I talked with the service manager today about my truck ( I blew a plug). He said it has happened before to others but not the #2 cylinder. I did a search and found others who had blown plugs. I thought it may be a good idea to try and see how many have blown plugs on their Lightnings or other 5.4L Fords. I know there have to be more than this...



NAME .................................................. Cylinder

spirro99 .................................................. .......5

nikslightning .................................................. .2

Olesparky .................................................. ....3

Andy U .................................................. ........4

Majestik .................................................. .......2

pmckelvy .................................................. ......2

docuprose .................................................. ....3

Treat J .................................................. .........?

Birdie072 .................................................. ......3

edesroches .................................................. ...8

easterisland .................................................. ..2

MXRacer........................................... ................?

 

Easterisland,

I believe mine was #2 also.

Believe it or not, I am starting to hear what sounds like an exhaust leak again on the driver side this time! It's not as noticeable this time but has definitely got me worried. I can only hear it when I get in the throttle pretty good. The sad part is that my mechanic told me that he changed all of the plugs when I got my new head!


Nick

 

'99L. 46,200 miles. Just blew out the second plug from the front on the passenger side cylinder head. Truck's at Serramonte Ford in Colma, CA. Waiting for the prognosis.

 

Not sure how Fords are numbered, but it was the 3rd cyl back on passenger side (#3?). @ 31,000 miles.
Blew out, the [idiot] dealer simply put a new plug in and replaced the coil pack. Two weeks later it blew again, taking the last bit of remaining thread. Head replaced. Now it runs like crap. Waiting for my Wrangler to arrive so I have another vehicle to drive while I take it in again to fix whatever they screwed up plus fix all the other damage they did the first two times.

 

I blew one out on the Drivers side. 2nd back from the front. Not sure of the number. Had to replace head. They said it was bad treads in the head that caused it. Mine only had 15,000 miles. Heard an exhust leak for about a week and could not find it. Finaly I heard a loud pop on out came the plug, coil pack and all. Got lucky it did not take out the fuel rail

 

For those that had a head replaced......... Did it run the same after you got it back from the shop? Anything screwed up,scratched up, etc.?
The reason Im asking is my passanger side head is dumping oil between the head and block. They are in the process of installing a new head now and I was wondering what I have to look foreward to! I just hope it still runs as good as it does now and they dont !@#$ something else up! All this and I only have 5600 miles on her! It still blows a large blue cloud of smoke at startup and uses about a quart every 1500 miles. Maybe this head change will fix all this BS!

 

The sound of an exhaust leak is a warning that a sparkplug might be ready for launch. That makes a lot of sense. You can bet I'll be tuned in to that sound from now on.

I had no warning. Just motoring away from a traffic light and BANG! POPPETY-POPPETY-POPPETY. The top rim of the coil pack has two fuel rail impressions in it--it must have an excellent headache. The plug was found atop the head next to the hole it had just vacated.

Regapped the plug when I got home (two miles of excrutiatingly-loud driving). Tried to re-install and found no threads in the head. Oh, well.

 

(Sorry, I couldn't help myself.)

Has anyone had a second sparkplug depart suddenly?

Does the explosive loss of a spark plug from one cylinder head call into question the quality of both heads? Should I worry about losing a plug from the other head as well?

 

I lost a plug out of #7 cyl (3rd. plug back on pass side). it made no noise prior to leaving, that I, heard. They did a great job trucks runs great . Also you could not tell it was worked on! Also had the leaking head gasget same side. Artie PS: down side they had my truck for almost 3weeks!!!

 

At a little over 22500 miles on the 2000 L, # 3 plug took flight.



Standing in front of truck, looking toward the firewall:

Left Bank cylinders: 1,2, 3 ,4
Right Bank cylinders: 5,6,7,8

 

I lost # 6

 

Serramonte has ordered a replacement head. Due in Thursday. I'll post the results after I've had a chance to drive my baby 'round the block a few times.

 

Serramonte replaced the cylinder head, coil pack, and spark plug. While they had all the supercharger gubbins off, they did the intercooler replacement.

Repairs finished late Friday, picked the truck up Saturday morning. Hopped-on the fearway and drove 400 miles to LA. The PCM had no chance to re-learn its fuel trim and idle program until I got to puttering aound in LA.

SES light came on Sunday morning in LA. Truck was running just fine, even so. When I got back up north, took it back to Serramonte. The tech pulled the codes and replaced a cracked vacuum line to the EGR valve (probably damaged during the repairs). Everything is fine. Truck pulls real strong. The saga is over, I hope.

Going to Sears Point next month to see what I can get in a quarter mile.

 

What mods did you guys have on the trucks at the time it happened? Also, had your plugs ever been changed or checked?

I have had a small, but noticeable to me, ticking at half throttle on the drivers side since day one. I haven't mentioned it to the dealer cuz the truck runs fine and I thought it might be 'normal'. Now you have me worried. I almost have 3,100miles now.


Johnie

 

lxtac,
The 2000 Lightning had 22536 miles when the #3 plug launched. I good indicator of a loose plug is the slight exhaust leak sound many have mentioned...But now I know from this experience that when you get an intermittant engine miss or skip, you need to check the torque immediately...cuz one of them boyz is fixin to fly out One week before this happened to my truck, I pulled the "Flip Chip" and had a non SVT dealer drive the truck and hook up to the diagnostic system and they acknowledged the miss-fire, but could not find any codes behind the engine miss-fire.

I'm not sure , but if a good tight fit is required to close the electrical circuit between the plug and individual coil pack, then a loose spark plug might explain the miss-firing condition.