Hello. I've read alot of people are claiming mountains out of mole hills about this. This is no joke guys. I took my 04 F150 5.4L 3V 2WD in to the dealer for the sparkplug change. I wanted to wait until THEY got a handle on this. Now with the TSB and the broken plug tool in effect I felt confident the dealers can do these now. So with 52k mi I took it in for the $150 tune up, well under the recommended 100k. Imagine that, the first plug breaks apart and ceramic falls into my cyliunder through the plug hole. The service writer asks me what I want to do. Leaving these in is not an option I replied. Two more break on the other bank and cannot be removed (just spinning in head). You guys know the rest," Sorry sir, sparkplugs are a maintainence item, warranty doesn't cover sparkplugs." They have to remove both heads with approx. 21 labor hours at my cost. How about $2400 and 1 week to do. REMEMBER I took this in with nothing wrong with it, just as preventative maintainence!!! What I need is everyone who has a similar story to chime in and let's get this class action suit under way. I'm pretty sure, this is going to be for ANY vehicles with this engine i.e. F250 or Econoline vans? Please only post replies if you have input on this. THIS IS NO JOKE!! You are expected to pay for a "Quality Ford certified technician who knows your vehicle inside and out " inabilaty to follow the TSB. Thanks

 

That's bull*****, they broke it, they fix it.

 

Tell them to go **** themselves.

It is a warranty item...

WARRANTY STATUS:
Eligible Under Provisions Of New Vehicle Limited Warranty Coverage And Emissions Warranty Coverage

OPERATION DESCRIPTION TIME
MT061502 Claim Labor As Actual Time Actual Time

DEALER CODING
BASIC PART NO. CONDITION CODE
12405 01

 

What exactly does this mean? I'm not sure. Can I show them this and get some results? Appreciate it.

 

lol, ford screwed themselves on this one. Are they allowed to refuse to replace spark plugs because it might be in Ford's best interest to do so. haha, this is just terrible.

 

I have the exact same truck and same engine,, at 14000 miles a top engine support broke and they had to rip apart the engine to put a new cylinder head on the passenger side. (support connects to cyl head). I was also paranoid about the spark plugs and told them as long as they are pulling the head to replace the plugs and do the other side also as i had planned on doing it at 35000 miles. ( i paid for this,, rest under warranty) I was able to talk to the mechanic who did the work and asked him about the plugs. He said they did squeak when coming out and one did break off. He was able to remove the broken one with Ford's plug tool. He also said he had replaced numerous plugs and has had no big problems. Said if you follow the TSB and spray the oil around the plug threads and make sure the engine is just warm the plugs usually come out with no problem. He thought mine broke off as the engine could not be started and it was cold. He was aware of the problem of plugs breaking off but said that is usually when the TSB is not followed by (not Ford certified ) other mechanics. Service Mngr thought it unusual that i insisted the plugs be changed but sure glad i had it done now. I think they are cranked in too tight when engine is being built. Hopefully next time they will come out easier. Wonder if they could be covered under emission warranty ? ? Or at least Ford should acknowledge the problem and cover them,, they built the engine. I don't think you should pay for this.
John, Milwaukee, Wisc.

 

I had one of my spark plugs break off in one of my company trucks a few weeks ago. Luckily I didnt have to have the cylinder head pulled off, they got it out using the special service tool. I did call Ford and they said they will not cover it because they do not see it as a problem they can be blamed for. Ford basically said too bad so sad, save your reciept in case there is ever a recall. This is unacceptable. Ford has lost my buisness in the future.

 

I was upfront with my dealer when I took mine in.

I told them that even though I only had 32k on the truck, I wanted to replace them. At first they tried to talk me out of it.
When I told them I knew why they wouldn't want to do it and that the reason I'm doing it now as opposed to later is to cover THEIR butts (so they can claim warranty repair if something goes wrong) then they were more than happy.
They said if something went wrong, then it would be covered by Ford one way or another. Luckilly all was smooth, but I thought I'd share...

 

Allright dude yes it is considered a maintenance item, BUT THEY BROKE YOUR SPARK PLUG IN THE TRUCK I COULD CARE LESS IF THIS TRUCK HAD 10 MILES OR 100K MILES THEY BROKE IT ITS THEIR LOSS NOT YOURS YOU DIDNT BREAK IT THEY DID THE ARE LIABLE TO FIX ANYTHING THEY CAUSED IN THIS CASE YOUR SPARK PLUG!!!!! Now they dont want to take a huge hit but they should be responsible and be held accountable and fix what they did wrong not you. Have you seeked any legal advice yet????

 

I talked to my local dealership about replacing the plugs and they said the official stance is 100k, but they could do it sooner with service manager approval. I asked if the plug broke off who was responsible and he reluctantly let me know that they have an insurance policy for any damage that occures to cover the cost of the labor. If I were you I would push the issue, they were performing the work that you paid for and they broke the plug so they need to eat the cost.

 

yea they need to fix that...i work at a dealership and if one of my guys messed up, we would have to eat the labor

 

i bought my truck from the same dealership my father works at. and i asked him about this whole thing. he said you have to be persistent. and go higher up. talk to the GM(general manager) he could lose his job if fords rules arent followed. if that still doesnt work contact fomoco
thats horrible man so how long are you out of a vehicle

 

I also will buy my next vehicle elsewhere if Ford's official stance is I have to pay for the mistakes that the techs THEY certify make.

 

It's been a week and a half so far... They have a mechanic with a wisdom tooth that needs to be pulled out. But,I am on the priority list for tomorrow. BS!!! They have since offerd to cover half the cost of the repair at warranty price. Now it's ONLY $950 and a little over a week for a tune up. What a bargain!!!!!!!!! Get this one, they had to remove the engine and trans. to remove the heads. I'm sure I won't get any warranty on the work done since I have headers, CAI, and an aftermarket tuner either.

 

I dunno man but THEY have to eat that repair not you, Have you seeked any legal advice?