Does the LISLE plug removal tool brake the porcelain plug tip as the tool presses through the ground electrode?



I am looking at doing that dreaded plug change on my 2004 F150 3 Valve.

I can get my hands on the Rotunda tools 303-1398 to pull a broken porcelain and 303-1203 to pull a plug sleeve. Just a package of eight of the Rotunda tool pins used to pull a broken porcelain cost as much as the LISLE tool. Think a package of 8 pins is 303-1398/6 is $115.90 Looks like the Rotunda tool would be the best to prevent pocerlain from going into the cylinder but is possibly the most cumbersome process you could ask for.

Now the LISLE tool looks so simple and so low cost compared to the Retunda tool. My only concern is porcelain chips breaking into the cylinder when you press the porcelain through the ground electrode. Local part store has the LISLE tool for around $110.

Any comments? What say you?



You can see some LISLE plug removal tool images here
http://www.denlorstools.com/autoblog...ug-removal-too

LISLE tool description
http://www.lislecorp.com/divisions/p...s/?product=484

 

I don't think they press the porcelain through the strap, just down to it. You don't need much at the top for the tool to get a grasp. At least that is my understanding.

 

$110 is pretty steep for the Lisle. You can order them online for about half that.

 

Yea I just got mine for $60 brand new on ebay. The tool is not going to break the porcelain but thats not to say they porcelain wont break ay any spot when you break the plug loose.

 

I used the lisle tool, but it didn't work because it couldn't grab enough metal as the porcelain was just up too high. I had to take it to ford to get the job complete, and the tech working on my truck told me his trick is to put some epoxy on a piece of coat hanger wire, stick it down into the hole in the porcelain, and after 30 min set-up time, he pulls the porcelain right out. Then the lisle or retunda tool has lots of metal to grab.

I think I just got unlucky with where the porcelain snapped, so the lisle tool may have worked better for some. I just know that I was very pissed after buying everything I thought I needed, and still having to tow it into a ford dealership...

I hope your job goes better than mine. Use lots of pb blaster before you even try to loosen them, and after every bit of motion as they come out. I got 3 out no problem that way, until the 4th plug snapped on me.

 

No wonder you had breakage. PB blaster is useless since it's not the threads on the plug that sticks, it's the electrode sleeve that sticks. This is why Ford specifically says in the latest tsb to use Motorcraft Carb Cleaner for the soak.

 

it's possible that you didn't fully retract the pin before threading the Lisle tool in. I had the same issue with not grabbing enough of the sleeve and had to reset the tool and it worked fine

 

Thanks metcalf. That is similar to what the Rotunda tool 303-1398 does to pull a broken porcelain. It has special one time use pins hardened with a specific surface finish and loctite for the epoxy - $$$. Each pin is over $10.

Think I will plan to use a coat hanger and epoxy as you mention. I can create a gripping surface finish on the coat hanger with sand paper.

 

Thanks All for the feedback.
Not in my budget to spend $2,000 to change plugs. Hence, I want to plan to keep the expense down.

 

not in my case. once they got the broken tip out they saved it for me. there was about 2mm of metal for the tool to bite into. you could see the thread marks that it made, and where it slipped free.

re: the pb blaster... would another brand of carb cleaner work or does ford make an epic version that magically backs out plugs?!?!? :P
When I did my research everyone was having success with pb blaster. If I were doing the job again today, there is no way in hell I'd give ford anymore money by purchasing their carb cleaner.

 

Whatever you use, it must be capable of softening hard carbon deposits.

 

I got the Lisle tool at Amazon. I think it was about $70. I used gumout carb cleaner and that seemed to work well. We only had one break after letting them soak over night. I think on the one that broke we didn't break it loose far enough for the carb cleaner to get down to the sleeve. Some porcelain did break off when using the lisle tool but we were able to get it out with the small nozzle on my shop vac.

 

Good Luck, took mine to the dealer to have mine done, they only charge $300 for the change. They got 7 out, (were actually fairly good shape) drivers side rear broke, they worked on it for a day trying to get out to no avail. So now head is coming off! No charge for for the head removal and the broken plug and they put me in a rental car for free. Only bad thing is they put me in a POS Hyundai, feels like my *** is dragging on the ground.

 

I got mine from Denlor tools and have had great luck out of it.

 

Thats an awesome deal. sounds like they really take care of their customers.