The truck is a 2000 F-150 4.6L 2WD. It's been quite cold here recently and my truck just wasn't heating up enough so I decided to change out the thermostat. Had a hell of a time getting the old one out (once I got it out, I saw why it was stuck and why I had no heat). Apparently, the last time the therm. tried to close it closed unevenly and got stuck open and wedged itself in there. New therm. in and the truck heats up perfectly and the heater blows out nice, hot air once again. Problem now is that I had a decent amount of coolant spill out onto the top of the engine (at the time, I didn't think it was very much, but I guess it was enough). Evidently, it made its way back to the #8 cylinder and now it misfires on that cylinder with a 0308 code. I took out the COP and shined a light down there and, sure enough, there's coolant sitting at the bottom of the plug well. Doesn't look corroded, just dirty and wet. I don't have an air compressor so I bought a can of air duster, but I just can't get it down into the well far enough to blow the coolant out. Not only that, but without a garage the can gets cold fast in this winter air and looses pressure. I ended up getting a decent amount of the coolent out by twising paper towels up nice and tight and sliding it down into the well, but after doing that about 10 times, there is still a bit of moisture down there. The truck runs slightly better after all that, but still has a little shudder. My question is what can I do to get the moisture out? I swapped the #8 COP with the COP from the #1 cylinder, just to make sure it wasn't damaged, and it seems to be fine. Thanks in advance!

 

Shop vac with a reducer or dealership, - ask to use their air-hose with a blower attachment.

You could shove a bunch of paper towel in the chamber or a rag to dry it up. Use needle nose pliers to extract.

Yea that canned air can become canned moisture and make things worse, you may have found that out already.

 

I thought about a shop-vac. I don't have one, but I could probably borrow one from work. Oh, and I know exactly what you mean about "canned moisture." If you don't hold that can at a certain angle, it will spew out a wonderful white mist all over everything. Not only that, but that liquid is flammable, so if something sparks (say, like a shorted COP... ugh) then a fire is a high possibility. I also read that taking a spray handle with straw from a bottle and sticking it down the well would work. I may try that. I'm driving the truck to work tonight to see if anything has improved. Hopefully nothing happens, but work is only 7 minutes away. Thanks for the reply!

 

No problem, keep in mind, when these coils begin to play games on yuh, it can be never ending until their replaced. Allot of guys on this site go here for a new set when that time comes -

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-I...Q5fAccessories

 

Yeah, I was looking at those, too. I've seen that a lot of Ford guys recommend them, especially for the price (v.s. $90+ for one Motorcraft). I'm almost positive that the coils are fine, it's just the moisture down in the well that's causing the mischief, but when the weather warms up and I get my tax return I'm planning on doing a lot to the truck, including a whole new set of coils. The truck's pushing 122,000 miles with original coils, so it's probably about time. Then again, if I get this cleared up, I may just buy the new coils and keep them for spare, just in case. We'll see. Thanks again!