Don't go down this road......

[Mort]

Man--what a nightmare change plugs on my 04 F150 is turning into.
A hundred ways to do it. They say to crack the threads the spray carb cleaner then let it sit, had hell of time just cracking them period, literally.
Probably did it all wrong, ended up breaking 6, got 1 out complete and 1 is loose in head but can't get it out.

Broke at least two were the porcelain is higher than the bottom shield part and cannot get the removal tool on it, 1 has partial electrode broken off, so cannot get the tool on that one either and that one is the 4th hole drivers side, fun.

Truck has 117,000 - First spark plug change and probably the last. It developed a miss last friday, check engine light was flashing, googled and found it its related to a misfire. Being haven't changed plugs since I've had the truck, thought I'd do it.

Four plugs in, Four to go IF I can get the other 4 out. Hoping I don't have to resort to pulling the head.
Like Ford, but man I think their engineers are pretty stupid, those A--holes need to try and fix something they designed and see just what fuckery they dreamed of, what works on paper, doesn't work in reality.
That was my weekend, I still have my '93 F150 so driving that...171,000.....so nice to have a back up vehicle when one goes down.

 

[RustyTackleBox]

I thought you were going to say don't drive down the road to white earth bay... i was going to agree that road is shit ;:;rofl

 

[Mort]

I thought you were going to say don't drive down the road to white earth bay... i was going to agree that road is shit ;:;rofl

LOL...gotcha.....

 

[MSA]

Easy to change if you have the extractor tool. Just break em off, extract, and replace. Think I still have my old tool laying around I'll never use again. Never had issues with the extractor not grabbing them. I broke 7 saved 1.

 

[Callem'In]

For future reference....2 cans of sea foam in a tank of gas. When tank is low, start engine and get it to about 165 degrees. Remove coils and use a 3/8 impact to break them loose. I very rarely brake them off anymore and my shop does about a set a week.

 

[shorthairsrus]

can you believe that when they replaced my engine --- they took the old spark plugs out of the 100% under warranty oil burner that had 63k on it and put them in the new engine. Un-fckng believable.

I told them i would of paid for new.

- - - Updated - - -

the sobs looked rusty -- i didnt even try --- who the hell can work on this stuff anymore.

 

[1bigfokker]

Save a weekend, take it to the fucking dealership.

 

[raider]

I thought you were going to say don't drive down the road to white earth bay... i was going to agree that road is shit ;:;rofl

I won't drive that road anymore... if you're not camping and just fishing, go about 3 miles west and go to little beaver bay... 3 miles of good gravel instead of 9 or 10, and 3 miles east by water is white earth...

Just in case you didn't know...

 

[wby257]

For future reference....2 cans of sea foam in a tank of gas. When tank is low, start engine and get it to about 165 degrees. Remove coils and use a 3/8 impact to break them loose. I very rarely brake them off anymore and my shop does about a set a week.

I did that same thing only I ran 2 can per tank for 3 tanks of 91 Octane and never broke a one. 92,000 miles and got a misfire. I put in the new plugs, that they say won't break.

 

[Ericb]

Not sure if it's to late but a electric impact wrench and lots of penetrating oil got mine out with out breaking.

 

[SDMF]

I liked the flat torque curve of the 5.4L. I could tow my boat in OD most of the time @ 70MPH. In a headwind lock out OD. When I wanted to tow something heavier than the boat, just lock out OD and it'd tow anything I stuck behind it @ 70MPH. If a person was intelligent about choosing the proper gear to tow in, I believe that the flat torque curve of the Triton's ended up being easier on the transmission than what the 5.3L GM was. I didn't ever have so much as a hiccup with either transmission behind the 2 5.4's I owned and I put ~140K Mi between the 2 of them. 40K on an '01 and 90+K on an '05 3-valve.

All the above aside, I think I replaced 4-5 coils total and put plugs in both trucks. I paid to have the plugs swapped but it still made me want to take a ball-pein hammer to the engineers fingers and toes, one by one until they agreed they deserved it.

 

[Mort]

Easy to change if you have the extractor tool. Just break em off, extract, and replace. Think I still have my old tool laying around I'll never use again. Never had issues with the extractor not grabbing them. I broke 7 saved 1.

The tool isn't bad, its just that breaking the plug too high up above the shield part of plug and you cannot push the porcelain down enough for the extractor part to grab that shield

 

[MSA]

If I remember right, wasn't there a porcelain breaking part of the tool you used before the extractor

 

[Mort]

If I remember right, wasn't there a porcelain breaking part of the tool you used before the extractor

No, I believe there's another tool set just for that, didn't get that one.
The only make like 4-5 different tool for this problem, been told the lisle tool or OTC tool is best.
Using the Lisle one.

 

[MSA]

Yeah, it was a separate tool that came with the kit

 

[drivenmarine.net]

Definitely want to break them loose with the engine warmed up. I've been lucky on the 5.4 and V10 I've had. Once broke free, I soaked them in PB baster and waited a while, spun right out.

 

[Mort]

Update: So far 6 done, two left on the RH side (passenger) #3 & #4. #3 is broke off, but too much porcelain in the shield to get the extractor on it, gonna keep working at get porcelain out. #4, the plug threaded hex part is out and off the plug, leaving the plug still in. I'm waiting on the OTC tool to extract it, that tool extracts the whole plug once you have the hex off, its grabs on to the tip of the plug and you pull it out just the same way as you do with the extractor tool. I'm doing #4 this way in hopes to get the whole plug out at once because of how tight it is there to work, don't want to break it off at this point Just about there.

Then found out my fuel pump went out on my 4 wheeler, got that all tore apart too..getting my turn wrenches exercise in.

 

[BrokenBackJack]

Update: So far 6 done, two left on the RH side (passenger) #3 & #4. #3 is broke off, but too much porcelain in the shield to get the extractor on it, gonna keep working at get porcelain out. #4, the plug threaded hex part is out and off the plug, leaving the plug still in. I'm waiting on the OTC tool to extract it, that tool extracts the whole plug once you have the hex off, its grabs on to the tip of the plug and you pull it out just the same way as you do with the extractor tool. I'm doing #4 this way in hopes to get the whole plug out at once because of how tight it is there to work, don't want to break it off at this point Just about there.

Then found out my fuel pump went out on my 4 wheeler, got that all tore apart too..getting my turn wrenches exercise in.

Here is a place to get fuel pumps and most if not all are guaranteed for life.
You can order the sock part too for atv/utv pumps and replace just them, if that is the problem. Couple guys down here change the sock part every year and buy there parts from the link below.

https://www.highflowfuel.com/p-2965-home.html

 

[Mort]

Here is a place to get fuel pumps and most if not all are guaranteed for life.
You can order the sock part too for atv/utv pumps and replace just them, if that is the problem. Couple guys down here change the sock part every year and buy there parts from the link below.

https://www.highflowfuel.com/p-2965-home.html

Thanks BBJ! I'll bookmark this page for future reference.

 

[Mort]

6/10/19 Update - Well, the spark plug change nightmare is done, still running rough, check engine light comes on, but does not blink, has possible slight strong exhaust fume smell, so I'm thinking I probably have an 02 sensor bad. I have parked the truck till I get my OBD reader, looking at tue, wed to find out what my next move is.

I urge all DIY mechanics to get this tool (OBD reader) I know certain parts house will let you use theirs if you drive to the store or garage to use, but its useless effort when you cannot drive you vehicle to said place. Way my truck is running, I'm not risking it stalling at a freaking intersection, no way. Not a big fan of borrow tools, I could have borrowed one for a gentlemen that has his own business of reparing autos, but decided to just get one for myself and family.