Mark another one on the wall for a sparkplug broke off in a head
 

Putting in my autolite HT0's getting ready for my dyno tune tomorrow. They all creaked, popped, and groaned untill I got the the last/easist one to get to(driver side front). No creaking, no groaning... broke off in the head :(

I'll post pictures tomorrow.

man i heard horror stories on 5.4 and that... whats the deal?!?! kinda glad I went with the 4.6... if i had a sporty truck I woulda went 5.4 blown too!

Sorry about your bad luck (or the bad design). :( Did the others look scored? Did you use a little penetrating oil? I heard that Ford is working on a "tool" to remove the rest of the plug without pulling the head. Are you pulling the head or Ford?

Yeah I used penetrating oil. That did no good. The others were all rusted up etc.

I'm going to pull the heads myself. Im going to call http://jmschip.com/ and see if they can do the conversion on my heads. I hope I can round up enough money so at the same time I can go ahead and do a built shortblock.

DAMN, sorry to hear about the plug. How much mileage did you have when you changed them?? Should they be changed sooner to prevent them from rusting in there? Hope you get your baby running again. :)

Sorry to hear that :(

Where you turning it the right way :devil:

Goodluck FatherFord :beers:

Someone told me that a lot of penetrating oil and an easy-out can get the insert out. Shouldn't be too hard to finagle out since it's up front.

ETA - I've also been told that if you can get the insert to loosen up a bit, you might be able to make it blow out by cranking the engine.

That blows man. How many miles on your truck? By the way, I LOVE your screen name :>

There were 36k miles on the truck.

Just tried the two methods mentioned above. No work. That guy is in there.

http://img387.imageshack.us/img387/7901/img13023wh.jpg

Wonderful, so had anyone ever taken their truck to the dealer to have the plugs replaced and have them break off?? I wonder if the dealer will pay?? This is an effing nightmare for do-it-yourselfers, just think, changing your own spark plugs just became a real headache.

There have been stories posted here about dealers breaking them too. Some dealers covered it, others didn't. Looks like a crap shoot. I'll be changing mine out early, before 30k.

Thats it. Unless something drastic happens that a plug is dead, I think I'll leave em in there for as long as I own this truck. It'll be gone at 120000km which should be about a year from now. :(

If you don't pull 'em you sure won't break 'em. But good luck to the poor slob who does try to get them out of your truck after you turn loose of it. :rolleyes:

Thats the sad part, and reason why I think private sales will really drop, as will resale values.

Just imagine, your some poor schmuck who buys a fairly low mileage F150 and decided to perform a routine tune up on the thing like a typical do it yourselfer. Now lets for a second forget about the new generation of pansies who believe that routine maintenance should only be performed at 100k miles or over. Anyway, so this schmuck pulls the plugs and gets himself into a helluva lot more than he bargained for. Oh well, guess the days of good ole reliable pickups gone?? I miss the simplicity of my 93 F150. :mad:

For your info, I do all my own maintenane regularly on all my vehicles and toys very diligently since I was sixteen. But if doing a routine thing like changing spark plugs is gonna end up costing me thousands when it breaks off in the head, then I think I'm gonna pass on changing plugs and hand my truck back to Ford when the lease is up.

Lease!! Whoa lets keep this discussion among those who own the trucks.

Well for all of the people out there that made fun of us and said the sky is falling because they said it was a fluke and would only happen to a few..........here's your F'ing proof. Seems ALL of the people so far that removed theirs either had them creak and pop all the way out or actually break off so this is definitelly a big problem and I can guarantee ANYONE that waits till 100K to replace them, every one will break off. Looks to me like a plug with at least a 1mm smaller diameter insert would be the way to go so they wouldn't have to redesign the heads. That way that extra clearance between the head and the plug would allow a LOT more gunk to build up before it would cause problems. I need to get mine out of there sooner than I thought. I was going to wait till 30K but now even that scares me. I got 25K on it now. Sorry to hear about that FatherFord!!!!

Sadly I agree with you if you stick with Ford. I don't mean to bash fords on a Ford site but I don't see any other manufacturer with the spark plug problems that Ford has had since 97. Truly sad

Own or lease, what's the diff, maintenance is maintenance, I still foot the bill, what's that got to do with anything? The point is if it was a truck that I planned on keeping for the rest of its life, then I'd be more concerned about the plugs right now.

I've had my truck for almost 2 years and only have 13,000 miles on it. At the current rate of mileage, I won't hit 100,000 until it's almost 13 years old. I haven't kept any vehicle longer than 6 years, so I can't see 100,000 miles being an issue for me. They stay in! :banana: :banana: :banana:

My point is that I planned to keep the truck(not for the rest of my life) but atleast for the long haul. With a lease, you can just walk away after your lease is up. If you plan to keep the truck then the decisions you make, or dont make, effect you down the road.

I will make you a 100% absolute guarantee........ If you don't mess with the plugs, they won't break....... and no one will make fun of you. :eek:

If you insist on pulling the plugs before the recommended interval, and you break one.......I'll roll on the floor laughing like a little school boy.

I guarantee it. :thumbsup:

Simple, isn't it.

:wave:

So what do you plan to do when 100k miles rolls around?? Im guessing you wont keep the truck until then.

And if you never mess with that darn oil filter, it won't be such a PITA to get off for the first time! And if you never try to change that fuel filter thinggie under your truck, you will never worry about breaking those darn clips! And if you never try to put gas in your truck, you won't have to worry about that fuel filler door breaking off. :lol: For those of us that do our maintenence ourselfs and don't run to the dealer to get everything done, unless they have to, and plan on keeping their truck for while, and don't feel like waiting til 100K to change plugs when they WILL break off and Ford will NOT cover the repair of the head removal, I think I'll take the risk at 30K and you can laugh all you want. Plus I need to change them anyway because they give me a new set with my Roush kit so I have a good reason. Maybe I'm the only one that thinks this way and that's fine, if so, disregard this message and I'll go on my merry way.

Here's my take on all of this. I see both sides of the "replace/do not replace argument." Yes, earlier maintenance is they way it SHOULD be, but Ford slapped the 100k interval on these plugs. In doing that, some people are brushing it aside and taking it for granted. As I said though, the interval should be much lower. However, I believe they should be held accountable for either the DIY mechanic, or the Ford mechanic, that has a plug break off in the head. It's not the DIY mechanic's fault that Ford picked the wrong plug design to put on these new trucks. Other trucks/cars can have their plugs taken out without fear of break-off due to poor design.

Also, if Ford knows that the plugs won't make it to 100k, then why the hell are they still saying that they can? If they want customers to remain loyal, and not shift to Dodge or Chevy or the Imports, they would make this right by changing plugs (when and if a suitable replacement is found) prior to 100k, AND for free, regardless of warranty status. Stuff like this happens to every automaker, and they should see it as a cost of doing business, and a way to keep an already dwindling customer base happy, and loyal.

I'm not sure if I'll keep it, or not.

I'm not sure what I'm having for lunch today, never mind 5 years down the road.

If I do keep it, and one of the plugs should happen to fail, I'll worry about it then. In the meanwhile, none of my plugs are broken.


:wave:

p.s. The only time my truck goes to the stealership is for warranty work. Anybody that pays the stealership for routine maintenance is an idiot, in my opinion. After the warranty is up, they never see me again, ever.

So what about those people who live in an area that disallows "routine maintenance" to be performed, i.e. an apartment complex, such as I live in? So I guess I'm an idiot for taking my truck in for oil changes and tire rotations because I have no other option? :thumbsup: Nice generalization, dumbass.

P.S.-I pity the person who gets your truck after you turn it in. Since you don't care about the plugs, a rather important component, what else do you not care about?

Thanks for the kind words. It's such a pleasure to read.

When I lived in an apartment, I always had a place to do my own work, either a friend or parents house, or even the tech center that rents out garage bays, including tools for those that don't have the means.

You don't have any friends? I'm not surprised, really. ;)


I do care about the plugs. I read the owners manual, and Ford recommends they be changed at 100k miles, and if I keep the truck that's when they will get changed.

I don't care about you....does that answer your question?

:wave:

Oh, snap. Damn FF, that is bad news. Thats what we get for being performance junkies. Makes me want to just keep mine at 6 psi and be happy with 13's. LOL!!

BTW, I called Ford and they said they knew of the problem. However, they said their mechanics have recently been keeping the trucks overnight for spark plug changes. Reason is that they fill the plug hole and soak it overnight in penetrating oil.

Didnt say exactly why these plugs are doing this though. Just said they were aware of it.

I can't believe they actually admitted to knowing about the problem. But at least they are. Let's hope they're not dragging their feet as to how they want to really fix it. I think FatherFord said in one of his posts that he soaked his with penetrating oil and it still separated.

And Kool-Aid, I'll let you stay in your own little world. Thank you for the comedic banter.

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: