I have had the spark plug explosion 3 times now and only once it has had to be replaced with a heli coil. The other 2 times i simply screwed the spark plug back down into its threads and the truck ran fine. Is there a possibility that these plugs can just work themselves out of the threads because of the lack of threads ( or me not using a torque wrench) I noticed a ticking sound and a humming coming from under the hood on all of these occasions are these warning signs of spark plug lift off? Like i said i have repaired this problem twice now by simply screwing the spark plug back it. Is this common?

 

Screw it back in to 28 foot pounds (get a torque wrench) and see what happens. Helicoils are not the best for this task though.

 

The noise you hear is compression getting past the plug as it backs out. That is your warning to tighten the plug.

Apparently you are not getting them torqued enough. Do not use anything on the threads and as stated above, 28 lbs with a torque wrench.

Timesert is more permanent than helicoil.

 

Turns out the threads are stripped, it popped back out today. Is there a procedure that i can do at home without buying a few hundred dollars in tools. Like a bore scope and all that crap? My local shop wants $250 to repair it and im feeling its worth it. Is a timesert more expensive? what about aftermarket heads? is there a cheap pair that i could eliminate this problem with?

 

^ i dont think you will find heads for cheaper than $250...

 

Im just really sick of doing this. This is the 3rd time. What if i bought the timesert kit and replaced all of the spark plug threads with these magical timeserts. Think anyone would wana buy a pair of anti-sparkplug ejection heads?

 

If you used timeserts the first time you wouldn't need to do it again. They are permanent unlike helicoils which can come out with the plug.

 

How difficult is it to install a timesert? Ive watched the video online and it looks like its basic wrench turning, just in a sequence. What about the centering of the bit? is it auto centering?

 

It is easy if you follow the instructions. Look for Galaxy on here. He rents his tool so you do not have to buy a whole set.

 

So i let my local shop do it I dont have the time to do it myself nor do i want to take on the risk of leaving metal shavings down in my cylinder. They are the only people around here that do the timesert and the guy that does it claims to have "designed the tool" I inspected the kit and it is an actual timesert kit. I think he may just be lieing out of his teeth to me. But i dont really care if hes the pope, as long if he fixes my truck.

 

Dang, his are popping out and I can't get mine out! What's up with that? Hope you local mechanic / designer got it fixed!

 

The spark plug blowout is a function of poor engineering and not lack of torque.
If you were to look at the head, you would find there are only 4-5 threads holding the plug in, as opposed to 8-10 threads in other designs.

Between 1998 and approx 2005, thousands of Ford V8's have experienced this blowout problem (including mine) and Ford blames it on poor owner maintenance and a variety of other issues rather than the engineering of the head that even their own dealership shops acknowledge as being the cause.

True heli-coils do not work to repair as due to several factors, the insert becomes the surface that the spark plug seats on and that is simply not adequate. Additionally, the difference in metals of a helicoil and the aluminum head means the expansion rates differ and as a result, the insert will blow out as well.

Timeserts and several other sleeves do seem to work pretty well, but one needs to be VERY aware of the dangers of metal shavings falling into the valve and cylinder areas when installation is done. Unless one is very familiar and experienced, this is not a recommended do-it-yourself job!

If you're experiencing this issue... welcome to the club! Thousands of others have too...

 

Lack of torque is definitely part of it though as Ford originally stated 13 - 18 pounds which is too loose. They now recommend 28 pounds.
Welcome to the forum Dittoz.

 

proper torqing of the plugs should cure this, I'm running 15# of boost on 4 threads and I haven't had a plug pop out yet...

 

www.blownoutsparkplug.com

Not cheap, but a bulletproof repair.