I have been doing an overnight test drive of a 2003 Ford F150 Heritage Edition truck with 147k miles on it. The head gaskets were all just recently replaced, in the last few days before the dealer put it on the lot--he said because one of the head gaskets had a leak.

I did some research last night and found that many of the Triton V8 5.4L engines have a problem with the spark plugs blowing through the heads.

The truck drives ultra smooth, no ticking, smooth and quiet as glass.

My questions are:

How do I know whether this problem has been fixed in this particular truck?

Is there anything I can look for in the engine or VIN that will tell me if this truck is one of the ones that has this problem?

Here is the question that pegs me as a non-mechanic: If they replaced all the head gaskets, would they have replaced the spark plugs as well?

Thanks for any help! I have to take the truck back tonight, so hopefully I can figure some of this out before we go back and talk to them.

 

If the spark plugs are torqued to the proper spec (28 ft. lbs), they will not blow out. They can tell you if they replaced the plugs. I'm sure they would if they replaced the head gaskets. I would ask for a warranty on the head gasket work.

 

Thanks Roadie! That helps!