Sparg plug blowout common on 5.4?
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From: Salt Lake City
Sparg plug blowout common on 5.4?
My sis has..oh i dunno the exact year but its like a 2000 or so Expy. Anyways 2 different cylinders this year have had the sparg plug blow out.
First one blew about 8 months ago.
She said it sounded like popcorn when she started it up then immediatly shut it off knowing it did it again. And after further inspection it did.
Anyways is there a recall or a different head design to prevent this or is it luck of the draw?
Is this common on certain ones? (i.e. 97+?)
First one blew about 8 months ago.
She said it sounded like popcorn when she started it up then immediatly shut it off knowing it did it again. And after further inspection it did.
Anyways is there a recall or a different head design to prevent this or is it luck of the draw?
Is this common on certain ones? (i.e. 97+?)
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From: Florida
well u have to look at a few factors...ie. brand of plugs, gapping, and installation. Are the plugs the correct for the make/model? Are they gapped correctly? and who installs these? are they too loose? maybe stripped?
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From: Rain Pit, Oregon
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From: Salt Lake City
Originally Posted by Dr. Franko
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From: Birmingham,Alabama
Originally Posted by swolehead1
well u have to look at a few factors...ie. brand of plugs, gapping, and installation. Are the plugs the correct for the make/model? Are they gapped correctly? and who installs these? are they too loose? maybe stripped?
brand of plug and grapping having nothing to do with them blowing out. The problem lies in the lack of threads in the head.
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this is the very reason that I went with the 4.6 in a used 2004. I was in the waiting room at Ford service (different vehicle) when the phone rang and the manager answered a question about poping out spark plug. After he hung up I asked about it thinking there has to be more to the story as this is too odd. He said about 1 of 10 engines will pop out at least 1 plug, usually cylinder if I recall. This is with the OEM plugs by the way.
I sure hope this was addressed in the 2004 redesign of the 5.4 !
anybody know for sure??
I sure hope this was addressed in the 2004 redesign of the 5.4 !
anybody know for sure??
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From: Piedmont, Oklahoma
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Originally Posted by lees99f150
the problem was fixed in 03 with an improved head design. the plug holes were made with more threads.
the 04 engine was redesigned again so no worries with the 04 and up.
the 04 engine was redesigned again so no worries with the 04 and up.
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From: The LBC (Long Beach, CA)
As a percentage of vehicles, those who have the problem is relatively small.
But when you have a small percentage of a billion vehicles, then the gross number of folks with the problem is somewhat large.
The 3-valve trucks don't have this problem.
But when you have a small percentage of a billion vehicles, then the gross number of folks with the problem is somewhat large.
The 3-valve trucks don't have this problem.
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From: Somewhere between San Diego and Phoenix
Originally Posted by usedtodrivechev
Oh man its plaged with it. How about the 3 vavle design? Anyone have problems with those? Is there an a new head design to stop this?
Kylakerider - it is NOWHERE near 1 in 10. It is more like 1 in 10000.
DoctorD - no, his is a 2 valve.
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From: Susquehanna Valley, pa.
Originally Posted by doctorD
I believe you but how did you find this out? If you have any literature, can you lead me that direction please?
here is a quote from a reliable source.
Originally Posted by superfords
allright folks, I just got off of the phone with ford. here are some facts, but still a little unclear info.
There IS indeed a revised cylinder head for the 5.4L engine.
It was described to me as having 80% more thread area than previous versions.
These heads began being produced on the 12th of November, 2002.
These heads SHOULD be standard equipment on 2003 trucks.
However, there is no guarantee, because just because your truck was built after November of '02, that doesn't mean that your cylinder heads were. Even your engine build date doesn't guarantee that your actual heads were cast after Nov. 12th.
Here is the unclear part that conflicts with the first info presented in this thread.
They say that they don't think that when an earlier model truck that enters a dealership for repairs it will receive these updated heads. They say that even if an '03 truck were to have a problem, there is no guarantee that it would receive these heads in a repair situation.
The reason for this is that all new production heads are specified for new model production. meaning that all of the heads that they can produce are going onto new trucks before they will stock shelves for repair jobs, in addition to that they say that the existing inventory of old heads would have to be used up first.
This doesn't explain how Buzz Light Year over on NLOC saw these heads in his shop though? but apparently, his info is at least mostly correct. THERE IS A NEW HEAD with extra threads! Unfortunately, you MAY NOT be able to get them if you need them
Believe me, my truck will be coming into the shop at lunch to pull a spark plug and see what's going on in there.
I'm a little afraid to look and be dissappointed.
later,
chris
P.S. Ford says that they are not even sure that the spark plug launching problem is due to the heads only having 4 threads.
They also say that tightning and loosening the plugs and tightening them again (recommended about 3 times doing this) will help properly seat the plugs and reduce the chances of a blown plug.
There IS indeed a revised cylinder head for the 5.4L engine.
It was described to me as having 80% more thread area than previous versions.
These heads began being produced on the 12th of November, 2002.
These heads SHOULD be standard equipment on 2003 trucks.
However, there is no guarantee, because just because your truck was built after November of '02, that doesn't mean that your cylinder heads were. Even your engine build date doesn't guarantee that your actual heads were cast after Nov. 12th.
Here is the unclear part that conflicts with the first info presented in this thread.
They say that they don't think that when an earlier model truck that enters a dealership for repairs it will receive these updated heads. They say that even if an '03 truck were to have a problem, there is no guarantee that it would receive these heads in a repair situation.
The reason for this is that all new production heads are specified for new model production. meaning that all of the heads that they can produce are going onto new trucks before they will stock shelves for repair jobs, in addition to that they say that the existing inventory of old heads would have to be used up first.
This doesn't explain how Buzz Light Year over on NLOC saw these heads in his shop though? but apparently, his info is at least mostly correct. THERE IS A NEW HEAD with extra threads! Unfortunately, you MAY NOT be able to get them if you need them
Believe me, my truck will be coming into the shop at lunch to pull a spark plug and see what's going on in there.
I'm a little afraid to look and be dissappointed.
later,
chris
P.S. Ford says that they are not even sure that the spark plug launching problem is due to the heads only having 4 threads.
They also say that tightning and loosening the plugs and tightening them again (recommended about 3 times doing this) will help properly seat the plugs and reduce the chances of a blown plug.
