So if it's a "known fact that they break," why isn't Ford doing something about it, proactively?

Why should we, as consumers, be footing the bill for something Ford screwed up in the first place? It's not like we could ask during the purchase of our 2004-2005 trucks, "do our spark plugs have Ni anti-seize?" This issue just wasn't known about as much as it is now. Dealers and techs shouldn't foot the bill, either; however, they should be billing Ford for every one that breaks. I do not, by any means, know the procedure for billing Daddy Ford, but certainly there is some sort of chain in place if a claim is denied. Ford will only start to care about this once they truly know that the consumer is pissed.

If my plugs break during a dealer change, Daddy Ford will be getting a call from me, and my lawyer. There is no reason any of us should have to pay for their cost cutting decisions. The fact that their own TSB states that Ni anti-seize should be used when putting plugs in should be actionable for all of those with trucks that have spark plugs that break.

Finally, as a show of good faith, and "the way forward", or "quality is job #1", Ford should voluntarily call in all trucks that did not come equipped from the factory with Ni anti-seize. That'd go a long way in ensuring future business from their 2004-2005 new body style early adopters.

 

Not saying I don't agree with you. But you can't just bill Big Dog Daddy FORD!!! It don't work that way. Us dealers get screwed everyday by Ford, Mainly us Techs. We do plenty of Warranty work for 1/2 the labor of cust pay.


Shane

 

I wonder if Ford knows somebody is posting there videos for everyone to see?
All those videos on that site are from Ford's dealer site.

 

Finally after 31 days at the shop my truck is ready. I don;t know how much they are going to charge. The ROTELA tools take 3 weeks to arrive at the shop they start to work on mine last friday and I'm going to pick up my truck tomorrow. They take 1 full week to repair my truck.

I hope i don't get charget all week of labor.

They don;t need to disassembly the heads, they use the Rotela tools and also the aid of a cam in order to check inside the cylinder they don't leavy any part of the plugs.

How much you think is reasonable to charge?

 

Then you should speak up and get things changed, IMO. Passing the buck to the consumer doesn't work anymore.

 

While i may not agree with the dealer or techs having to suck it up, the reality is that is what is happening more and more. I dont work at a dealer but we have an car install bay at work and people try and get us to pay for anything they can. Even if its something completely unrelated. But while the car is in our possession, we are 100% responsible for it. If we install a starter and the car catches fire because of a bad fuse or something, we pay to fix it, even if its because of a manufacturers defect.

 

bluejay...GREAT link to the 'how to' video, thanks!! I changed mine last weekend (40,000 miles) with no problems. If I saw the video first, I never would have attempted it...that one plug in the video snapped with no notice! Mine came out with some protest, but I did what the TSB said...turn it out 1/2 turn and back in 1/8-1/4 turn.

They all looked good but I replaced them anyway. I went for the Autolite HP-1' s, figuring they were somehow 'better' than the Motocraps. But, they are the exact same plug...with the jam nut crimped over the ground shield...so the problem could happen again. I'll change 'em out again at 80,000.

And I also did what the TSB said...put the Ni anti-sieze on the ground shield, NOT the threads (OK, a wee bit on the 1st few threads) and torqued to 25 ft/lb (or 300 in/lb on my wrench).

As far as poor design or poor installation due to cost-cutting, I think it's a bit of both. Obviously, it's a poor design because the ground shield is breaking off...it should be welded around the circumference instead of just crimped. And it's breaking because Ford decided to skip the Ni anti-sieze on the early installation build-ups. So I would say that Poppa Ford should eat the costs if a dealer runs into trouble removing these plugs.

BTW...all those interested in DIY...remove the PCM and bracket, as mentioned in several threads, and the #4 is easy to get to. Also, AeroKroil worked great (PB Blaster may work but I didn't want to chance it)...I soaked 'em for an hour, backed them out halfway, let 'em sit for a while and wicked up the excess AreoKroil in the wells by stuffing paper towels in, then finished taking them out. Took my time on each plug. I figured NAPA or somebody would have a 9/16" sparkplug wrench, but no...none to be found, so I bought a 9/16 x 3/8 drive 6-point deep socket (all my wrenches and sockets are 12 point since I've worked on jets the last 30 years), and the socket worked of course but it was a minor PITA to pull the plugs out of the well. For the next time, I went on ebay and bought a 9/16 spark plug socket, so the rubber insert will help pull them out.

Thanks to all you guys, through all sorts of posts and threads, that made me confident enough to tackle this task!

-Don

 

Glad it worked out so well for you! I din't know if I will do it myself or not. I'm waiting till about 90,000.

 

Well, I'd hep ya - but you'd have to do it now

Flight + beer (the latter would likely be more $$$ lol)

Thanks for the link - good stuff. I love the " Oooooo, beware of mods" vid.

 

The problem isn't totally the plugs, its the poor design of the head, why would they make the clearance so tight, just plain stupid. I'm leaving my plugs in and hopefully they make it another 20k miles (80k total then) and I'm trading, let the next guy worry about it. This will be my last 5.4 and probably Ford vehicle in general. If Ford stepped up I would guarantee I would never drive anything but Ford in the future, customer for life. I bought a Ford cause I was pissed that my chevy 5.3 ticked, knocked, slapped whatever they want to call it, but at least you could change the plugs. My boss just bought a new tuuundra and claims its the best truck hes ever had, I'm not too sure about those yet!

 

I appreciate the offer, but I need someone that knows a bit more, I think. I have a neighbor that works on lawn mowers, he will help.

 

So do I. I think every neighborhood in Texas has a lawnmower repair man. Plug changes made easy.

 

Hey, I only snapped off plugs in the first 10 lawnmowers I did - how d'ya think I learned how to do this?

Betcha I've changed more 3V plugs than you have

 

How much did you pay for your plugs and where'd ya gettem Bubba? I haven't asked for a price from my dealer yet, but I asked at Carquest and they were right around the $12 mark, each.

 

Carquest - $13.79 each. Autolite HT1's.

Got the OTC6900 tool from them too.

Stealer wanted $18.50. MC SP462's.