Just had a unpleasant surprise....my 04 F-150 3 valve 5.4 went in for 60,000 mile service........tech at dealer broke off 2 spark plugs(1 in each head).......had to have heads removed to do tune up!!!! Dealer has been perfect in every way...gave me a loner car when they didnt have to....love my truck but now the engine has been "into" and most likely will never be the same. By chance you guys (and girls) with the new 5.4's have not looked at the spark plugs .......they are well..kind of crappy.......poor design....where was Ford's "better idea".......look like old oil furnace electrodes and weak as s--t....well they broke off at 60,000 miles. Carbon built up in the clearance hole for the electrode extension, freezing the plug in the heads, BTW it was #4 and 8 way back against the firewall!!! felt sorry for the tech cause anyone would have done the same! Dealer called Ford in MI, Ford said :they were aware of the problem..........anyway I was out of my truck for a week and now its is kind of ....."used and abused".........beware!

 

https://www.f150online.com/forums/sh...ng+spark+plugs

 

Welcome to the Spark Plugs are "Heck" Club!

Your not the first and won't be the last. Read up the link Quintin gave you.

Sorry to hear you found out the hard way. Thats why we went on so much about this issue hoping others would avoid the tear down. Sure as heck you know Ford is not facing this issue up front!

 

Did Ford or the dealer offer to help out with the bill?

 

Thats what I want to know? Unfortunately at 60k miles, I doubt Ford helped it any.

 

Does anyone know if Ford has changed anything to the 5.4 V8 in the 2006 modle year with the past problems with the spark plugs2004-2005 ? Did they redesign the heads or what?

 

We'll find out in the next few months. I just bought a 2006 F150 Supercrew for my wife. Within 10K, I will be pulling the plugs to take a look.

 

I have a 2004 FX4 S-Crew and changed the plugs after reading about potential plug issues on another thread here.

I picked up the special plug tool designed for the 04+ 5.4L 3V engines and the plugs at Murray's for $6 ea. The job took about 2 hours (including removing the air baffle, PCM, battery cables for more access). A couple of the plugs creaked while coming out, but no broken plugs. After the job was done, I noticed the truck idles better and runs quieter (and an F-150 runs quiet to begin with!)

All I can say is, don't wait to do this! If you have 30K on your truck, then get in there and change them.

 

I agree with 2004 FX4...

I kept track of the other thread concerning the spark plug issue, picked up the tools and the plugs, and got the job done without any problems. Kudos to the senior members who did a great job writing up the procedures...

 

Where did you get the plugs? I have the socket on the way so I'll be doing this soon too.

Thanks

 

I bought mine through rockauto.com...I didn't get them as cheap as some others, though...I think I paid 7.50 each, but their speed at filling orders is impressive...I ordered them the Sunday before Thanksgiving, and had them that Tuesday.

 

Thanks, that's where I've been looking too. Did you get the Autolites or Motorcrafts?

 

does changing the plugs now, solve the problem?
I'v read the other thread, but does anyone know if this cures the issue, because the new plugs using stainless steel extention prevent it from seizing in the head?
if ford knows about the issue what are they doing to resolve this?
lets say I have my truck serviced and the tech(whos supposedly highly trained) "snaps" one off, who pays? why should I be responsible to foot the bill for the bad design.
was'nt that one of fords advertisements "new plug design"
I took possession on 10/12/04 and have 5450 miles a year later, when should I have them changed? now to prevent future porblems or wait untill I hit 20,000?

 

Would a coat of antiseize on the threads help, or are they freezing up in the combustion chamber?

 

No. The problem will exist as long as this plug design is used. It is definitely a bad design lending itself to weakness and failure when applying torque. I know that Ford is aware of this problem, but I do not know what they are doing to correct it. These techs are highly trained, and that's why this plug is a significant issue. I am guessing that Ford will "pony" up when they have a working fix for the advertised plug upgrade that backfired. It sounds like (from reading the ever familiar thread that Quintin posted) if we do the maintainance at 30K, we will avoid having the heads pulled to pop out those broken plugs. I know that it sounds like a raw deal (not my fault), but if you don't want to see this potential problem played out on your new 5.4, you must do the maintainance earlier that expected. That notorious thread is full of very useful information, so take advantage now.