I have removed 6 of the 8 spark plugs in this rig. I will be r&R the last two this Saturday.

Out of the 6 spark plugs I removed that have 45,000 miles on them.... the #5 cylinder Spark Plug was White, the other 5 spark plugs were all the same color dark brown (ish) in color.

*Question: Regarding the spark plug that has been burning White... "Is this a Lean Condition"?
(I am thinking I may want to r&r the #5 Fuel Injector with one of my OEM Rebuilt fuel injectors).

**Also... I have been watching the dual exhaust Tail Pipes on Cold Start and the Driver Side pipe emits some blue smoke for about 15 - 20 seconds, then goes away. I am guessing this could be just worn Valve Guides and Not a Big Deal? Would this guess be correct?

Thank You

 

Yes, that's a lean condition.

Do you have true duals, with no H-pipe or X-pipe?

Worn valve guides and/or hardened/cracked valve seals.

 

On computer controlled engines that are Ox sensor fuel controlled, white does not mean a lean condition. That's old school carburation signs where the Carb cannot control fuel anywhere near what fuel injection can do by holding the fuel mixture so tight.
On these engines, age makes a difference from cylinder to cylinder and sucking oil around the intake valve stems, a plug could very well show some brown color over time.

 

It looks to have: True Dual Exhaust.



at bottom of picture the exhaust pipes are running towards the Front of the vehicle, the left pipe is turning left crossing over to the left exhaust manifold.

Side view of the 1st pic, from the passenger side of the truck.. Front of the vehicle is facing to the Right, in the picture.

Mid exhaust pipe area, running to the rear of the truck.

 

That tells me you probably have valve guide leaks on bank 2 somewhere. Note that #5 is on that bank. If you had a H-pipe or X-pipe, both sides would smoke. Note that it would run better with a X-pipe, you are losing low end torque without it. You can buy a dual in/dual out muffler with an internal X-pipe.

https://www.summitracing.com/search/...s?fr=part-type

Can you post a pic of the #5 plug alongside one of the others so we can see the difference?

If it's not running lean, you may be getting coolant in that cylinder.

 

Thanks for the muffler info. It does seem a bit under powered but, it also has 3.55's. (I remember back to my 2000 f250 super duty with the 7.3l diesel, I had a muffler shop remove the muffler for a very small (short), see thru, free flow muffler type thing and I noticed a Huge Torque Loss. I Then had him put a semi-free flow muffler in to get the torque back.)

Once I have r&r'd the #7 & #8 spark plugs... I will set them all 8 in a line and in order of cylinder and take a picture.

 

[QUOTE=glc;5263928]
Can you post a pic of the #5 plug alongside one of the others so we can see the difference?

I am attaching pics of all 8 used spark plugs that came out of the engine.
#1 - #8 / Left to Right

(when I pulled #7 & #8 spark plugs out yesterday, they were both Equally tightened into the head. Each took very minimal force to start them loose, a little more force than the loose #2, #3 & #6... those 3 were were probably Finger Snug at best. #1. #4 & #5 were tight in the head.)

 

The tips all look normal, if anything, burning a bit rich. The top threads on #5 look like there may be water or coolant getting into the well from up top. The bottom 3 threads are all that screws into the head, this is why they loosen and blow out when not properly torqued. The original design plugs only had 4 threads, the barrel above those threads was smooth.

The heads were redesigned in 2003, the new heads are fully threaded. The new plugs for those heads also work in the old heads, and have replaced the original spec. They looked something like this:

 

After I had gotten that first pair of codes (a couple weeks ago or so) and the engine had started running rough... I went ahead and sprayed engine degreaser all over the engine compartment and then power washed it on High Pressure Soap (the water comes out Warm on HPS instead of Cold on High Pressure Rinse). I prefer to work on a clean engine, much easier to get the work done.

#5 was the only spark plug with some rust on it and also the inside of the #5 Coil, the Spring inside the coil was pretty rusty. I am guessing that THAT Coil Boot was Not sealing the Spark Plug hole like its supposed to.

IMO... we ought to be able to power wash our engines every few years without any problems afterword. If the engine begins to run rough right after power washing then there is a damaged Coil Boot or something is worn that is letting water into an area that is supposed to be dry.

I have been power washing automobile engines for many years and So Far I have not had one develop a miss after power washing the engine compartment.

Thank You All for the help this past month!!!

 

Well, have you ever washed an engine with COP ignition and port fuel injectors before? You should NOT do that. Even with conventional distributors or coil packs, today's engine compartments have so many sensors and other electronic components that it's not wise to wash them, especially with a power washer. Not all connectors will be perfectly sealed, you get water into those and all kinds of weird things happen, especially when they start to corrode.

Use dielectric grease on the sealing surface of the coil boot, also wouldn't hurt to smear the outside of all the connectors if you plan on making a habit of washing your engine. If you do wash it, please don't use a power washer, use a low pressure standard hose nozzle.

 

I went thru similar yrs ago ...had a miss...diagnosed miss...WASHED engine to cool it off and clean it (water pressure only) ...fixed plug #6....then missed everywhere!!!! WTF...washed motor again to cool it off...did tis 2 times before realizing that THIS IS A NO NO on the 5.4 due to the plug wells! Finally removed all plugs cleaned and blew out EACH cylinder, buttoned it back together with LIBERAL amounts of dielectric grease around boots....THAT problem solved. in fact highly recommend ONLY clean this motor ....when you are about to remove all the plugs/coils...

 

The car wash that I go to has a low pressure rinse setting, something that I failed to notice before my washing my trucks engine. And then the problems began.