Welp, I told y'all that I'd keep you posted, and here it is.

My local Ford dealer said they'd fix it under warranty (BIG sigh of reliefe.) Here are a few pictures that I snapped today. I should have my baby back on the road by next week!!! I can't wait, driving a 89 Caddy isn't my style. Anyways, if you're mechanically blonde like I am, and won't be able to tell by the pictures, this is what the tech said.

A piece of the electrode fell off and got caught under the valve. This happened twice. Where it first hit, you can't see, as the valve is covering it up, but the second place is obvious (where the big hole is)

 

More pictures.




My many thanks goes out to all who helped with advise, and also the tech who took care of me.

 

Are you getting a new motor? 2 new heads or just one?

 

Ouch... Were they stock plugs?

 

Yeah what did you have in the motor at the time this happened? What mods as well??

 

Hmmm... the electrode in the picture seems to be intact... what's that about?

I'd really like to know what mods you have and if the plugs were stock or not (if not... what were they?).

Glad to hear they're going to fix it though.

 

I know he had changed his plugs before he took it in trying to fix the problem, Hoping it was just a plug!!! But I am not sure if the stock plugs were in when the failure happened.....

 

I'll try to answer these in order.

-Mods were/are #4 pulley, and Chip
-stock plugs were in. Fate would have it that this happened RIGHT before I was going to change them. This happend on a Friday, and I was going to make a weekend project of changing the plugs out.

ICULOKN is right. I changed out the stock plugs (pictures are a few pages back), and put in some cheap replacements just to get me to the dealer. I don't recommend doing this, unless you have a cool service rep and tech like I did on your side. They first said no, and that it was my problem due to the plugs.

Also, i plan on getting the Denso's to be put in by the tech, since it's all apart right now.

BTW, yes I am Mystery2001.

 

Okay... one last question... how many miles on your "L"?

I've got 11K on the stock plugs... I got a feeling the chip helped accelerate the plug erosion... maybe not.

Anyways... I think I am due to change them with that many miles on em... heck... my 302 Mustang plugs only lasted about 4,000 miles before I had to replace them.

 

Miles on the truck is close to 20k. Miles on the truck with the mods is about 1k

But it had nothing to do with the mods at all. My chips wasn't making good contact, so I was running just the pulley. Hence the lean condition which caused the plugs to melt.

Too much air, not enough fuel. I was accidently running just the pulley for about a week, and didn't notice, b/c I didn't get on it too much. When I finally re-cleaned the contacts for the chip, and put it in right, I guess it was too much for the already damaged plugs.

 

What all are they replaceing? 1 or 2 heads??

 

In my 35 years of experience I've found no Quality Brand spark plug is significantly superior to another, & this was my belief before this week. After reading the posts about the #3 plug being loose I decided to check mine. As long as I was going to pull the plugs it would be foolish not to change them, even with only 5K on my 01L. Almost to prove my point I ordered a set of Denso Iridium's @ $90+, expecting a good plug, but no perceptible difference in performance. Well the plug change was very straight forward taking an hour and 20 minutes, 25 minutes of that on the 3rd plug back on the drivers side. The 7mm Coil bolt, in this hard to access location, was cross threaded from the factory & had to be backed all the way out with a rachet/extension/universal combo. After changing the old plugs, (which looked perfect BTW), I fired up the truck & immediately noticed the smoother idle. In fact @ any given RPM the L is smoother & more responsive. WOT seems about the same, but it was perfect before. The biggest changes are the way smoother idle quality, & the midrange 1/2 to 3/4 throttle response improvement. Label me a convert to the Denso plugs, in fact of all the $$$ I've spent on upgrades, this was the best value I believe. I have a Chip/Pulley/Filter combo & highly recommend these plugs to all of you. Good luck & thank you for your time.

 

sorry, just 1 head is being replaced.