With a lot of you changing your own plugs, can you tell how you are tightening the plugs down. That is, what torque spec or whatever. If torquing the plugs, does anti-seize affect the torque?

Thanks
Pete

 

Engine compartment with passenger head removed.


Passenger head out of truck.



Spark plug safely removed.

For all those who have been asking...

The heater hoses DID NOT leak onto the coil pack. The truck has never been pressure washed, etc etc. I will look into the AC line, as that passes nearby and is not protected, but I have a switch on my ac, so I use it very little anyway.

It is major surgery to get it fixed, but theres no guessing as to damage to any components. It will be on the expensive side to fix, but I do have a call into *ord customer service to "see what they can do". Fords procedure to remove a plug like this is to remove the head, and especially the rear plug, you can see into the hole, but only with a flashlight and mirror, so the degree of difficulty is more. It is obviously a moisture/corrosion problem, so now I have to figure out how so much water was able to get into that particular plug well.

 

Ok, *ord Customer Service just called back, they "cant do anything"

Basically they cannot figure out why so much water got in there, so "oh well".

But she did say that if others on the web, are having the same problems, for them to call customer service too, and have it documented, because all that goes back to the engineers (whaterver)

So if you've ever lost a coil pack, had a rusty plug, call them!

 

Shark99,

First I want to thank you for keeping us up to date on this situation.
The info your sharing could help any one of us from experiencing the same problem.

The info I learned about the heater hose and A/C line came from this sight by others such as yourself.

Now it is beginning to sound like there may be some other source for moisture to enter that plug.

Please let us know what you find out, it is appreciated.

I changed my plugs at about 60K and breathed a BIG sigh of relief when my plug for that cylinder had no sign of rust. Now i am wondering if that problem could still crop up later.

That situation really sucks, I can feel your pain. I would crap if this were happening to my truck.

Thanks Again for all the info,

Rocks

 

That plug well must be "loading up" on fluid big time, to do that to a plug. If you consider that the engine heats up, you would think a little moisture would just evaperate away?

But, that makes me wonder, I noticed that my 99' 4.6 at least drips so much condensation that if I have my air-conditioner running and in park, it looks like my radiator is leaking a huge puddle!

But, what is still odd, is that Shark99 said he does not use his AC very much?

Yeah, I changed my plugs at 65,000 and had no problems, but Sharks problem could happen to any of us.

I wounder if we should "stuff" more plug wire boot type rubber in the plug wells to prevent moisture from getting down to the plug.

I know my stock and aftermarket plug wires had a "lip" at the top of the boot (but I have the two coil pack version). Maybe F-150s with the coil on top is more likely to get the water down near the plug?????

 

Oh that sucks! I have been there and feel for you. I had that happen to a 2.6 mitsubishi engine and an Autolite plug. I had to pull the head, drill her out, and put in a threaded insert.

You may be able to get it with a big easy out. I tried but it wouldn't work.

I need to replace my plugs too, my truck has 60K. After hearing your experience, I will just wait until I fix up this beater car I got for $300. At least I will have a car to drive then if I have the same problem you did.

Good luck,
kev

 

YIKES! I got 72000 on mine, think I'll be messing with plugs this weekend. Is there a link to any messages outlining the process? I am used to working on old cars, and have never changed the plugs on anything newer than about 1972.


P.S. thats a nice crosshatch still with that many miles on your truck, looks like the blocks hold up nicely these days.

 

ok we have it seen it a million times go away now!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Thats weird, in 8 years of doing driveablilty and tune ups and sort to modular v8's (4.6 started in 1991), ive never seen a plug look like that coming out. The first time we ever started running into water in the plug holes problems was in 96 when the 97 truck came out, but most would miss right away with ten times less water in there and get cleaned out in the process of fixing the miss. I do see a lot of oil in the passenger side plug wells when doing high mileage tune ups, from people spilling oil from the filler neck on that valve cover and it running down the head over and over. I think that this particular situation is a one in a million (maybe not quite a million) stroke of bad luck, and after working on about 1 or 2 f150s a week that are just having the factory plugs taken out at over 100,000 miles, that this isnt the norm.

 

with the A/C line condensating and dripping on the heater hose that in turn routed the water over the #4 plug. i obtained a product that prevents condensation from forming on the return lines of A/Cs and also applied a little extra dielectric grease to the seal rings on the outside of the boots. since then i have not noticed any problems and also did a follow up retorging of the plugs and there was no water or moisture intrusion at the #4 or #3 plug wells .."if in doubt,check it out"

 

Hey Texford,

I was wondering when you would happen onto this thread.

Someone earlier on had asked about torque specs for our plugs. I don't have a torque wrench and used my wrist gauge.

Since you brought up torque......do you know what specs call for on our plugs? It would be nice to know, just in case I get a real torque wrench some day.


Rocks

 

but my dad taught me with such a wide range of tourge...go for the middle range...106 inch pounds

 

TexfordD

Is that torque range with or without anti-seize on the plug. I think this affects the torque.

I'm affraid of overtoquing the plugs with anti-seize, but sure want it safe the first time. I don't want to blow a plug out and don't wat to strip threads. I'm getting paranoid.

Thanks
Pete

 

hav'nt had any problems