Ford F 250 5.4 Triton Spark Plugs.

MartyParsons · November 22, 2017, 07:48:10 AM

Hello,
Got one of our trucks down. Yesterday they called said the engine is making a noise.

Checked it this morning yep, rear cylinder on the passenger side spark plug is blown out. The truck has 183,000 miles on it. I replaced the engine about 45,000 ago because it has the same issue. I have drilled out the plugs and installed heili coils but one of the heili coils blew out and let go. So I decided to replace the engine.
Well here I am again. The Ford dealer said this engine was up graded with a new design head and cams to solve issues related to spark plugs pooping out.
New engine is out of warranty so I guess I am back to drilling it out and starting this process once again.
:'(

Thanks
Marty

POSTON WIDEHEAD · November 22, 2017, 08:11:51 AM

TPS

Hilltop366 · November 22, 2017, 08:12:32 AM

And their so easy to get at too! :

I think there was a class action lawsuit, who knows, you might get $20 from them meanwhile others got to buy their own villa somewhere.

Dave Shepard · November 22, 2017, 09:09:54 AM

On my '02 5.4 I got a kit at Advance Auto that had a self threading adaptor, a special long electrode spark plug, and a shorter coil boot. About $60 and half an hour.

MartyParsons · November 22, 2017, 11:07:26 AM

I knew you guys would have an answer.

QuoteOn my '02 5.4 I got a kit at Advance Auto that had a self threading adapter, a special long electrode spark plug, and a shorter coil boot. About $60 and half an hour.

I will check it out.

Not sure if the TPS is the issue here? I feel for you brother. Did you get your TPS back up and running?

Marty

here is a video .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cE8EqpmePik

To bad mine in not in the front. :

sawwood · November 22, 2017, 03:20:42 PM

That was great to see some one came out with a fix that rely works. The only thing is can see where you buy a new
spark plug like that when you need a new one.

Sawwood

DelawhereJoe · November 22, 2017, 07:17:59 PM

What ever happened to just replacing the head that is bad ? I used to work at a farm store, we had a '99 F250 that blew the plug out 3 times after the 3rd time the truck was traded in on a new one only had 95k miles. All they did was repair the bad plug threads instead or just replacing the bad part.

Brian_Rhoad · November 22, 2017, 07:29:39 PM

I have a 99 Expedition that has #3 plug blown out. There is an insert made to repair the head. The cheaper sleeve and special plug is a temporary fix. It is an over sized plug thread that cuts its way in to the old hole. If the hole is wore out of round the threads don't have much to bite into. The insert is stainless and solid.It's not a heli-coil. It doesn't look to too bad to do the job. You use an air ratchet to drill out the hole and thread it. The kit with the drill bit, threading tap and inserts is around $200.

firefighter ontheside · November 23, 2017, 04:26:22 PM

I've been there. My 97 did the same thing. I had it fixed and then promptly traded it for a new truck. I took it as a sign that something else was going bad.

POSTON WIDEHEAD · November 23, 2017, 08:56:48 PM

Quote from: firefighterontheside on November 23, 2017, 04:26:22 PM
I've been there. My 97 did the same thing. I had it fixed and then promptly traded it for a new truck. I took it as a sign that something else was going bad.

Then Marty bought it.

Chop Shop · November 23, 2017, 11:16:01 PM

One of my tractors here blew a plug out about 12 years ago.

I cleaned up the hole, mixed up some JB weld, installed a new plug. Then took a yellow paint pen and labeled the valve cover above it "Do Not Remove".

Been fine ever since. Easy peasy.

I wouldn't waste my time fixing one of those aluminum headed triton engines (v8 or v10) because soon after you put real time and money in it its just going to start spraying coolant out of the heads like swiss cheese. Electrolysis is eating holes in those holes every mile you drive. Just a fact of life.

MartyParsons · November 24, 2017, 09:50:18 PM

Hello,
Here is a picture of the kit.

Here are the instructions. I read them after I put it in. :

Runs like a champ. Cant keep them Fords down. ;D

I did remove the hood so I could at least see where my hand was. Not much room on the back cylinder here.

I have used this kit. About 6 times on the original engine. All went good until the insert blew out. Went to the Ford store and prices out new heads. They started to list all the parts that needed to be up graded. So went with the new engine. I think the reman engine was only $ 200.00 more. But that was 2013 and I guess the head up grade was not as good as they expected. :-\

My theory is that if this part comes out at least I have another option with the larger insert.

Fingers crossed.

Thanks for the help.

Marty

ScottAR · November 25, 2017, 01:05:44 AM

The long plug is an autolite HT1. This is the factory type plug for the 05?-09ish 5.4 3valve engine. Sometime in 09 they switched designs again to a long threaded plug. (over 1inch of thread)

POSTON WIDEHEAD · November 25, 2017, 07:04:40 PM

Way to go Marty.

Brian_Rhoad · November 25, 2017, 09:41:33 PM

Here is a link to a video about the inserts for the Ford engines. He claims to have done over a thousand spark plug repairs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwFjaNrKVp8&t=37s

MartyParsons · March 16, 2018, 01:30:58 PM

Hello,
Getting ready for round two. Not the one I repaired but the one beside it. Might be a long summer. :

Marty

starmac · March 16, 2018, 02:13:38 PM

Marty, have you changed the plugs on this pickup in the past? The reason I ask is it seems like they never blow the plugs out until some point after they have been changed.

I had over 200,000 on my 99 before I sold it and the guy still runs it every day, so far so good.

MartyParsons · March 17, 2018, 09:25:02 PM

Hello,
I ordered another plug kit. The spark plug that blew out looked new when it blew out it broke the coil so I have a new one to install. I put new spark plugs in when I purchased the new reman engine from Ford. I did put never seize on the plugs and even torqued to the correct spec, maybe red loc-tite would have been better. It really does not have many miles on the new engine I think it has 40,000 in the reman engine. The original engine started blowing out the plugs and the Ford dealer said the reman engine would have the "new " updated heads and this would not happen again. I guess they were not correct. Life goes on. The warranty is out by about 1 year.
I could be mad, get a bad attitude, but life is good. What else can I say. If there is something I can do to prevent the rest coming out, please let me know.

Marty

moosehunter · March 18, 2018, 07:57:35 AM

Marty,
Never seize, anti seize is not recommended for spark plugs. Quality plugs will have a coating on the threads . Anti seize should not be used on any fastener that needs to be torqued as it alters the torque (it is slippery and causes over tightning).
mh