great success, that is wonderful, just don't come on here telling those of us who have lived through the problem that it does not exist.

We welcome you to the site and look forward to you sharing your wisdom with us in the future, but you need to back off with the insults and language. It will not be tolerated.

 

Good point Norm, I bet your right. Also about how they test now lol.

When was this considered a problem, a defect? Late 06 maybe? From what I remember, I was hearing about plugs breaking before the news about the injectors in the 05 models. Anyway, BOTH companies should of put their heads together and worked out the hardware problem allot sooner and differently IMO. Customer relief SHOULD have been more prioritised and handled better.

Ford will always be my truck, but some things still don't set well, like, is there a Motorcraft plug for 2004-2007 models that won't break ? Yet?

 

Ralph, there has been an Autolite problem in the 2valves dating back to 97. The 103's (double platinums) are the wrong heat range for the 97-03 models.

If you knew your stuff, you would know that Honeywell manufactures both Autolite and Motorcraft. The Motorcraft heat range is Ford spec, the Autolite is not.

So, wrong heat range = bad thermal performance, believe or not some plugs don't make the cut. Well, you know how it works, the temperature of the spark plug's firing end must be kept low enough to prevent pre-ignition, but high enough to prevent fouling. - Determined by the heat range. Spark plugs do not create heat, they only remove heat. They pull unwanted thermal energy away from the combustion chamber, and transfer the heat to the engine's cooling system.

So, the heat range is defined as a plug's ability to dissipate heat. This has been an on going problem with the Autolite & Bosch spark plugs. They don't transfer/dissipate adequately. The plugs over heat and begin to fail.

Motorcraft,Denso's and NGK meet spec and all work fine in the modulars.

That covers the 2 valve.

____________________________


The 3valve. Now that's just crazy - Even the best of the best has snapped a few off.

You must NOT work on these Fords that much because you certainly don't know them. There's quite a few techs on this site that know their stuff, stick around if you wanna learn some things.

 

Why do people get so Aggro in these forums?

Oh, because its the intrawebz. This is serious business.

 

On the 3V plugs, the antiseize goes on the ground sleeve, NOT the threads as per the TSB. It also has to be NICKEL antiseize, your crayon won't cut it.

Are you even aware of the Ford TSB on changing those plugs? If not, I think you need to read it before jumping down our throats.

EDIT: Now, when it comes to a 2V with the 4 thread heads, antiseize is a possible contributing cause of the plugs loosening and ejecting - another Ford design flaw. Ford has nickel-plated plugs for these engines that eliminate the need for antiseize, and Ford master techs have found that torquing them DRY to 28 ft/lb instead of the factory recommended 15 ft/lb helps keep the plugs in the heads a LOT better. I have changed plugs on a Quad 4, and you bet your sweet bippy I used antiseize. Apples and oranges, sir.