Ok what am I missing here? Looking at that plug the part where the socket goes on is all one piece all the way down past the threads to the sheath portion. How could that carbon up and cause the plug to break off in the head?? That long covered portion does NOT thread into the head, it merely sits in the spark plug hole and extends into the cylinder a little. It sounds to me as if the dealer used the incorrect socket and snapped the plugs off in the head, thus having to remove the heads to drill them out. I would definitely not pay 1700 bucks for the mechanics mistake. Spark plugs are not a warranty item but if the mechanic broke them off thats their baby! Just my .02

 

I have seen plugs snapped off plenty of times, when someone used a non-spark plug socket to try to remove the smaller 5/8 plugs. This sure sounds like that.

Anyone got a plug they replaced to post a picture off?
Chris

 

I've heard through the grapevine that the 5.4 3V has had problems with the plugs breaking off in the heads, but I haven't tried it personally to see. I plan on doing mine sometime around 50-60K, so we'll see then.

 

How much does it cost in labor for Ford Service department to change plugs?

The back, passengers side plug looks hard to reach

 

Why oh why didnt Ford stick with the OHV windsor? I can change plugs on mine with one hand and blind folded. Ive never been a fan of the mod 4.6 motors because they are famous for blowing spark plugs out. I worked at a machine shop and we saw many many heads that had spark plugs blow out and the entire head had to be removed and in some cases replaced because you cannot helicoil them. The 5.4 heads(atleas the old design) had maybe 2-3 threads that actually sealed the plug. And were very easy to strip due to the soft aluminum threads. I hope Ford has redesigned the new 3v heads with a more logical and common sense approach. But using the words Ford and logical in one sentence is a contradiction lol.

 

Um, because federal law says a motor has to be about 100 times cleaner?

Also because us lead footed guys want roughly a horsepower a cubic inch out of our toys?

Take your choice.
I vote for both.


I do wish they built em to work on though. A tip front end might be mighty nice come tuneup day!
Chris

 

If you do get the plugs out without snapping them, do yourself a favor on the go back.

Use some anti-seize.

Use some C-105 (Permatex I think) or PLAIN Milk of Magnesia.

I'm not joking on the Milk of Magnesia. It's the ONLY type of anti-seize that GE or Stewart and Stevinson allow on some of their alloys, and it works pretty good in heads. It has to be the plain stuff though. The flavored stuff will not work.

 

I haven't changed mine, but I watched a ford tech change them when we were chasing the vandalism problems with my truck. I took the old ones, and handed him the new ones as he did the work. The removal and reinstallation were as straight forward as any plug change out I've ever seen. Nothing difficult at all. Of course, my truck only had 1280 miles on it at the time.

 

And yet, you still drive a Ford.

 

Correction...

I drive a Ford which gives me the right to joke on them. Dont get your panties in a bunch over a joke there bud.

 

Look carefully at the picture. You will notice that the metallic cover over the porcelain extending beyond the threads is pressed in. This portion gets carbon locked into the heads. Anti Seize won't help. Use whatever socket you like, it won't matter if the carbon has them locked into the cylinder well. This isn't a tool usage issue. This is a design issue. I broke two. The mechanic broke the remaining six. As I specified earlier, the only way to get them out after they are broken off is to remove the heads.

As for removal at 18K and based upon what I have seen, you may be alright. Buy the socket, extract a plug and inspect it. If the plug is clean, suprise me with a post. I expect it will shows signs of carbon build up on the metallic cover extending beyond the threads. From this point forward, I will pull them and clean them at 80K and every 10K - 12K after that. My warranty ends at 100K (lotta good it did since it doesn't cover plugs). After that I may pull the motor and trans and fit a 6.0 Diesel and Trans. Sure that will be quite a job; but, I have a friend who is one hell of a diesel mechanic and loves to fit a square peg into a round hole. Doesn't matter as I expect this problem to go on and on. And, those unsuspecting F150 5.4 3v Truck owners are likely to raise hell with Ford. I may have been one of the first to experience this **** poor design; but, I certainly won't be the last. I will post pics of one of the plugs.

Still, I would rather get stuck with a $1700 repair bill with a Ford Truck then spend even a nickel of my money on a Nissan, Toyota, Chevy, or Dodge. I am 46 years old and have developed a strong case of hardening of the attitudes. Won't ever change.

 

You make it sound like the sky is falling. Maybe you got a large buildup of carbon from the fuel you use in your area. I thought that clean burning gas results in zero carbon buildup

 

Isn't there a method in which you can 'de-carbon' the engine?

I thought I read about sucking some kind of liquid into the intake, that will burn off the carbon.

 

Old style was to pour Chemtool or Gumout down the carburator, slowly with the engine running. Produced enough smoke to make people think the shop was on fire.
We also used plain water in a soda bottle. Anything at all hitting the carbon build-up would break it loose.

They don't do that anymore.

One, you would get a ticket for airpolution while you were doing it. I mean a lot of smoke came out.

Two, it would be sorta akward to pour it in, as the air intake is sideways. Could find a way but;

Three, sorta really, really hard on the Cats and the sensors. Might not damage them...

Four, I don't think it would get up into the area that seems to be causing the problem.

Hopefully there is another way.
I suspect a solution like that will come along about a year from now when tens of thousands of these will be needing plugs.
Chris

 

Is the plug on the right a replacement for the factory one on the left and is it approved by ford for use is 5.4 3v engines it looks to me like this could turn into a nightmare and be very expensive. Thanx