my question is....DOES FORD KNOW ABOUT THIS PROBLEM??? if not, how do you let them know so some sort of recal can be in order?? IF they DO know...what are they doing to fix it??? Or maybe they just dont care???
....im glad i read these forums bc i was this close to doing my plugs when i installed my P-charger...anyways i just feel like this is something that makes you go WTF...and i feel like Ford is half @$$ing a product to what are mostly loyal customers...i mean maybe thats the wrong term for it...I love ford trucks since i was a little kid and i will never drive anything else...but i just feel like Ford needs to do something here...just my 2cents

If you read (and believe) some of the Ford people that post on this site.......yes Ford is aware of the problem, have come out with several short term solutions, and are working on developing a tool that will remove the part left in the head so head removal won't be necessary.

:wave:

Sure you do! Jiffy Lube, Valvoline Instant Oil Change, Q-Lube, even Wal-Mart...there's a ton of places that will change your oil if you can't do it yourself. The dealership is the LAST place I would take my truck for an oil change! They did my first 3 for free, along with rotating and balancing the tires, as part of the deal when I bought my truck. That's the last time they will see me for routine maintenance.

Yes, they're well aware of the problem. Yes, they're working on solutions. Yes, there's (supposedly) a tool in development to remove the broken insert without removing the head.

In regards to people who don't want to mess with spark plugs 'till 100K, it's your truck, I don't especially care what you do. But your stupid ass comments to people who do decide to change their plugs early don't help this thread one bit.

Let's get back to the problem here guys! I got a question, do you think its carboned up stuck, or rusted up stuck? If carboned up, try spraying a good carb cleaner, and if it's rusted up, then i would try a penatrating fluid. One other thought that i had, is if there is enough room to do this is to get a body shops "slide hammer" and either make a long hook, or make a long screw that would go all the way through it and slam it out. Before i did it though try (carefully} a little heat like from a brazing tip from real torches. If anything would fall into the cylinder, you can use a shop vac with a 3/8 hose attached to it to suck it out. These are few idea's, i hope it helps...

It seems more like rust than carbon to me. Ford calls for loosening the plugs on a semi warm engine no more than 1/4 turn, then spraying Kroil into the plug wells (just enough to cover the hex portion of the plug) and letting it sit for 10 minutes before trying to remove the plugs. I've heard through the grapevine of guys rigging up slidehammers with hooks or screws on them to pull the broken inserts, or using hex headed easy-outs to get the insert to turn so they can be shot out by cranking the engine over.

I imagine any type of tool would muck up the threads, especially since they are aluminum threads it wouldnt take much to screw them up. To be honest, Im still in shock over this whole thing. I couldnt even imagine performing this operation on a new Ford vehicle. It blows my mind.

Just another thought, is to use the remaining threaded part of the plug as a guide, or a sleeve to protect the threads. You could grind part of it off where it broke off, up to the threads to allow room for it to break loose.

Yeah im sure I could get his out if i really tried...

This is a good excuse to make some more power though :D

I see.......... :rolleyes:

Sounds like a better idea to wait and see what solution Ford comes up with. Especially for us "low mile" guys. I have only 17,000mi on my '04, don't think I am willing to pull them early and risk breakage.

I've only got 15,000 miles on my 04, Im going to let Ford do them when it comes time.

what about tring a dent puller,put it down into the pice,thread it into the end of it and use the weight to slowely extrat it.using some wd-40 at the same time.

on another note,would it be benificial to pull plugs at a early age and try to do something to keep them from getting so bad.maybe coat them with something?

also,if you add a cap full of transmission fluid to the intake once in a while is will clean the carbin deposits off.

id think there a few things that can be done to prevent this.

I couldn't have put it better myself.

Good luck FF... keep us posted. There are a lot of people with their finger on this pulse hoping that, when it does come time to maintain, that we don't fall into the 'broken' category.

I dont see how using penetrating oil will help anything. Its not the threads that are creaking.. it's that 1 inch insert below the threads that's rusted up.

I bought a spark plug too for my truck.. I was planning on changing mine.. I have 31k miles on my truck.. I pulled the driver's side front just out of curiosity... It was rusted up bad... Creaked and moaned all the way out..

As for changing the rest... I'm scared..