Okay all I have almost finished my "100K" mile tune.

All I have left to do is the plugs, I know its a job and I wasnt worried about it hearing most folks say it takes 2-3 hours to do....

Until I heard some horror stories about the Motorcraft plugs being a 2 pice plug and they can break in half.

ANyone had this happen? anyway to prevent this? and lastly whats the chance of this?

I check around just in case appreantly Ford dealers have a tool to use if this happens, not sure what kind of tool?

So give me some hope or idea's or im just gonna turn the wrench and pray.

Dave

 

What are you talking about ? This is a Ford Forum, do you own one?

Fill you info in (top right corner , Control Panel/ Info). We can't see your vehicle from here.

 

I have filled it out, and yes I own a Ford,

Its a 02 F150 FX4 Supercrew 5.4 Triton.

I just hit 100K miles and MPG is in the dumps, I have replaced o2's cleaned the MAF did a complete fluid change including a new fule and tranny filter.

The CP's arent misfiring but the plugs have little over 100K so they need to be changed.

What Im trying to find out is how many have actually really had the plugs break? I know it happens but is it a common occurance or once in a case.

BTW I posted in the year specfic forum, I have put my Vehilce in my "garage info" 3 times and it never saves it.

 

For your year, there is no problem with breakage, it's the 2004 to early 2008 5.4 3v. You need to be sure to get the plugs tight so you don't have one blow out. Go back with Motorcraft as the threads are nickle coated, do not use antisieze and torque them to 28 ft/lbs.

For the pictures, you need to resize them, sounds as if what you are trying to load is too big or it could be that they are not coming from your hard drive. They can't come from an internet site to the Garage. Also, if you go back to your profile and add your truck, it will show in the upper righthand corner. That helps when someone is trying to answer your questions.

 

It's UserCP
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No, you have not. I've instructed you where to do this, glc has done the same. We are trying to help, but you have to listen for that to happen. If you did this correctly, it would display , - "Top Right Corner", like most users on this site. It's not that hard. No one wants to go searching for information to find out what you drive. Shouldn't have to.

 

Thanks BlueJay,

Odd thing is I have read its from 97+ not just the 04. It did seem to more speciified on the 3v vs the 2v.

28ft is a lot of load on a plug, I thought the f 150's had alum heads?

Also not trying load pics havent even put one up. Its just a daily on 31"s it does have an edge Evo and Pioneer Blue tooth nav thats it.

My other toys are the tricks
1970 Kaiser Jeepster
2003 Rubi Crawler
1951 ****** Wagon

 

The 28 ft lbs is used by a company that specializes in repair of heads where a plug has blown out. They have done extensive research and claim that the heads will take much more. This is the method they use to insure no plugs blow out.

Ok, I don't think the Garage will save your info unless there is a pic uploaded.

 

www.blownoutsparkplug.com

FAQ's #51 and #52.

 

Well just not gonna worry about it and go for it. I was more concerned about breaking but hopefully I get all 8 out intact.

Antizieze and 28ftlbs of Torque will do. Scary but will do

Better than having a shop break one off and then try to charge you extra to have it fixed. At least I know before removal I will be soaking the plugs with some PB Blaster fr a good 3-4 hours if not over night.

 

You dont listen do you. He said DO NOT USE ANTISIEZE.

 

There is no reason not to use antisieze,

Yes they are nickel coated, but I have ran to many engines and worked on too many other parts not to take 3 seconds of time and use "The Correct Antisieze"

You can buy and use High Temp Nickel antisieze, a slight coating, emphasis on slight and you protect yourself.

Not to mention at 28ft of torque, If the nickel coating did fail in an alum head your just looking for trouble, and by everything else what folks say around the net the major problems with these plugs breaking where because of the lack of antisieze at the factory.

Nickel coatings can and will fail. It is a coating, yes it proven to be the highest rated temp/corrison resitant coating second only to cobalt but like any coating it can fail and will fail in time.

I not going to argue about use of a dab of antisieze. The same nickel based antisieze I use on the plugs in my other vehicles.

This whole thread is out of proportion, I was trying to get an idea of the % of people that had dealt with plugs breaking on removal, not blow out. I did get some useful info though about the 28ft of Torque so thanks for that.

 

Hi Dave;

I may caution you on the torque figure if you choose to apply anti-seize ( a choice with which I will not argue about as I believe the same - a very light coat - but that's just me, not advocating same to anyone else).

Denso, among others, specifies two different torque values - one for use with anitseize, and one without, due to the 'lubricity' of the material and it's skewing effect on actual torque readings.

Here: http://www.densoiridium.com/installationguide.php

If the plugs are R&R'd on a more frequent basis - say 60K or under - then I think the chances of an OEM nickel coating failure are reduced. I certainly will never leave a plug in past that mileage, as I do not beleive in the OEM TCO hype about 100k longevity - again, just me.

Good luck.


MGD

 

You got more than that. You were told that the breakage problem does not exist for your engine. You were also given a link to a company site that deals with blown plug repair for your engine. If you read their info, you should be more appreciative of the information we have shared. You would also have found that they recommend no antisize as it can affect torque values as well as assist the plug in backing out. Good luck.

 

Dave, did you bother to read those FAQ's I linked you to? This guy is a Ford master tech.........

Before they even addressed this in the FAQ, I emailed them and asked about it - and this is their response: