thanks for that part #$!

yea Kevin, if I floor the truck, the miss goes away, it's just on take-off and low-rpm under load, like when the truck shifts into OD, thats when it's the worst. thanks for the offer, but like you said I think it's best to replace all of the COP's and the plugs while I'm at it. I know the COP's are original, I have no idea if the plugs are or not, so I guess it's time to replace everything.

 

Yea, this sounds like a typical COP problem..

 

Hey don before you order the ones from ebay cheack these out that jbrew found
http://www.rpmoutlet.com/musv8wgf.htm
Yours is doing the same as mine was with the exception of missing when it went into od.
How many miles on your truck?When you change them use no anti sieze on the plugs threads....i had three loosen on me when i used the crap on mine but caught it in time before it blew a plug.Also use plenty of dielectric grease on the new COP's and a length of rubber hose works great on starting the new plugs.You may find it easier to take the 4 bolts out for the fuel rail and raise it....it's a PITA with the rail still on but can be done.The back plugs are real fun
If ya need any help or anything let me know

 

it's the worst when it's shift into OD b/c the RPM's are low and there is a heavy load on the engine as it tries to accelerate. my truck has 116,000 miles on it now. so your saying NOT to use anti-seize on the threads???!?!

how did you know you had 3 plugs lossen on you? did you go back and check them after a certain # of miles or is there another warning sign that one is about to blow? and I think the correct torque is 12-16 ft/lbs for the plugs??

as far as the back plugs, I'm thinking the body lift might help me out a lot, there is a lot more room in the engne compartment, well the engine does sit lower when I open the hood, but the firewall is 3" away from the back of the heads now, so it should give me some more room to get back there.

 

I myself would NOT use anti sieze!!!
My truck from the factory had no antisieze.I found out that they were loose b/c i put bosch plugs in and my truck ran like chit with them.So after 15,000 miles i put motorcrafts back in and found 3 of them loose and believe me i torque them But you are right on the 12-16 ft/lbs.A few other members have also had theirs loosen when using anti-sieze
So i installed the next set dry with no antisieze.I recently changed COP's and while i was there i cheacked the plugs and all of them were still snug.
The way i see it i would rather have a plug come out a little hard than blow out.I also changed the originals at 45,000miles and they came out fine and they were dry from factory.

The body lift may help slightly for the extensions but the real prob is that fuel rail is riight in the way.Don't worry about it...if you did your BL you can do the plugs easily.I have changed mine like 4 times now and it only has 85,000 miles

 

The first time you have threads come out of the head with your plug you'll wish you would have used anti-seize....Anti-seize dosent cause the plugs to come loose it just prevents corrosion causing the plug to freeze in the head

 

Like i said i changed my original plugs at 45,000 miles and it was 6 years old.I had no problems screwing up the threads!!The OE plugs were installed dry on my truck.
The plugs siezing is not a problem in the 97-03 motors,it's the 04+.
I know i torqed my last plugs and 3 of them were loose so i will not use the chit again.

 

Do actually think the plugs will freeze in the heads we are speaking of ?

Do you actually think that so many would report them lossening up on them when anti-sieze was applied are full of ****?

I use anti-sieze in allot of other applications - BUT not where it could do your motor harm. I beleive what I hear thru here when the same thing is reported in repitition by so many others. It would be foolish not to.

These heads 97-2003 have only 4 threads at the bottom of the chambers. The plugs have a hard enough time staying in there, why make it easier for them to work there way out? IMO and many others - They don't need any help in that department...

 

now I'm confused...

 

I am sure there will be a disagreement over the use of anti-sieze or not!!
There is a known prob with the 5.4 plugs loosening and possibly blowing out of the heads.It doesn't happen much IMO for the amount of trucks on the road.I still don't know what the other guy is talking about with the threads stripping from not using anti-sieze??
I myself will not use it on my plugs ever again after they loosened with using it!!I like it elsewhere but not on my plugs.
Do as you like but just make sure they are torqued right!!!!!

 

Hey Kev , the last two people with blowouts that posted here had 4six's

dondiesel No worries , # 3 and 4 began to loosen when using anti-sieze, that was after 10,000 miles. I checked them without using the stuff and there holding so far 2000 miles later. I really won't know myself until further down the road, so far there still tight..Torque wrench clicked @ 16' lbs.

From what I've read - Don't use it in the 97 - 03 engines, but use it in 2004 plus engines beacuse of the additional threads.

 

Missfire detection:
Like many programs, the software written and hardware may not catch every possible combination to detect a missfire.
Ford's missfire detection mainly depends on cylinder rotation time compared to a program table, for limits.
This missfire detection has to occurr enough times to accumulate hits in a record area for each cylinder before logic will set a code and trigger the lamp.
If you feel the missfire and is intermittant enough, the total may not be enough to trigger a code, and keeps resetting the tables, otherwise you would be chasing codes and lamps all the time.
Another fault that will cause certain types of faults but may not set a code/lamp is the COP can have a fault involving shorted turns in it's winding, that won't cause a dead coil but cuts it's reserve voltage to the point it can't fire it's plug reliably during lean mixture conditions when the plug is the most difficult to fire. A stress test or sub of the coil is the only way to tell this.
Since this condition is throttle dependent, the miss table is being reset constantly so no code is set, as the threshold is not excceded for reporting a code.
Marginal faults are a bitch sometimes.

 

FWIW, I had a mis-fire and stumble on my V6 for about two months. Felt like it was running on five cylinders all the time. Low, stumbling idle. Never stalled, but felt like it was going to stall at every light. Damn annoying. No power, either.

Plugs and wires (both Bosch) had 20,000 miles on them, no loose plug wires, so I figured they were OK. Checked for vacuum leaks. Cleaned the MAF wire and the air filter. Replaced the fuel filter. Nothing made any difference.

No SES light. Scanned the codes and ran through the full menu on the scanner. Nothing showed up at all. I was getting pretty annoyed that it could run that bad and not throw any kind of code or scannable event.

Last week, it got worse after a long drive and finally lit the SES light next time I went to start the truck. Went to Auto Zone and scanned codes again. This time, if showed a misfire on #6.

Bought a new Motocraft plug and cleared the codes, and it purrs like a kitten now.

Man, one bad spark plug (Bosch platinum) was a real PITA to track down. I had ruled that out because the plugs were relatively new. Guess I just got a bad one (or Bosch plugs are crap - not sure which yet).

 

Great Explanation Bluegrass

Only problem is , what do you do ? Fork it out for a stress test so they can find one or two with bad windings and get those replaced ?

Or just buy a set yourself and replace them all ?

If you can do it yourself that's simple, about a hundred bucks and your done with it.

If not , how much would a stress test run ? about an hours labor ? Have the dealership replace the two bad ones. Prolly looking at $400 anyway..

I guess it would depend on one's situation. If I was working seven twelves , I would make more money haveing the dealership do it

 

Been there done that ,except I had COP probs. Yea , that sucks BIGTIME!! I pulled my hair out for a good month way back when - I tested everything ... It's just like Blue said , they get that little short in the windings and fail only under excelleration (load) - not enough to trigger a freakin code .. That can go on for along time, TO LONG..

Bosch ? I tried them in my 98 , they got it to fire once , but that was it... Theres another guy who comes around (Mitch) , he put 100,00 miles on a set of Bosch Plugs with a 97 5.4L ??