About 55k miles. Ordered up the Champion one-piece plugs from Summit Racing (got them off ebay). Wanted to do this before I had many more miles on it.

Broke the first one. It was the front one on the driver's side. Turned it about a full turn and it sounded like there was gravel in there about half way around. I used a tiny little dropper to put carb cleaner in the well and decided to re-read the TSB and make sure I was following the instructions. Saw that you're only supposed to turn them 1/8 to 1/4 turn and then let the carb cleaner soak them. Started on the others and came back to #1. Backed it out. No noise, just a gritty grinding feeling. Came out with the porcelain broken flush with the electrode in the head. Hoped it wasn't going to be a bad day. Rest of them were done the 1/8 turn, let soak for 15 min, back them out 1/4 turn at a time and all the rest came out cleanly. Some squeaked a little, some didn't have any noise, but that first one was the only one with that "crunching" of the porcelain breaking and grinding as I turned the plug.

Now time to figure out how to get out the plug. I was looking for a NAPA or Autozone that might have the removal tool. Came on here and searched for threads about broken spark plugs. Found this thread...

https://www.f150online.com/forums/20...nt-2-86-a.html

This worked like a charm. THANK YOU EFFECTS4!!!!!

While I was going to get the all-thread and nuts from Lowes, I let a little more carb cleaner soak. I also got a mini vac attachment kit from Harbor Freight that I attached to the shop vac to suck out any chips I was making in between every step. I used a punch to push the porcelain down and wasn't sure I was going to get it down far enough but it dropped down about 3/16" and that was enough for the tap to start a couple threads. Threaded in the all-thread, used the sockets and washers and ran the nut down to the washer. Ended up not needing to double nut the end of the rod after I got it snug in the plug. Worked it out 1/4 turn at a time, came right out.

Thing is, it didn't look any worse than the other plugs so I think the reason it broke was 100% me not following the TSB exactly.

Something I noticed, in order to get enough room to run the tap down in the shell left in the head, I really knocked the porcelain down quite a bit. When I pulled the shell out, the porcelain nose I had pushed down had broken the "bridge" over the electrode. It almost looked like I lost a piece of metal in the head. But it had just split and bent out so it looked like there was a piece missing. I shop vac'd the plug hole and then started the truck without the plug in there just to blow out anything and make sure I didn't get too much carb cleaner in there. Put the new plug in, started up the truck, reset the check engine light and took her for a spin.

All done!

Sorry for the long post, hopefully it'll help someone else out there tackling the same job.

 

Glad to see you get the plug out and get your truck going.

I finished changing my plugs this morning. Did the quarter turn and soak as well, however, I just had 13k miles on them. Changed them at 16k miles with the supercharger install and again at 29k due to me not gapping them the first time. All of mine came out good and they looked good.

 

I'm dreading this.

I might as well take the plunge and get it over with. 06 with 35k on the clock.

what plugs do you guys recommend?

 

those champion plugs aren't cheap, but they are rock solid. Nut to the electrode is all one solid machined piece of steel. They aren't breaking period. If that means I don't have to worry about the back plugs ever breaking and having to deal with that, I'm willing to spend the extra $60-$70. I also like that they can be gapped, unlike the stock ones with the "bridge" electrode. The gap on the stock ones I pulled was .060+. The recommended gap is .040-.050 and the plugs come gapped at .045 which is where I left them.

 

good job bud, too bad one broke. guess I got lucky as hell with mine last week, not having any break and not following the tsb at all..........

 

Thanks for the info BMS.

 

I too am dreading this job as well. Gonna be even more interestin cause I have to climb up on the truck to even get to my engine bay then start work.

Can ya post up the part # of the Champion's plz, thnx. Wade

 

I completed mine with one broken or better stated, separated plug. But the hardest part was indeed climbing around the engine compartment and reaching those rear plugs, especially on the passenger side. Wow!
Other than that, it was worth the trouble, truck runs noticeably smoother and saved some $$$ doing it myself.

 

Is this something that needs to be done with all F-150 years? I have an 07 5.4 with 22K on it. Should I do this now, or later? I'm no mechanic.