I need Ford truck advice!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have a 1997 Ford F150 5.4L that I bought new. It is time to replace the spark plugs and I have herd horror stories about this and read on the Internet that after you replace the plugs some of them will blow out of the hole because their is only a few threads cast into the aluminum head???? I need advice!!!! Has anyone had this happen to them or herd of it?? Any ways to avoid it when replacing plugs any and all comments welcome...(except the Ford bashing comments) Or is it best to just trade the truck off?? Prob is I love the truck it has treated me well... Help please....

Knowing that my advice would be take it to a dealership and let them do it.

The dealership was the first one to tell me about it!!!!! Scary isnt it!!!!!

I was told to make sure the engine was cooled off. I take mine to the dealer though.

The dealership makes you sign a waiver here that says they are not liable for the prob and it will cost 200-300$ to helicoil the hole if it blows out.. The service manager said to me he really did not want to do it either. They normally avoid replacing the plugs at all costs... He told me their are alot of lawsuits going nowhere. And it would break the Ford company to recall them all!!

Hmmmm....I thought the spark plug problem is only with the 2004+ Triton engines?!

edit: Nope, you are right. The problem started with the 1997 model year engines.

If you want to read up on all the horror stories, head over to www.f150online.com and join there.

I know about it only too well due to my business. On many of the heads there were only about 3 rounds of threads for the spark plugs. It seems that 1999 has been the worst year, but I've been nailed on 1997 through about 2002 model years. Ford cannot issue a recall even though there are about 3 or 4 class action law suits against them because they claim (and it is possible) that such an expensive recall would cause them to file for bankruptcy protection right now.

I'd purchased my wife a new 2000 Expedition with the 5.4 liter engine. Other than noticing that it really didn't have near as much power as the 1998 Durango with a 5.9 I'd also bought her, we didn't have any trouble. However, after being involved with dozens of the spark plug spitting problems, I traded her Expedition off at about 60k miles. You see, the problem generally is not the consumer's fault as Ford has tried to imply, but poorly designed heads which cost the consumer about $1500 each.

When a plug is blown out, you can have the hole helicoiled, but I've seen mixed results with that. Personally, I wouldn't own one if I knew a plug was held in with a helicoil fix; but that's just me. If it hasn't spit out any plugs so far, that's a good sign. However, it is a real possibility that you could strip what threads are there when you go to change the plugs. That's where Ford blames you, when in reality, it's their poor design causing the problem. Either way, it's a coin toss. I have a 1996 truck and I'm considering an upgrade just because I know that a 11 year old truck can possibly start nickle and diming me to death even though it has a Cummins diesel that should last me another 900k miles. Maybe it would be a good time to test the waters for a trade.

DaveNay said:

Hmmmm....I thought the spark plug problem is only with the 2004+ Triton engines?!

edit: Nope, you are right. The problem started with the 1997 model year engines.

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Just type in "Ford spark plug" in Google. You'll find out plenty.

I have about 40 Ford Pickups and Vans.. To date we only have had 2 of them blow the plugs out. It cost around $300 to get it fixed. Yes it is a bad design but I am not sure Ford has ever changed the blocks to prevent future action as I heard about a 2006 F150 doing it. Not one of mine but of another companies.


murph

mbsieg said:

I have a 1997 Ford F150 5.4L that I bought new. It is time to replace the spark plugs and I have herd horror stories about this and read on the Internet that after you replace the plugs some of them will blow out of the hole because their is only a few threads cast into the aluminum head???? I need advice!!!! Has anyone had this happen to them or herd of it?? Any ways to avoid it when replacing plugs any and all comments welcome...(except the Ford bashing comments) Or is it best to just trade the truck off?? Prob is I love the truck it has treated me well... Help please....

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I'll trow in my $.02 since I'm fairly familiar with it...

Like the others said, its somewhat common and the dealers will have mixed results with it. I would sooner trust a good dealer tech with my tune up than any independant.. Dealers can be hit or miss too, you have a 50/50 chance of getting a good tech, but I think those are better odds..(there are good independant techs out there too, but they are less familiar with the engine)..

I deal with MANY dealer techs on a regular basis. Every time the topic comes up, its an overwhelming agreement that the plugs were previously changed outside the dealer(usually with aftermarket plugs, they arent the problem, but a dealer didnt put them in).. Although there are only 3 threads in the head, the issue seems to stem more from improper torquing of the plug. Because its an alluminum head, most people are intimidated by tightening them properly and leave them loose. With a loose plug, like a loose bolt, the likelyhood that it will blow out or loosen more is greatly increased.. I know of VERY FEW dealer techs who have ever had a plug they put in, blow out..

If by some chance they do blow out, it sucks.. The "heli coil" idea works for some guys, but not with a heli coil.. A Time-Sert is the way to go(IMO). They work really well, again, it relies on a good tech to do the job.. It should never need to be done again.. My buddy charges $500(dealer rate to the customer)plus parts for the first hole. I'm not sure what he charges to do multiples on the same engine.

Personally, I would take the 100k m tune up to heart and not short change these.

As for the newer ones('05 and up). This is a TOTALLY different situation.. It would be a smart thing to again let the dealer do it.. My reccomendation for a pre tune up "PREP" would be a little water injection to loosen any carbon in the combustion chamber that will "stick" the plug in the head. The dealer has a special procedure to use as well as a special tool to remove the broken plug if needed..

Hope that helps some..

This is not a new phenomena with aluminum engines. It was common place to have this happen with the Corvair aluminum head engines if you were to take the plugs out when the engine was hot. The threads would come out with the plug, and you could clearly see the aluminum on the plug threads. The people that understood how to service an aluminum head engine never had any problems. I can't count the number of times that I had to install Helli coils in Corvair heads because of the person that worked on the engine prior and ruined the threads.

Thanks HGM I was hoping you would reply!!!

Thanks to all for the info and insight and experiances...Mike

HGM said:

I would sooner trust a good dealer tech with my tune up than any independant.. Dealers can be hit or miss too, you have a 50/50 chance of getting a good tech, but I think those are better odds..(there are good independant techs out there too, but they are less familiar with the engine)..

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I would say that the above sums it up if you decide to keep the truck. Not all independents are bad, but there is a far greater chance of getting a shade tree mechanic at an independent shop than at a dealer. Dealers would never hire a shade tree mechanic, but some techs at dealers, well, just are not as good as others; if that makes any sense.