05 plug help. I'm at my wits end.
 

05 f150 5.4

1 stupid broken plug I can't get out. .. I have the lisle tool but it's not working. I have tried everything I can think of. If I get a good grip on it , it just doesn't budge.

Main question. Is it possible to push that jacket all the way into the cylinder where retrieval is impossible? Or can it mushroom out from being pressed and just be impossible to remove. I really don't have 3 grand for a head job and no locals will touch the damn thing. Any help will be much appreciated.

I've taken out 8 broken plugs on my 2006 F150 fairly recently, so I have experience. All using the Lisle tool.

When the porcelain broke off, was it flush? If it is/was not you need to make a clean break. Then when you use the "pusher" part of the Lisle tool, if the porcelain has a clean break the pusher CAN NOT push it down to far because of the collar it comes with and the porcelain will just break apart. Have you done this step? I'm assuming so. Also make sure you get the electrode out in one piece, if that breaks in half it COULD get pushed into the cylinder(trust me it happened to me).

After this step, vacuum and/or blow out the plug hole with compressed air to get out debris. At this point, you really need to crank in that Lisle reverse threaded puller to grab it, it looks like your not cranking it down and getting enough meat. You should hear it start "clinking" when it starts grabbing, and it gets tough to turn. In your case, it is better to go over then under, because if you don't get enough grip you will screw up the metal shell in there and not get it out. I would wait until you feel it grip, then crank it some more(1-2 turns or more). In your case, I would crank it HARD. I would THINK that if you crank it so hard that shell would probably spin inside the cylinder before the threads of the LISLE break off the shell (The shell is just held in there from carbon, the carbon would break way before the lisle would strip the shell).

It is in fact possible to push too far. The electrode can break off and "hook" the underside of the head.

https://www.f150online.com/forums/20...y-bad-day.html

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.f15...7530f87f32.jpg

Thank you very much. After some debating I just went all out and cranked on it like I was trying to tap the piston. This is what came out. I'm going to be sure to clean it up REALLY good before trying to put it back together. It looks like it came out decently, it was just a PITA. .. after I clean it up I'll put it back together and pray there is no damage internally. Spent way too long messing with this. But at the moment I'm doing a happy dance that it's out of there.

glad it worked out. From the look of that pic with the lisle threaded in, that's about how far I did it when I took 8 broken plugs out.

I cranked the tool in there, I was afraid I would get only a few threads in and start destroying the shell so I just went all in.

2 was plenty for me. I couldn't even imagine doing all 8. Going all in was my last option, I figured if I broke it then it'll be scrap lol. But it worked out. Thanks again for your help.

Damn plugs
 

I have never been so nervous changing plugs before. I had all 8 break and the lisle tool saved my ass! Worth its weight in gold for sure! It is worth mentioning that i blew out each plug hole with compressed air before and after using the pusher part of the tool. Only 1 cylinder gave me hell but i walked away for a few mins and came back and got it out. The crunch sound was pretty bad but that means its working. Good luck everyone!

Good deal!

Glad it worked.

What year is the truck that you changed the plugs on? How many miles, and were they the factory plugs?