So the guys that swear by the 26 or 28ft/lb for spark plug torque, let me be the first to say this is not always true. 10 months ago I had my 2nd spark plug blow out, so I replaced both heads. As I went back together I checked my plugs 2x to make sure they were properly torqued. Well, on Monday, #2 on the drivers side shot out of the head, with only 15k on the new heads. I had NO WARNING SIGNS this time. I made a right hand turn, hit the throttle and POP!!!! The truck is a 99 5.4, when I put the new heads on, they were rebuilt from NAPA. I wanted to get 03 heads, but I was told 97-99 blocks were different than the 00 -03 blocks. Bye, bye to this truck, hello to a 01 - 04 Navigator. We're hoping to pick up one this weekend.

Moral of story, don't trust your plugs. I'm wondering now, the older our 97-02 (4 thread heads) trucks get, do the threads themselves weaken to the point the torque won't avoid the plug from launching. I used no anti-seize, I cleaned my threads, and installed the plugs to either 26 or 28ft/lbs 10 months ago and I'm back in the same boat! I'm a bit frustrated, but I'm rectifying that this weekend!!

P.s. I have temporarily fixed it, there must have been 1 thread left in the head, so the plug is now JB Welded in the head till I trade it in. I have 65 miles on the repair, I'm hoping to get rid of it before that plugs launches again. I hate to be that way, but I've already invested $1700 into this issue, and I'll be damned if I pay it again. Its a shame because the truck only has 130k and is in perfect shape otherwise.

 

You got rebuilt heads that may have had plugs come loose in the past.
The correct simple fix for the problem is Timesert. If I went to the trouble of replacing the heads I'd Timesert every hole..
Sorry about your problems..

 

I had to get head removed worked on and repaired reinstalled basically rebuilding the top of engine., 6 mons ago now a 8 days ago i had the bottom have go . a rod crank or piston bearing went. Now thats too much for me I contacted the ownersa of autolite double plat plugs, HONEYWELL and they wanted the plug sent to them . They returned it saying the damage caused by plug was not their fault in must have been loose! But the mechanics who work on engines for a living looked at engine didn't say plug was loose they said it blew up in the engine. so i took it to ford both times for repair. I think honeywell warranty reps with their engneering/autolite engineering people should come clean with all these documented cases of spark plug problems and admit the probl;em and fix it. And honor their warranty for any damage done and reimberse me and all others. I had to spend $4200 the first time and $6600 today! I use two swear by fords but after over $11,000.00 dollars this maybe my last ford! Going to try and get my lawyer to sue for total expenses. I need help! any suggestions. can't keep spending my money for their defects!

 

There had to be a flaw of some sort like jethat said. I refuse to believe 28ft/lbs didn't hold on a good set of threads.

 

Toyz, I was just as surprised. I learned a lot of info from guys like you and that is why I torqued them to 28ft/lbs, and I didn't have a doubt in my head that I'd ever have to worry about spitting plugs. What is even more disturbing is I've learned today that 03-04 Expeditions with the 4.6 and the 5.4 were launching plugs (wasn't there supposed to be revised heads), and I found 2 complaints of 05 F150 4.6 shooting plugs out, as well as 05 excursions with the 5.4. If this is the case, then you are not safe with any 2v heads of any years. I'm starting to wonder if the 8-threaded heads even exist, and if they do: are they any better?

 

There just has to be a variable here. Something wasn't right. That and you were able to put JB weld on it and it is holding? I'm sure you will disagree but is it possible... at all..... that you forgot to torque a plug. Weird. And since when does napa rebuild 2v heads. The possibility that the heads that were rebuild, were originally removed because of blow outs. Same as you did right? Had a few blow outs and decided to buy rebuilt heads, which had a core? and now they will "rebuild" your old heads and sell them to someone else. Anyway, you get the point. The chances are, the heads they "rebuilt" already had flaws in the plug threads (that's the variable) and were not repaired, because they can't be, not without an insert.

 

Thread damage in aluminum heads is common in all manufactures engines. Once there's damage that's it the threads are junk. There are lots of guys with 4 thread heads that arent having any problem. Those of us who were lucky enough to find out the problem and torqued them before the threads were damaged. Once you have had plugs loosen up its to late then it don't mater how much your torque you likely going to launch a plug the only fix is timesert.

 

Mikey- I would love to see the documentation of the plugs blowing out of '03,'04 Expeditions w/5.4 because that should definitely be a 3V just like the F-150. Expedition should have gotten the 3V as an '03, before the F-150 got it as an '04 NB. I worked for a Gov. Trans. agency where we received '03 Expeditions and they were the totally new vehicle just like the F-150 were in later '03, as an '04. The '05 Excursion may or may not have the 3V in the 5.4 in '05 because they are build on the Super Duty (F-250 up) base which was not changed (all new) like the Expedition was, and my understanding is they may have used the 2V 5.4 in that and the E Series for a while longer, but it should still have the updated heads with the 8 threads instead of the 4. We also had Super Duties and Excursions in that period of time, but I didn't pay any attention to which engine they had in them (2V or 3V) The 4.6 would still be a 2V but should definitely have had the new heads w/8 threads.

 

I just checked the Rock Auto parts catalog - the Expy did not get the 3v till mid-05 and the Excursion never got the 3v 5.4 or 6.8. The Super Duty got the 3v 5.4 and 6.8 in mid-05. The E-vans still don't have the 3v to this day. The 8 thread changeover was in late 03.

 

Sorry, GLC, you are right. The Expedition didn't get the 3V till '05. I thought sure they got it in '03 when they got the all new independent rear suspension and the new frame like the F-150 came out with in '04 NB (except for the IS, which only the Exp. got) My mistake.

 

Toyz, I definitely didn't forget to torque a plug, I lifted the cab off the truck to put the 'new' heads on and I went around 2x torquing them to 28ft/lbs. My other half also checked the torque of the plugs while I was working in the office that day, so 3x total those plugs were checked. I'd have to agree that I bought heads that were soon going to launch its plugs. I didn't timesert any of them because I thought 'new' heads were the answer and I'd be safe as long as I torqued them every 30k miles. I have less than 15k on them.

Code58, if you search google for 03 Ford Expedition Complaints, you will see several 03 and 04 Expeditions shooting plugs. There are so many cases that it would fill 20 pages on here. I saw one guy with a 05 F150 4.6 2v launch a plug, and several 05 Excursions with both the 5.4 and the 6.8. If they did put 8 thread heads on after 03 sometime, why are there so many out there still launching plugs? If also did more homework and read hundreds and hundreds of complaints, and found 99 is THE MOST affected year for some reason, mainly 5.4 and 6.8. The next common year seemed to be 01, but more 5.4's that year.

Here is a link for the 2003 Expedition Complaints, most of which concern spark plug blow outs

http://www.carcomplaints.com/Ford/Ex...n/2003/engine/,

And here is the link I read about the thousands of complaints, the years are all mixed up, but you'll see the 03 and beyond complaints. There may be a few bogus ones, there was one individual that claimed to have a 02 or 03 Navi that blew a plug, the DOHC motors never had plug problem

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/autom...ord_spark.html

 

Even with 8 thread heads, undertorquing the plugs can lead to blowout.

 

glc, just to nip the doubt in my mind, is it absolutely 100% true there are 8 thread heads in existence? I just wonder because I read somewhere there is bulletin or TSB that state 97-03 F150's, 97-04 Expeditions, 00-05 Excusions, All the E-series vans, and 99-04 Superduty trucks are affected. If that's the case, then why are 8 threaded heads blowing plugs?

 

Because there being under torqued. The factory torque specification was 14 lbs.. Not nearly enough.

 

From what I've been able to find HERE, the 8 thread heads were a late 03 model year change on the 2v engines. HOWEVER - I do NOT know if this was across the board on all engines in all vehicles! Also, from what I understand, the only way to tell what you have without looking down the holes is by head casting numbers.