I know man it's just the anger talking. I'm gonna delete those post's since they were uncalled for. I just want this thing out. I need a couple beer's.

 

I feel for you. That has to be exasperating. I started to say earlier, it seems as if that is the one that tends to break most often. I worder if it has to do with the angle that pressure is applied to remove it as it is so hard to get to?

 

Bit the bullet today to get this project done before towing season begins. It took 8 friggin' hours but all eight came out clean. They didn't make very much noise but I agree with 2004Triton5.4, when the noise stops DON"T TURN THE PLUG!!! Spray some oil down there and turn it all the way back in.
Here's the aftermath:


I replaced the Autolites with the Champion double platinum one piece plug. This is a project that requires LOTS of time, patience and a good penetrating oil. I couldn't believe how tight the stockers were in the head, I found a 1/2 drive ratchet and an assortment of extensions was the best way to go. Turning the plug slightly then tightening it, then loosening it and filling the well with the penetrating oil and repeating the tighten/loosen thing until it came out appeared to be the trick, at least for me.

 

How many miles?

 

Almost 48 hour's later and I'M FINALLY DONE! I can't belive it I finally got the last plug installed and my truck is running like a scalded dog now. I know this post is gonna annoy some of ya'll with all the dancing banana's but i'm so freaken happy i'm finally done. I'm gonna go by the store and get a 12 pack of beer and go home and kick back in the recliner and drink till my eye's close. Ahh man if ya'll only knew how I feel right now. Ok on to how I got the broken peice out. It's dark so pic's won't come till tomorrow. Sorry. Anyway's I finally found a punch and got the porcelain knocked down to the bottom of the shield and got a 3/8's inch threader and threaded the top of the shield. Then I got a 3/8's inch threaded rod and screwed into the shield and got a big socket and put over the plug hole and got a 3/8's inch nutt with two washer's and tightened them down and the shield slowly pulled out. The shield was in their tight it bent the threaded rod a little pulling it out.

 

That's great! Congratulations!

 

 

Thanks Bluejay! Sorry for making the stupid post's everyone. I just had to vent and now Ford is #1 again in my book's. I'm so happy to have my truck back on the road. I was getting tired of driving my dad's 4.2 V6 regular cab around everywhere I went. It's a nice truck but I realized just how much more power my 5.4 really has. I'm so glad that I got the plug's changed I have a race scheduled tomorrow against an 06 Ram regular cab with the hemi. He's stock and I outran a stock Daytona Ram before so I ain't skeered.

 

Thanks Stealth! I love that smiley!

 

That's freakin' awesome! I'll drink a few beers for you too!

 

64000, I've never spent so long changing a set of plugs in my life.


Congratulations!! Persistence paid off now you can enjoy the reward for a job well done. Good work!

 

Glad that your persistence, & patience, has paid off for you in spades!.......Congrads!....

 

(not annoyed, i just want to know how you got all those bananas to dance in unison... ha)


Way to go. Your way is the simplest I've read yet. How far were you able to recess the porcelain and how many turns of the threaded rod could you get into the sleeve?


AAAAAAAND how did the race turn out?

 

Here's a couple pic's of my contraption. First starting with the punch. What I done was got a long phillip's head screw driver and used a bench grinder to grind the end down small enough to fit down in the hole that goes through the center of the porcelain. I then got the screwdriver and a hammer and beat the porcelain down into the tip of the sleeve. Next I got a 3/8 inch threader and grinded the end down to where I could fit a socket bit over the end. Then I got a bit socket with two quarter inch extension's. I also used electrical tape to tape each socket together so that they would not separate once I stuck them down into the plug hole. Next I got a peice of 3/8 inch threaded rod about a foot long and tightened two nutt's onto the end and threaded the rod down into the sleeve. Finally I got a big enough socket that would fit over the plug hole and got a couple washer's to put over the end of the socket that a rachet would normally enter and slow'y tightened the nutt down onto the socket until the sleeve and porcelain pulled itself out of the plug hole. As you'll notice most of the plug's that I removed I had to break the sleeve off the bottom's to experiment and try to find something that would fit into the hole in the porcelain. You can also see how the threaded rod bent while pulling the sleeve out of the cylinder and the sleeve stuck onto the end of the rod. I'm not sure why but also the broken peice that I removed had alot of rust on it compared to the other plug's. Also I was amazed at how hard it actually is to get the sleeve to break off of these plug's. Notice the one plug that is bent pretty bad? I had to put it in a pair of vise grip's and beat on it pretty hard to get the sleeve to break off. If anyone has any question's feel free to ask. Also this removal tool only cost me $2.50 for the threaded rod,nutt's and washer's. Not bad compared to how much I was about to pay for the lisle removal tool.

 

Thanks man! My leg's are so freaken sore from having my knee's bent for so long sitting under the hood.