Yesterday, armed with a TSB 06-3-3 Spark Knock along with P0300 & P0316, I met the Service Director when at 07:30 AM. The tech had already pulled my truck in and was beginning to work on it. I spent the next hour reviewing next steps. I went through Quintin's recommendations along with the TSB above. We then began examining other symptoms. I left an hour later. At 05:00 Pm, I was back and learned that the root cause of the P0300 & the P0316 was burned down tips on all of my spark plugs. What? How could all of the spark plugs be burned down after only 17,000 miles. So FX4ME2, you hit the nail on the head and you get the gold star. Some of you may remember, mine was the truck that had the spark plugs broken off in the heads requiring an Engine tear down.

I will be discussing this with Troyer in the next couple of days. What caused the tips on the plugs to burn down after only 17K. Hmm. Following is an idea and I am real interested in additional input.

I have had several suggest the Plasma Ignition Booster; but, I'm not so sure. The Plasma has only been on the truck for about 2000 miles. Coult it be ? Others on this fourm have been using this same booster and haven't reported this issue ? Also, Ford has suddenly changed the plug for the 2004. The TSB referenced above was updated just two months ago and calls for a PZ1T plug; however, Ford has now recommended PZ2T as the plug for the 2004 F150 and examination of the plugs shows a visible difference. The plug now has a tip on the ground as well.

I am real interested in thoughts here.

 

Little off topic but the truetrac is a differential, not a locker. You are one of the few who is more modded performance wise than myself (there are of course others but you're the most active that I can think of). You have the ignition booster, headers and 4.10's on me. How much of an increase were the headers, and ignition booster. The gears aren't too far off from 3.73's but I'm sure you're a little faster than myself. What do you 0-60 and run the 1/4 mile in? Nice truck, I have nearly every mod you have other than those, so clearly you have good taste in mods.

 

Great!!! I'm glad it was that, and not something worse. Now just to find the cause. It might be a defective booster, or you might want to check and see if it's putting juice continually to all the plugs while the truck is off, while the key is on. Sometimes at the dealer they leave the key on to listen to the radio or check the mileage. If the key was on, and you get continueing juice to the plugs, it may be possible to burn them like the points in distributors.

 

I haven't run it on the track yet. When I am satisfied (perhaps this summer) I will do so. I just don't think the XCAL2 is setup optimally yet.

As for the benefits from the mods. I am still working on that. As you know, it is sometimes difficult to see and feel the benefit of a single mod by itself. I have concerns that my XCAL2 has room for improvement. Low end grunt with the 93 Hi-Perf tune. In fact, the factory tune feels better from 0 to 40 when compared to the XCAL2 Hi-Perf tune. For curiousity sake, I sent my 1714 back to Superchips to have it updated to the current PCM code (latest from Ford). This weekend, I am going to re-test with the 1714. I also purchased Autoenginuity Data monitoring application so I am going to collect stock data, 1714 data, and the XCAL2 data.

I will tell you; though, that the Plasma seemed to make a nice difference in off the line feel. Again, the problem is I installed the Plasma and installed the High Flow Cats within a week of each other. I wouldn't think the High Flow Cats would create a low end benefit. I then followed that with a removal and re-installation of the headers to correct a slight header leak. I like the headers; but, I don't think they provided any more than a 5 or 10 hp improvement. From a bang for the buck standpoint, they are over priced especially when you factor in the time you will consume to install them if you do it yourself. The install is a very challenging job and I have now done it twice.

Lastly, the truck pulls real hard through the mid band. From 40 to 120, it realy scoots with the XCAL2. Often, I back out as I approach 120 since the suspension in these trucks is just not capable of keeping the truck stable. When you add a 6" lift and 35" tires, becoming unstable is not too difficult.

Next spring, I am going to add either a Whipple or a Roush (if they have the intercooler). This is not because I want to run 150 mph or tear up $275 tires. The challenge simply drives me forward.

 

I know what you mean, about everything except the midband pulling. I pull real hard from 20-35, and then it starts to mellow off at around 50, once it's at 60 it's pulling ok but no longer hard. These trucks really weren't geared for top end.