glad you had good luck! sounds as if you have a great dealership that is fair and appreciates their customers.

i don't mind paying the 350.00 or 400. if i bought the tool $100, plugs just say $75 plus can of carb cleaner what $5 thats $180 for a do it yourselfer. their charging 170 for labor and time little high but fair going rate. now them asking 70-90 dollars a piece if they break one is where the problem lies.

 

Good luck getting them changed. I suggest you print out the TSB and take it to a local mechanic. The cost should be much less.

 

I agree with that. First, it takes about a half hour to remove a broken one, so it should be no more than $40 or $50. As the victim, I would like to argue that it is their fault it broke, so they should fix it. On the otherhand, that tech doing the job, getting paid for the hours he charges, probably does not feel he should suffer because the engineers designed a poor product. Also, it could be argued that the reason it has so much carbon on it and broke is because the customer ran cheap fuel without a good detergent. So, I can see both sides.

I do recall that Chevy had a poorly designed emergency brake that cost people about $400 to $500 for a repair. If you did not constantly use it, it would freeze and destroy itself. This was on the disk brakes for the trucks in 2002 through 2004. Their remedy in 2005 was to go back to drum brakes.

 

So is there any advantage to changing these early? My truck has about 46K, should I start to get worried? About what mileage is everyone changing the plugs at?

 

It is my understanding that Ford is now recommending 60,000 but I have only seen that here on the forum. I got nervous and changed mine at 65,500 with no problem. I plan on going to 90,000 with this second set.

 

I would but I guess from what I hear it's still luck. Wish I had changed mine as soon as I found out about this problem but figured heck probley trade it so why bother. Now I realize I still love the truck and want to keep it I've at 78,000.

 

Good day to you sir!

Well, I don't suspect this is real common, but, I took mine out @ ~1,000 miles.

I believe that the longer one waits the more difficult it becomes -all else being equal.

Yes some folks leave them in past 100k, and some see little wear on the electrode after successful extraction @ high mileage - but every truck is a littel different. The gap on more than a few were seen to be out of spec, hence running issues can ensue from this.

The good news is, the methods have matured to the point that it is not the heart-stopping event it once was.

Go ahead & do it now.

Good luck.


MGD v4.1

 

I got an uncle that works for a dealership, and my truck is at 73k, he told me I might as well wait till 100k before screwing with it, it's his opinion that it doesn't matter how much mileage there is on these plugs. Although I doubt he's changed any that were low mileage.

 

Change it now

 

Is anyone interested in doing more than complaining about the cost of doing simple spark plug changes?

 

Hey, did you know that every dealer knew about Ford's #1 selling truck problems? Ford Engineers design the engines and the requirements for every part. I said, every part.

Do you realize that every stuck and broken plug is the result of the plug being two part? So, now Ford knows? In 2006, when some high milers were having problems, Ford may have just decided to wait until most folks put more mileage on the truck than the warranty allowed.

My dealer's recommendation was to let the truck get high mileage on it. Well, the plug people tell me that if you change it early, fewer get stuck. Oh, well, tell me what is wrong here?

Does anyone know how to get a class action going for this?

 

Where Ford is truely screwed up, is by not having someone build a one piece plug and have their dealers install that one when the big change is done.

I waited until the 1 piece champions were out but I had 140,000 miles by that time and they were in BAD shape. 6/8 broke.

I taked to guys last week where the dealer had to pull heads cost over $2K and they put BS 2 piece units back in... Shame on you FORD.

I keep waiting for the NGKs... but STILL waiting. They said 6 months 2 years ago now... NGK recommends we use Champions... Imagine that!

 

Of course I know they are 2 part. Of course I know that it is carbon build up that causes them to stick. I am satisfied, i went to a dealer that knew what they were doing. mine came out at 65,500 with no problems. They would have put Champion one piecers in had I wanted them to, but I preferred the MC with the shank coated with nickel antizieze.

 

Just had mine changed at 49,000 due to a terrible misfire. The dealership got all 8 out without breaking. Had any of them broke it would have cost $40/plug. My service advisor told me that it varies from truck to truck but since mine was relatively low mileage they would probably come out ok but he wasn't making any promises. My advice is take it to a dealer that knows what they are doing. As others have said, the problem is well known and documented so problems with plugs breaking should not be as prevalent but anything can happen.

 

I get so tired of hearing this argument. First of of you cannot compare truck A with 75k miles to truck B with 75K miles. There are so many variables that causes diffenrent wear and tear on a truck. Just because Jonny changed his at 120k with no problems dosn't mean Suzy is going to have no problems at 60K miles.

And Recalls are only issued when safety is a factor. Toyota issued a recall because pedals are sticking. Big difference between that and plugs.

Look, the big picture here is that this problem is not as big a we think it is. Ford has already corrected the problem in a redesigned head. $300-$600 for repairs on a vehilce that has 70K-100K miles on is not that bad. Even if it seems like its trivial like plugs.

Fact of the matter is, very little is trivial on vehicles anymore, and they are more complex. Automakers are forced to design more effecient engines because people bitch about melting ice caps and polar bears dieing. Vehicles get more miles, have more HP, and have better fuel efficiancy then ever. AND believe it or not cost less to maintain.