ok guys so this is what i am worried about my truck it has 102,000 miles on it and i haven't replaced the plugs yet.... so i am wondering if you guys have had trouble with the spark plugs seizing like i have heard before or no problems at all... let me know should i take my truck in and get them replaced or wait for them to start acting up?

 

Ouch...tough call! Odds are if you do it now one or some might break. If you wait it could be more.

 

Do you have a 4.6 or 5.4? I would go ahead and replace them. If 5.4 broken plugs usually are not much of a problem *if* you have the right extractor for the job.

 

it is a 5.4, i would be having a shop do the job probably a dealer actually cause i figure they dill with alot of them so hopefully then do it right...

 

see and that is what i was thinking too, the dealership said dont worry about it till they start to act up but idk for sure if i want to wait cause then it might be a bigger pain to get them out....

 

Don't stress yourself too much about this, it's at a point where whatever's going to happen is going to happen. There is a much greater chance that some will break but the key is to follow the service procedure and go slowly. I believe there's a couple guys here that pulled their plugs at around the same mileage and got them out clean, so it is possible.

My advice is to bite the bullet and get them done. It's not going to help anything to wait.

 

Yea it's not going to help with waiting longer unless you plan on getting rid of the truck some time in the not too distant future. Who really know how long the plugs will last before the engine starts to act up.

Find a dealer that is not going to charge a ton extra if some break. Seems every dealer has their own policy and prices for changing the plugs in the 5.4's. My dealer said don't worry about the plugs breaking because they have never had a plug break. But at 35K miles 3 of mine broke. The dealer told they followed the TSB to the T but who really knows.

I had them changed early so that I could try the Champion 1 piece plugs and for the fact they said if any break while I was under the warranty i wouldn't have to pay any extra. Then I changed the Champions out about 10k miles later due to a misfire. Put the Motorcraft plugs back in and the Champions in the garbage. I'm going to run the new set of Motorcrafts to at least 140k miles.....If I even have the truck that long.

Best of luck, it almost seems like a crap shoot when it comes to these. Some have problems and some don't. My personal opinion is that if you use a good quality gas and drive a lot highway miles your chance of break is less.

 

Just as a point of reference, I changed the plugs and wires in my '97 Ranger at around 100k and noticed absolutely no difference in the performance of the vehicle.

With this in mind, if you intend on selling the truck in the next 20,000 miles or so, I'd be inclined to leave the factory plugs in there and just run them since you don't appear to be having any performance problems. However, if you plan on keeping the truck long term, then I'd go ahead and get them changed now so you get the most "bang for the buck" out of your repair cost.

 

^^ good advice.

My dealer has excellent results in getting them out. Talk to the service manager and find out what their pricing is and what, if any extra they charge for broken ones. If they know what they are doing, they seldom break one and if they do they should know how to get it out for a fairly low cost. A few dealers don't even charge extra for removing broknen plugs. My dealer charged $350 less a 10% coupon and that included the new plugs. I sent a guy to them that had 133,000 on his and they got them all out intact.

 

ok, ok, i guess that i will go and talk to the dealer today and see what they say... i am planing on keeping this truck till it stops moving or i roll it hopefully all goes well and that the dealership will work with me.... this dealership is a really good dealership so i will cross my fingers, and pray

 

If it turns out as mine did, you will wonder why you stressed so much, after it's over with.

Good luck!

 

I do not have this problem with my year and 4.6, but my Father did. He has an 05. We were standing in the dealer I bought my truck from and he asked the girl in @ the service desk. This was in January . . . ish that she said, Ford extended the warranty for this issue to 130,000 miles. Well he had 143,000ish miles at the time so we didn't ask any questions. Ask and see, you never know until you ask!

Goodluck!

Oh, and he borrowed the tool from a nearby shop (he is a salesman and they were his customer) and did his change in the driveway.

The local dealer told him that if they broke they would not use the extraction tool they would do a head job only (a total rip-off).

My advice, get ALL the facts before you turn it over to the dealer.

Philip

 

Dont worry about it. Just call around to different dealerships in the area and ask how successfull they are, and how much they charge to remove broken plugs. I took mine in at 110,000. They had 1 plug break and didnt charge me any extra to remove it.

On a side note, I noticed that you are from Ogden. We go skiing up there every year. Its a cool place!

 

I sweated it on my '04 5.4 for about a year and finally took the plunge at 70k miles.

A local independent shop did it in 2.9 hours, $370 for the whole job and no broken plugs ( http://esmoscow.com/ ).

 

ya it is a really nice place to come and visit, that is a long way to travel to come and ski, but i guess it is worth it... lol