Blown spark plug repair question
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Blown spark plug repair question
Hey all, long time lurker, first time poster. Lots of great stuff here, ill try and make my long story short...
About a month and a half ago I bought a 2002 F150 FX4 super crew from a dealer. Its a lariat and an FX4 and was everything I wanted in a truck. First the horn didn't work, and the back window seal leaked, much hemming and hawing later they agreed to repair those under the 60 day warranty. While it was in the shop I mentioned that after only a week of owning the truck, I heard a tick in the motor that much research (mostly here) led me to believe was either lifters, cam phasers or a plug about to blow. Guy tells me its a, "normal sound for those old triton motors, don't worry about it" and I'm on my way.
Fast forward 3 weeks later and BAM, plug blows on my way home from work. I have it towed in and they tell me that not only did the plug blow, but that it had blown before and that it was the nutsert/timesert that blew out this time. They told me the 60 day warranty would not cover it because it was not a, "internally lubricated part", but they would do it because it was the right thing to do. Their solution was to JB weld the plug into the cylinder head. Thats right, JB weld it into the motor...forever. After a long phone call they finally agreed to replacing the cylinder head with a remanufactured one. My guess is thats about as good as its going to get, especially since I'm not paying for it, but my question is this:
After having the truck for less than 2 months and having all these issues, the most recent of which is seriously mechanical, I am concerned about the reliability of the motor. It is a 5.4 w/ 135,000 miles and about to have a new cylinder head on, should I be concerned about anything else or is my truck getting a new lease on life? Thanks for the help everyone, sorry this wasn't as short as I anticipated
-Jeff
About a month and a half ago I bought a 2002 F150 FX4 super crew from a dealer. Its a lariat and an FX4 and was everything I wanted in a truck. First the horn didn't work, and the back window seal leaked, much hemming and hawing later they agreed to repair those under the 60 day warranty. While it was in the shop I mentioned that after only a week of owning the truck, I heard a tick in the motor that much research (mostly here) led me to believe was either lifters, cam phasers or a plug about to blow. Guy tells me its a, "normal sound for those old triton motors, don't worry about it" and I'm on my way.
Fast forward 3 weeks later and BAM, plug blows on my way home from work. I have it towed in and they tell me that not only did the plug blow, but that it had blown before and that it was the nutsert/timesert that blew out this time. They told me the 60 day warranty would not cover it because it was not a, "internally lubricated part", but they would do it because it was the right thing to do. Their solution was to JB weld the plug into the cylinder head. Thats right, JB weld it into the motor...forever. After a long phone call they finally agreed to replacing the cylinder head with a remanufactured one. My guess is thats about as good as its going to get, especially since I'm not paying for it, but my question is this:
After having the truck for less than 2 months and having all these issues, the most recent of which is seriously mechanical, I am concerned about the reliability of the motor. It is a 5.4 w/ 135,000 miles and about to have a new cylinder head on, should I be concerned about anything else or is my truck getting a new lease on life? Thanks for the help everyone, sorry this wasn't as short as I anticipated
-Jeff
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From: Burleson/Athens/Brownsboro, TX
The blown plug can happen to any of the engines from 97-03. I would not consider it as inductive of a weak engine. Torque the plugs to 28 ft lbs and keep on truckin.
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Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 13,679
Likes: 84
From: missing Texas...
Hey all, long time lurker, first time poster. Lots of great stuff here, ill try and make my long story short...
About a month and a half ago I bought a 2002 F150 FX4 super crew from a dealer. Its a lariat and an FX4 and was everything I wanted in a truck. First the horn didn't work, and the back window seal leaked, much hemming and hawing later they agreed to repair those under the 60 day warranty. While it was in the shop I mentioned that after only a week of owning the truck, I heard a tick in the motor that much research (mostly here) led me to believe was either lifters, cam phasers or a plug about to blow. Guy tells me its a, "normal sound for those old triton motors, don't worry about it" and I'm on my way.
Fast forward 3 weeks later and BAM, plug blows on my way home from work. I have it towed in and they tell me that not only did the plug blow, but that it had blown before and that it was the nutsert/timesert that blew out this time. They told me the 60 day warranty would not cover it because it was not a, "internally lubricated part", but they would do it because it was the right thing to do. Their solution was to JB weld the plug into the cylinder head. Thats right, JB weld it into the motor...forever. After a long phone call they finally agreed to replacing the cylinder head with a remanufactured one. My guess is thats about as good as its going to get, especially since I'm not paying for it, but my question is this:
After having the truck for less than 2 months and having all these issues, the most recent of which is seriously mechanical, I am concerned about the reliability of the motor. It is a 5.4 w/ 135,000 miles and about to have a new cylinder head on, should I be concerned about anything else or is my truck getting a new lease on life? Thanks for the help everyone, sorry this wasn't as short as I anticipated
-Jeff
About a month and a half ago I bought a 2002 F150 FX4 super crew from a dealer. Its a lariat and an FX4 and was everything I wanted in a truck. First the horn didn't work, and the back window seal leaked, much hemming and hawing later they agreed to repair those under the 60 day warranty. While it was in the shop I mentioned that after only a week of owning the truck, I heard a tick in the motor that much research (mostly here) led me to believe was either lifters, cam phasers or a plug about to blow. Guy tells me its a, "normal sound for those old triton motors, don't worry about it" and I'm on my way.
Fast forward 3 weeks later and BAM, plug blows on my way home from work. I have it towed in and they tell me that not only did the plug blow, but that it had blown before and that it was the nutsert/timesert that blew out this time. They told me the 60 day warranty would not cover it because it was not a, "internally lubricated part", but they would do it because it was the right thing to do. Their solution was to JB weld the plug into the cylinder head. Thats right, JB weld it into the motor...forever. After a long phone call they finally agreed to replacing the cylinder head with a remanufactured one. My guess is thats about as good as its going to get, especially since I'm not paying for it, but my question is this:
After having the truck for less than 2 months and having all these issues, the most recent of which is seriously mechanical, I am concerned about the reliability of the motor. It is a 5.4 w/ 135,000 miles and about to have a new cylinder head on, should I be concerned about anything else or is my truck getting a new lease on life? Thanks for the help everyone, sorry this wasn't as short as I anticipated
-Jeff
#1 leaky window seal on a truck over ten years old?????
#2 what backwoods hill billy dealership did you buy this truck from???
#3 sorry you learned the lesson about proper torque the hard way, but even idiots have had plugs spit on heads with 8 threads
#4 vehicle ownership requires maintenance regardless of make or model
