Hello gang, I signed on recently and started perusing the forums. Now I am an old school backyard mechanic and can work on a 289/302 with a blindfold but now I'm a litle scared. I see on the forum a lot about plugs blowing out and bad COPS etc on the 4.6 and 5.4 and I have read about using timeserts instead of heli-coils. I see that most of the forum deals with engines up to 2001 and then 2004 plus. I don't see anything in between. I have a 2002 4.6 romeo in a f-150 supercab SLT/XTR. I know that the previous owner had a heli-coil installed on plug 7 because when I had a tune up done the whole thing unscrewed but he managed to put it back in. ( Yes I had someone else do it, I live in Canada and it was winter). So here's my question, was the 2002 a better engine so no problems or am I the only one with no problems.
Jim in Montreal.

 

There were plug blow out problems on the 97-03 due to only four threads in the head.
Tightening the plugs to 28ft.lbs. with no anti-seize remedied this problem. You need
to use a timesert in place of the heli-coil to avoid problems later.There is a forum
specificaly for 97-03 on here. Welcome to the forum.

 

Ok I appreciate the response but I thought my post was clear. I have seen all the posts on the forums about the problems and solutions on this engine but it seems most posts are up to the 2001 engine, I don't see anyone posting about the 2002-3 engines. I understand that they were the same but there dosn't seem to be as much problem with the 2002-3. Am I wrong, or am I just lucky or did no-one bother with f-150s in 2002-3.

 

There is no difference whatsoever between the 2001 and the 2002/early 2003 heads. They are all 4 thread and subject to blowout if factory plug torque specs are used. 28 ft/lb with no antiseize takes care of this, and if it's too late and you have already blown a plug, Timesert is the only DIY repair that lasts. Even the later 8 thread heads are subject to blowout if factory torque specs are used. *ALL* 2 valve engines use the same cops (DG508).

 

Ok, thanks guys, guess I'll just keep my fingers crossed and my eyes on anyone that works on the truck, torque specs and all. Jim

 

You should be able to change the plugs and cops yourself. You can even do a Timesert yourself. If you need a Timesert, member Galaxy rents out the kit.