Hello, I have a 2001 FOrd Lightning and well, the #1 and #8 spark plug holes are stripped out and someone had put inserts iun them previous to me buying the truck. Both heads need replaced and it's gonna cost over 5 g's. I'm having to pay for the repairs myself because my extended warranty has declined their services since it was a pre-existing problem/comcern, and the FORD dealer I bought it from 3 months ago wont help. Sucks to be me I guess, Guess I bought a lemon. Anyhow this is apparently a common problem with the modular motor, even the V10's have the problem according to a nearby machine shop. Anyone else had this problem or a similar one? Ford really doesn't want to admit any fault as far as a design flaw goes. I've talked to Ford as well. Any feedback is appreciated, thanks!! Brandon K.

 

I might be tempted to call a lawyer. The extended warranty company took the warranty as is. They then say...we won't warranty it because we didn't know it had a problem.

It sounds wrong somehow. I might get a little pushy if I here you.

Good Luck with it.

 

Why do the heads need replacing? Why do new heads cost $5k? Unless the dealer you bought it from had prior knowledge of a pre-existing problem that have no obligation to fix. Used vehicles are sold as is.

 

Thats why we buy extended warranties on used vehicles... so we don't have to worry about other peoples improper fixes.

I don't think the heads need replacing... a proper insert will hold. It spounds like the original inset was never installed correctly.

 

Here's my delemma... I've only had the truck for 3 months, the dealership can not pass-on a pre-existing problem to a consumer, that's definitely fightable in court, as-is or not. Extended warranty companys have NUMEROUS clauses in their contracts and "pre-existing" or improperly repaired items are one of the top in the list of NON-COVERED items so no help assisted from them. As far as the cost, it is $5k plus to replace both heads through the Ford dealer. In my current situation I have FORD and the dealership offering me a pretty good deal due to the circumstances of right around 1,000$ out of my pocket. I'm going to have to take the deal and borrow the money to do it since I just spent over 30grand after finance fees, etc to own this truck and I'm BROKE. So what I was asking is pretty simple...SINCE this is a common problem, and FORD only put 4 threads in the spark-plug hole on an aluminum head, how come when I talk to Ford's customer service department I get no help?? Sorry, but I've worked 11 years as a mechanic and/or a service Manager at Ford, Chrysler, and GM. I've never seen a motor company not "exrtend coverage" or offer some sort of support, and according to the machine shops and the consumers in my area the consumer has spent TONS of oney fixing this problem on their own without Ford's assistance.

 

If they admit there is a problem they have to fix it. They play dumb so you will fix it. Very smart on Ford's part. If the plug holes are the only problem why not buy a Heli-Coil kit and do it yourself? Very easy to do. If done properly they will out last the rest of the truck.

 

Repair the heads yourself. I just had to do that to my turbo'd 4.2 after I blew a plug out. Took me 5 hours, and used a $36 repair kit. Done.

 

The reason I don't try and fix it myself is that someone already tried and ruined the head in the process, both heads actually, #1 and #8 are on different banks. You pretty much get one shot at installing inserts, and that's it, not something I want to risk anyways, not too keen on metal shavings in my engine. Also, FORD recommends to replace the cylinder head(s) if the threads fail, and I talked to my extended warranty company and they will NOT ever fix the problem if for some reason the plugs ever came out again due to the inserts not holding. That's the problem I have, the heli-coil inserts that the previous owner installed come out WITH the sparkplug.

 

You mean like this


Not unusal at all,
Happens to many
No Biggy
Simply get a new insert and screw it on the plug, and put it back in

Use some stuff made my Loc-Tite (but not loc-tite)
It's Sleeve Retainer, the stuff used to hold a Cylinder Sleeve in (it's green)
And you MUST use never-seize on each plug when you have inserts
And you must put the insert back in and let it dry for a good day before starting

"IF" the insert threads in the head are trash, then your right and someone f-d up big time and your screwed
but as you can see there are a good 9 or 10 threads on the insert, and if it just happened to un-screwed with the plug during a routine plug change, it's
really no biggy at all, I know many it's happen to.

BTW
DONT ASK ME HOW I FOUND THIS OUT ($%@($%@((%$

 

That is not a Heli-Coil insert. That is why you should not use a solid insert for this repair. I have personally done testing with the Heli-Coil brand inserts and not had a single failure. I have repeatedly inserted a plug, torqued it until the plug broke off. Then unscrewed the broken portion and repeated the test in the same hole. A wire insert will fix the problem for good. I am a little biased toward the Heli-Coil brand since I have been working for them for the last 16 years.

Regarding your head repair. Does not make sense to me to replace your heads with "new" heads that will fail again. Way better off picking up a set of junk yard heads and properly installing inserts from the start. But hey it's your money.

 

I know that JLP puts some brass inserts in all of his heads. You might want to call them and see what they use.

 

SB
Sorry for the confusing, "I KNOW" that mine aren't Heli-Coils
I just assumed that Heli Coils could be put back in too ???
CAN THEY ???

"OR"
like 90% of the world, people use a Company Brand Name to explain an item not made by that Company, or called that at all.
(meaning he has reg inserts but called them Heli-Coils)

Example: almost everyone in the world calls a Whirlpool a Jucuzzi,
but 99.9% of the time, it's just a Whirpool made by 1 of the hudreds of Companys making them..... (BTW, Even Jucuzzi calls it a Whirlpool)
Why everyone decided to call them Jucuzzi's is one of the Wonders of the World

The more I read up on the Heli-Coils, the more I think I should have asked for them, BY BRAND NAME $#*@$*@%$*@$%*@&$%@*&$

http://www.attt67.dsl.pipex.com/tech...l_helicoil.htm

 

ok, looks like I stirred up some stuff with this thresad insert stuff.. OK, here's my plan. No one knows whether FORD has redesigned the heads to allow for more secure threads for the spark-plug, BUT I'm going to find out. I'm having the Ford dealer replace the heads, but first I'm going to look at the heads BEFORE they put them on. If the spark plug threads do not look good enough I'm going to have a machine shop put the proper inserts in for about 320 bucks at MY OWN cost. I may also have the heads ported and/or gasket matched. I then will sign a waiver so that Ford will not have to warranty the head for the work I have had done, that will go on the shop(s) I take it to. Kindof complicates things but it gives me the added satisfaction that the heads will be better than factory..aka JUNK. I have the Bureau of Automotive repeir in on this and they think it's a good idea the I have this done anyway so that we wont have this problem again. I think my extended warranty company will like this, too. BK

 

You are correct. Commonly used as a generic trade name. When an application is critical most manufacturer's specify the Heli-Coil brand name. There really is a difference. Boeing, Ford, GM, Daimler, Porsche, Ferrari, Lambo, GE, not to mention every car in F1, NASCAR, IRL, Champ car, all have our inserts. The large Boeing planes have over 300,000 inserts per plane. Heli-Coil brand is also the only universally approved insert for aerospace and military applications.

 

..
...ONE of them is just like that, and it already backed out, and they didn't put anti-sieze on the plug so it's STUCK on there. The other insert is more like a pipe-fitting in size and threads..(much larger than the one in the picture), and the same scenario on that one..backed out, and plug is stuck. I just assume have Ford dealer fix it right and replace the heads witrh either revised heads or I will pay to have the proper inserts put in on the new heads before they go on the truck (see my reply about what I decided to do to solve all of this)