Hey guys. Got a 98 exposition 5.4 Triton little less than 115k milage. Hadn't been driven in a couple months. Today wife calls says its making a puttering and ticking sound. I go out oil and all is good I crank it and a loud puffing sound driving it I get a vibration on take off and a strong gas / exhaust odor in cab. Sounds coming from right side at firewall. Friend says I may have blown a plug. How do I check if this is it or any ideas thanks Anthony

 

vacuum line maby? there should be a clutter tucked between ur battery and firewall follow them. or a fule filter those can do funny stuff to your engine. it should have a metal one just get some carb and choke and spray er out?

 

i doubt that it has a broken plug. is ur check engine light on?

 

It is a blown out plug. TIMESERT check them out..

 

The check engine light is on and it flashed a couple of times while I was driving it home

 

Check to see if the plug is still in, just loose and about to blow out. If it has blown out already, then repair with a Timesert as mentioned above.

 

If the plug is still in but failing (i.e. plug loose/backing out), you should only have a ticking sound that sounds just like an exhaust leak. As mentiond, obviously check the spark plugs! Is one missing? If so, will it thread back in or does it just spin because the threads are gone?

If it is in fact blown and the threads are gone (plug will not reinstall), then you need a TimeSert and nothing else.

If you end up needing the repair, there's a guy on here that actually runs a business renting the TimeSert kit; just search for the info. He's helped out a ton of guys on the forum here and the price is right. It'll save you hundreds vice paying $400 for a kit you'll only use once; by all accounts.