This may be my second post but I want to thank all of you for the great information on this site. I bought a 2005 SCrew Lariat a month ago with 111,000 miles on it. I knew the owner had taken great care of the truck and reviewed the service records prior to the purchase. All the maintenance was performed except for one little detail. The plugs were not changed at 100K. I spent time lurking on this site to learn all I could about the job. Well, today I successfully changed all 8 plugs and boots. Took me about 3.5 hours.

You are outstanding and to be commended for sharing your knowledge without the expectation of payment. Wish I could buy a round for about a dozen of you who helped the most.

No real challenge in the job other than accessing the back two. I had one scare, though. I was taking out #3 and it suddenly began to turn VERY easily. I about puked on the motor. I stuck my finger on the plug and could wiggle it but could not get it out. My heart started pounding and I had to sit down. How could this be. I followed all your advice to a T. Come to find out after a careful retry that the plug socket had slipped off the plug but it didn't feel like that's what happened. Anyhow, with the disaster averted, I gained some new confidence and carried on. I did not order the AeroKroil on-line but I did find some Sea Foam Deep Creep that worked great. According to the can, it contains gasoline and is capable of dissolving carbon deposits. I let it soak for 5 to 10 minutes and held my breath as each plug creaked and groaned during removal.

The 111,000 mile plugs that came out were well worn. I was not having any issues (at least I didn't think so) but it sure idles smooth now.

Thank you to the member who recommended moving the PCM and mounting bracket out of the way for better access to #8.

Many thanks to all of you for this great site. Hope I can help someone new to the forum in the future.

DMAC

 

Yeap... this site is good stuff!

I have the 4.6, but always like to read up about how you 5.4 guys are going about taking care of the spark plug issue.

So many things I've had answered here, its great!

 

I think you hit the nail on the head. It's probably going to be a penetrant that makes or breaks these plugs in the end. Ford has to start looking at dissolving liquids and techniques that will get this carbon off from around the plug shield effectively. First I've heard of this type of Sea Foam.
I'm curious about something: Is it a myth that some penetrants can wick down the threads even if the plugs have never been broken loose. If not, I wonder if it's possible to apply a penetrant into the plug well, run the engine some and then attempt to break the plugs loose and go from there. It may not even be possible being there will be liquid in the well where the COP will connect, etc..

 

Congrads on a job well done! I'll be sure to hire you when it becomes time to change my plugs! I promise to double your pay from your first job!....

 

Well, considering the dealer wanted 20.60 per plug, about 8 bucks per boot, and a few hours of labor, the price would have been nearly $600. I did it for about $150. So, you would owe me about $900 by my calculations!!! LOL.

 

Tomclem,

I did perform this task of applying the penetrant slightly different from the instructions found here. I removed the COP, hit the area with compressed air to remove loose debris, and then applied a couple sprays of the Sea Foam. I let this set for about a minute and then loosened the plug about 1/4 turn. The Sea Foam quickly wicked down the threads. I waited the 5 to 10 minutes and then slowly backed out the plug. Once removed, the penetrant had wet the plug all the way to the ground strap. It was well soaked. Not one of the ground shields had broken loose as some others have demonstrated. Maybe it was an improved plug design from the 2004s. I don't think spraying and then running the motor would work as well. It may not be able to penetrate if the plug were not loosened a little and, if it did, it would probably burn off or evaporate rather than dissolve the carbon deposits.

Oh, and I bought the Deep Creep at Advance Auto Parts.

DMAC

 

Deep Creep is the aerasol version of SeaFoam.I have been using it for years with great results.Its good for cleaning the throttle body and EGR ports.IMO,its the best penetrant you can buy on the shelf out there!
www.seafoamsales.com

 

Good Work!!!!

 

Outstanding it's nice to hear a bout a success story when we always hear so many failures. The key is that you took to heart and used what you learned on the site when so many read and decide to try it their way. Congrats on a sucessful plug chang.

 

Good job. It's good to see the success stories with the 3valve 5.4 spark plug changes.