Senior Member
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If you're smart enough you can prevent this problem.
bp 87 as recommended by ford...100k mile plug change as recommended by ford. 1 in 5 have problem for a very servicable part that is a problem....how many 97-04's caught fire...maybe 200 of the millions built....1 in 5 with problem, most with less than 50k miles. i am sure an attorney will do a class action on this. very easy to prove that plugs should be easyily serviced and not cost 2 grand when one brakes....and that is at the factory serviced interval, not at half the life of what the part is designed to do...Originally Posted by Stealth
The deposits that cause the plugs to snag will be there or not be there at any mileage. It all depends on gas type used and driving style. If you use a cheapo brand gas you will have more buildup on the plug compared to using Shell 93 octane. My plugs looked brand new upon removal. If you're smart enough you can prevent this problem.
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Yet, a good detergent gasoline like Shell 93 and a good tune can keep your deposits down so the plugs can be removed safely. I don't care what Ford recommends, I choose to save myself the trouble.Originally Posted by troberts6874
bp 87 as recommended by ford...100k mile plug change as recommended by ford. 1 in 5 have problem for a very servicable part that is a problem....how many 97-04's caught fire...maybe 200 of the millions built....1 in 5 with problem, most with less than 50k miles. i am sure an attorney will do a class action on this. very easy to prove that plugs should be easyily serviced and not cost 2 grand when one brakes....and that is at the factory serviced interval, not at half the life of what the part is designed to do...
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Now the Ford boys are fighting amounst themselves. The Tundra vs F150 are more tame than this.
I was interested to hear how premium gas and your driving style can prevent your plugs from snapping in these motors.
Detergent, Techron. Prevents deposits. I use Shell 93 with an Edge tuner, custom settings. Any 93 tune will get you the top performance designed for that octane rating.Originally Posted by SMIGGS
No kidding.Now the Ford boys are fighting amounst themselves. The Tundra vs F150 are more tame than this.
I was interested to hear how premium gas and your driving style can prevent your plugs from snapping in these motors.
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Originally posted by Texaco
Engine Deposits and Performance
Although proper vehicle design and maintenance are necessary, gasoline plays an important role in meeting these expectations. However, since almost all base gasolines are formulated to the same regulated specifications, the performance of the deposit-control additive is one of the most important features that differentiates one brand of gasoline from another.
Almost without exception, harmful deposits would build up inside your engine if commercial gasolines did not contain effective deposit-control additives. The best of today's additives not only can keep engines clean, they also can remove existing deposits to help restore the original performance designed into the engine.
Most automotive gasoline engines operate in a four-stroke cycle: intake, compression, power and exhaust. The first downward motion of the piston in the four-stroke cycle—the intake stroke—draws the air-fuel mixture into the combustion chamber through the open intake valves. As the piston reverses direction and begins to move back up, the intake valves close. This upward motion of the piston is the compression stroke. Compression raises the pressure and temperature of the mixture, causing it to vaporize. Near the top of the compression stroke, the spark plug produces a spark, igniting the fuel vapors. The mixture burns and expands, which drives the piston downward for the third stroke, or power stroke. As the piston reaches the bottom of its movement and begins to move back up again, the exhaust valves open, beginning the exhaust stroke. The upward motion of the piston pushes the burned gases out of the engine into the exhaust manifold and eventually out the exhaust pipe. See a demonstration in Flash of how your engine works, and how fuels with the Techron additive help keep it clean.
Originally posted by Texaco
Engine Deposits and Performance
Although proper vehicle design and maintenance are necessary, gasoline plays an important role in meeting these expectations. However, since almost all base gasolines are formulated to the same regulated specifications, the performance of the deposit-control additive is one of the most important features that differentiates one brand of gasoline from another.
Almost without exception, harmful deposits would build up inside your engine if commercial gasolines did not contain effective deposit-control additives. The best of today's additives not only can keep engines clean, they also can remove existing deposits to help restore the original performance designed into the engine.
Most automotive gasoline engines operate in a four-stroke cycle: intake, compression, power and exhaust. The first downward motion of the piston in the four-stroke cycle—the intake stroke—draws the air-fuel mixture into the combustion chamber through the open intake valves. As the piston reverses direction and begins to move back up, the intake valves close. This upward motion of the piston is the compression stroke. Compression raises the pressure and temperature of the mixture, causing it to vaporize. Near the top of the compression stroke, the spark plug produces a spark, igniting the fuel vapors. The mixture burns and expands, which drives the piston downward for the third stroke, or power stroke. As the piston reaches the bottom of its movement and begins to move back up again, the exhaust valves open, beginning the exhaust stroke. The upward motion of the piston pushes the burned gases out of the engine into the exhaust manifold and eventually out the exhaust pipe. See a demonstration in Flash of how your engine works, and how fuels with the Techron additive help keep it clean.
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Now the Ford boys are fighting amounst themselves. The Tundra vs F150 are more tame than this.
I was interested to hear how premium gas and your driving style can prevent your plugs from snapping in these motors.
Oh, and the deposits on the electrode sleeve causes it to hang up and separate, since it's just pressed into the spark plug. The tolerances are very close, so any deposit will cause problems upon removal, less causes less of a problem, more causes more of a problem. Originally Posted by SMIGGS
No kidding.Now the Ford boys are fighting amounst themselves. The Tundra vs F150 are more tame than this.
I was interested to hear how premium gas and your driving style can prevent your plugs from snapping in these motors.
Following the TSB correctly is supposed to break down some of the build up so they won't fail.
Senior Member
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This is what I have been trying to say. Apparently the youth of today feel that broken sparkplugs are the norm. I personally have never broken a sparkplug in my 23 years of car/truck ownership. I changed the plugs in my 04 Explorer about 3 months ago, and none of them broke.Originally Posted by troberts6874
bp 87 as recommended by ford...100k mile plug change as recommended by ford. 1 in 5 have problem for a very servicable part that is a problem....how many 97-04's caught fire...maybe 200 of the millions built....1 in 5 with problem, most with less than 50k miles. i am sure an attorney will do a class action on this. very easy to prove that plugs should be easyily serviced and not cost 2 grand when one brakes....and that is at the factory serviced interval, not at half the life of what the part is designed to do...
Technical Article Contributor
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you must have miraculous luckOriginally Posted by freekyFX4
Apparently the youth of today feel that broken sparkplugs are the norm.
I've broken at least 1 plug in each vehicle I've ever owned. Especially the sportier ones. By sporty, I mean V-8
So far:
1971 Chevy C-10
1977 Hell Camino SS
1978 Bronco
6 different F-150 (years 88-94) with 302's and 300's
1993 Bronco
1995 Mustang
2003 Mustang GT
That's at least 12 different vehicles (there are others that I know I've forgotten. I've noticed the breakages usually occured on cylinder 7 and 8 of the V-8's and on cylinder 6 of the I-6's. Headers also like to throw a twisted kink in there.
yeah, I think the plugs breaking on the 04+ 5.4 sucketh. but honestly, I still maintain that the engine is due for replacement at 100k-150k. So, if I still own my truck at 100k, and the plugs do break, well I think it'll be time for a new 5.4. The truck will be payed for, so maybe some other goodies as well to re-invigorate my interest in the truck. a built 5.4 with supercharger could be fun
Senior Member
Since when does a 5.4 3v with 100Kmi need to be replaced if it's running like new?..............Even 150Kmi is not much! Heck I'm running mine till the thing grenades, I wanna see how many miles a 5.43v can go with Mobil 1 5w20 since 1st oil change, talk to be in 8-10 years, I'll bet I'm still trucking.....my 2007 SCREW down the road..........
Senior Member
Results are in for me .. 2 of them were brokenm during removal. Apparently in my area (Southern Ontario) there is a Ford guy that all the dealers use. They called this 'guy' who is supposed to be a pro at removing the broken plugs. He drove bout 1.5hrs to my dealer, pulled my 2 broken plugs and charged me $266 on top of the usual plug change charge (2.5hrs @ $75 an hr). All told, cost me about $550 before taxes to change my plugs. Truck has 95000km on it, will be changing my plugs every 50K or so from now on.
Senior Member
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Originally Posted by FordsForMe
Results are in for me .. 2 of them were brokenm during removal. Apparently in my area (Southern Ontario) there is a Ford guy that all the dealers use. They called this 'guy' who is supposed to be a pro at removing the broken plugs. He drove bout 1.5hrs to my dealer, pulled my 2 broken plugs and charged me $266 on top of the usual plug change charge (2.5hrs @ $75 an hr). All told, cost me about $550 before taxes to change my plugs. Truck has 95000km on it, will be changing my plugs every 50K or so from now on.
two broke at 95k km...so thats about 40k miles??? 25% had a problem with less than half the life as reccommended...
now you are going to start changing them at 1/4 of thier designed life??? ummm whatever
people dont buy new tires when a 40k mile radial has 20k, why would the plugs need to be changed so early? was there a problem? if everyone knows they are designed bad and are going to break, why are alot under the belief that its the owners fault if he doesnt use 93 oct and change them every 25k miles? as more and more 3v start to hit 100k and are brought in for the tune up and are told they need oil, trans, brake, diff, plugs...ect...ford will have to step up. most that own the truck dont know or use this or any other site, and have no clue that this could be a problem on thier vehicle.
Senior Member
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now you are going to start changing them at 1/4 of thier designed life??? ummm whatever
people dont buy new tires when a 40k mile radial has 20k, why would the plugs need to be changed so early? was there a problem? if everyone knows they are designed bad and are going to break, why are alot under the belief that its the owners fault if he doesnt use 93 oct and change them every 25k miles? as more and more 3v start to hit 100k and are brought in for the tune up and are told they need oil, trans, brake, diff, plugs...ect...ford will have to step up. most that own the truck dont know or use this or any other site, and have no clue that this could be a problem on thier vehicle.
95K km is almost 60K miles .. and I think changing them out earlier is a good idea to possibly prevent a larger issue. Your suggestion would be to just risk it and wait? not sure that tires are a very good analogy to use.Originally Posted by troberts6874
two broke at 95k km...so thats about 40k miles??? 25% had a problem with less than half the life as reccommended...now you are going to start changing them at 1/4 of thier designed life??? ummm whatever
people dont buy new tires when a 40k mile radial has 20k, why would the plugs need to be changed so early? was there a problem? if everyone knows they are designed bad and are going to break, why are alot under the belief that its the owners fault if he doesnt use 93 oct and change them every 25k miles? as more and more 3v start to hit 100k and are brought in for the tune up and are told they need oil, trans, brake, diff, plugs...ect...ford will have to step up. most that own the truck dont know or use this or any other site, and have no clue that this could be a problem on thier vehicle.
Senior Member
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To each their own on when plugs are changed, what larger issue are you possibly preventing by changing something BEFORE the manufacturer's recommends it?Originally Posted by FordsForMe
95K km is almost 60K miles .. and I think changing them out earlier is a good idea to possibly prevent a larger issue. Your suggestion would be to just risk it and wait? not sure that tires are a very good analogy to use.
Alot of people here use the arguement that you should use products that Ford recommends in their trucks because they "engineered" it. So why should there be a risk in waiting until Ford recommends changing these plugs?
Senior Member
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Alot of people here use the arguement that you should use products that Ford recommends in their trucks because they "engineered" it. So why should there be a risk in waiting until Ford recommends changing these plugs?
The larger issue would be having the plug stuck bad enough that a plug breaks and you can't get the ceramic center out. From what i was told that means pulling the heads to have the plug removed. Just seems worth the $200 every couple years to try and prevent that.Originally Posted by SMIGGS
To each their own on when plugs are changed, what larger issue are you possibly preventing by changing something BEFORE the manufacturer's recommends it?Alot of people here use the arguement that you should use products that Ford recommends in their trucks because they "engineered" it. So why should there be a risk in waiting until Ford recommends changing these plugs?
Senior Member
well the tsb also specifies plug INSTALLATION also, specifically applying high temp NICKLE anti seize on the shield and not the threads... to me, if ya get the old plugs out, you dodged the firing squad, but if ya then put new plugs back in sans antiseize, then you jumped right back into the firing line, thats your bad. the antiseize will protect from galvanization, and carbon, it is the nature of the beast, if you see the tolerance between the shield and the cylinder, you will see that that antiseize, however little, will be there to barrier between the 2 different metals..
my plugs looked ok after 50k, but cmon now they are not gonna last no 100k, so changing at 50k is reasonable anyways.. anything less you will be wasting money, unless you pull them out, clean em, antiseize them and put em back in. but that means you have the discipline of a monk, i shed tears when im about to do spark plugs regardless of vehicle...
this is in response to the people saying its stupid to change plugs at 50k, although i agree anything less than 50k is being tedious
my plugs looked ok after 50k, but cmon now they are not gonna last no 100k, so changing at 50k is reasonable anyways.. anything less you will be wasting money, unless you pull them out, clean em, antiseize them and put em back in. but that means you have the discipline of a monk, i shed tears when im about to do spark plugs regardless of vehicle...
this is in response to the people saying its stupid to change plugs at 50k, although i agree anything less than 50k is being tedious
Senior Member
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my plugs looked ok after 50k, but cmon now they are not gonna last no 100k, so changing at 50k is reasonable anyways.. anything less you will be wasting money, unless you pull them out, clean em, antiseize them and put em back in. but that means you have the discipline of a monk, i shed tears when im about to do spark plugs regardless of vehicle...
this is in response to the people saying its stupid to change plugs at 50k, although i agree anything less than 50k is being tedious
This 'guy' that my ford dealer called in to remove the broken plugs did something to each cylinder. They said he 'honed' (sp*) each to make it a little bigger. Not really sure what he made larger, but I think its the part that the long part of the plug sits in. This guy said that since he has starting doing that, re-removing the plugs has never been a problem on any of the trucks he has worked on.Originally Posted by mengela
well the tsb also specifies plug INSTALLATION also, specifically applying high temp NICKLE anti seize on the shield and not the threads... to me, if ya get the old plugs out, you dodged the firing squad, but if ya then put new plugs back in sans antiseize, then you jumped right back into the firing line, thats your bad. the antiseize will protect from galvanization, and carbon, it is the nature of the beast, if you see the tolerance between the shield and the cylinder, you will see that that antiseize, however little, will be there to barrier between the 2 different metals..my plugs looked ok after 50k, but cmon now they are not gonna last no 100k, so changing at 50k is reasonable anyways.. anything less you will be wasting money, unless you pull them out, clean em, antiseize them and put em back in. but that means you have the discipline of a monk, i shed tears when im about to do spark plugs regardless of vehicle...
this is in response to the people saying its stupid to change plugs at 50k, although i agree anything less than 50k is being tedious
Senior Member
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Some people would rather believe that these things can actually go a 100,000 and wait, than do preventative maintenance and change the things a little earlier and possibly saving themselves a but load of money.This is the 1st vehicle I've ever owned w/ 100,000 mile plugs in it and I personally don't believe in them, especially after I pulled them at around 70,000. Again, it was not that expensive or hard for me to do, just scary.Originally Posted by FordsForMe
The larger issue would be having the plug stuck bad enough that a plug breaks and you can't get the ceramic center out. From what i was told that means pulling the heads to have the plug removed. Just seems worth the $200 every couple years to try and prevent that.