'97 Ford F-150 4.6L V-8

I seem to have a recurring problem with the #5 Spark Plug well. Moisture keeps tripping the Check Eng. Light and missing of #5 Cyl. When dryed out the truck runs fine.

[This message has been edited by jonneythompson (edited 02-29-2000).]

 

The 97 plug wires were defective by design. They leak. I had two showing signs of leakage at about 45K. They have redesigned these to eliminate this problem. Replace them or better yet get a set from Ford Motor Sports here: http://www.oemfordparts.com/

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97 F-150 SC Lariat, Styleside, White over Gold, 4.6L (Windsor), Automatic, 3.55 rear end, electronic 4X4, w/ every option of Lariat and ORP packages except the 17" wheels (I even got the OR decals now!) MOD's so far: K&N air box mod, Gibson Super Truck, clear Bugflector II, Leer TSC 600 hard cover, Bridgestone Dueler OWL ATP 265/75 R-16's, TrailMaster Invader N7 shocks, Smittybilt step bars, Ford moulded mud guards, "White-white" head lamps, Cloud Rider Design's SS Grill and bumper opening, Bosch Platinum + 4's, Hayden 30K+ Tranny Cooler,Class III Reece load distributing hitch system, full wiring including trailer battery charging system, Escort Sensor II Brake controller, Superchip

 

Doy you have a 4.6L or a 5.4L? If it is a 5.4L then look directly above the #5 plug. The heater hoses are known for not being sealed properly from the factory. You will need a special tool to release them and your local dealer has an o-ring kit to repair it. If your truck is still under warranty, bring it to them and they will fix it for you.


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86 F250, 351W 4bbl.

 

I argree with bill, the heater hose is leaking onto the coil pack in the 5.4 my friends just went into the shop foer that problem.

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*2000 blk xlt f150
*5.4 4x4 3.55 ls
*sc orp pkg
*tow pkg, 17 inch wheels
*herculiner,remote start
*flowmaster, air box mod
*bfg ko's A.R.E. cap
*sony 10 disc cd player
*k&n air filter
*superchip

****mods to come*********
harley davison hitch reciver plug.
removing stock cab steps& installing westins.

 

4.6L is what I thought he had (and I have)and I assumed he had just typo'd the 4.5L thing. My statements about the plug wire design would not apply to a 5.4L as its a coil on plug design.

 

cphilip, Can you tell me more about the '97 plug wire problem on 4.6L? Do they leak at one of the ends, which end, or what?
Thanks!

 

When you pull them you will see that they have two sealing rings and one of the rings has a slot in it to allow for burping the vacuum in order to pull them out. Apparently because of the problems they have added a third ring to keep water out in case it gets passed the first one. I have not seen a new set of the Ford ones but it was described to me that way by the Ford mechanic. I am thinking of going with the Ford Motor Sport ones instead of the OEM Ford redesign. Now remember, the water that gets in there will take a long time to cause enough damage to give you any problems. But it surely might if you try to go 100K. After cleaning and replacing the plugs, I just put a liberal amount of Dielectric grease in for the mean time. I am still trying to confirm wether or not the Ford Motor Sports ones have the redesign (3 rings) or not before I buy them. Otherwise I wll just put in a set of the standard redesigned Ford ones. I was not having any problems with missing or anything. I was putting in Bosch + 4's when it was discovered at about 40K miles. Otherwise I think eventually the rust and water would have started causeing noticable problems in another 20K or so. Most mechanics I talked to at Ford place were not impressed by me wanting to mess with my plugs when I did. Gave me that old Ford party line "the plugs in there will go at least 100K, we see it all the time" But look now what I found! Glad I headed it off now. I am under the impression there is a TSB on this. He seemed to know all about it. You will never hear about it because you would have to have a problem that involved it and it would have had to occur within warranty and that is not very likely. How many 97's are there out there still under warranty? And I do not think it would manifest itself into a problem very often before 36K.

 

No problem. Just check em. In order to do so you have to pull the wires and clean the wells real good and pull the plugs out. You may not have anything to worry about. I have started recommending to people to pull and check there plugs by around 50K. Especially on 97's. You could just clean the old ones up if they look OK, put some anti-seize compound on the treads and pop em back in. But once you pull em out you end up saying to yourself: "why not just replace them because they were such a b**ch to get out!

 

cphilip - Thanks for the info! I hadn't heard about this before.

 

just had mine in 2/28(last day of warr)Check engine light on. They said it was a bad plug+wire. Checked after reading this post funny it was the number 5 plug.

[This message has been edited by 97scflareside (edited 03-01-2000).]

 

I don't see how you guys can even get to these plugs to get them out. Looks like a nightmare.