Fordfan2006

08's have different heads. They don't break on the 08's.

ddc

I did change my plugs 2 weeks ago. At 77k, they looked fine, gapped alittle more than what was called out. My buddy put a champion in place of the one that failed on me a couple months ago, its a one piece design. But he also said stick with Motorcraft, so I don't know what happened here. I did as he said, got her real hot, crack the plugs loose, PB Blaster and carb cleaner down the hole, let it soak 20 minutes, and start turning them out. Had 2 break off! Went down to Advanced bought the Lisle extractor tool, and learned how to remove the extension from the hole. They came out so easy, I can't figure out why they broke off to begin with!. That night I filed a complaint with Ford. Asked who the engineer was that I could forward the plugs to as a sign of his stupidness!! Still haven't heard back other than a case Number.....

joesig

I have a 2007 F-150 with the 5.4L FFV engine with 118K miles. The engine has recently started to misfire slightly when under a load. I have read all the post's on replacing the spark plugs and went out and purchased the Lisle extraction tool. I also just ordered the new OTC 6918 spark plug removal tool. I have been running Lucas in the fuel tank for almost 3 tank full's. Yesterday I ran a can of Seafoam through the intake Vac line and let the truck sit for an hour. I ran it hard on the road after that, smoking like a diesel for a short time. I don't have the misfire and the engine is running like new. I still plan on replacing the plugs when my OTC 6918 tool arrives next week. I have read the varrious sucess stories using the hot engine with the impact wrench but, at the present I plan to follow the Ford latest TSB with a cold engine. I feel I have more control working the plugs slowly with penertrating oil/ carb cleaner. The impact scares me on hot aluminum heads.
These are my parts and tools for the job:
Autolite HT15 plugs
Lisile extraction tool
OTC 6900 9/16" deep scoket
AreoKroil pennetrating oil
Seafoam Deep creep
OTC 6918 spark plug removal tool (New)
Long reach air nozzle
Antisize, die electric greese
Various sockets, extensions, universal joints, rachets & torque wrench
I plan on running another can of Seafoam through the intake the day before I start the job for good luck. The hot engine vs the cold engine is what keeps eating at me. Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks, Joesig

joesig

Well, last saturday I attacked the spark plugs. All work was performed on a cold engine, ambient temp ~90F. I used compressed air to blow all of the crap from the engine before I started. I removed the computer PCM and bracket from the firewall after disconnecting the battery leads. The next step was to remove the air duct from the intake. I then started to disconnect the wires on the COP's & injectors. After removing the COP's, I blew out the spark plug wells to keep the remaing crap form getting in the cylinders. Before breaking plugs loose I sprayed a small amount of Kroil in each plug well for good luck.. I broke the plugs loose aprox 1/8 of a turn using a 1/2" breaker bar, they were real tignt. After that, I did an unconvential step, I used to rebuild 2-stroke outboard motors as a hobby and I had a can of Evinrude/Johnson engine tuner. This is a very strong de-carbon aresol spray used to remove carbon in outboard motors. I sprayed each plug till just about to the top of the hex nut and let it soak for 45 min. before I attempted to work the first plug back and forth. I purchased the OTC 6918 Ford spark plug removal tool and followed the directions when removing the plugs. The first two came out with a few creeks, but I worked the plugs slowly back and forth a little at a time untill they turned without too much efort. The third plug was hard to work back and forth and I think I should have waited to soak longer but, it broke. The OTC 6918 kept the electrode from breaking off in the head. The ceramic cracked in the small piece that was stuck in the head. I had the Lisile 65600 tool ready for the extraction when the time came. I then approached the plugs with more paitence and took more time working them back and forth, this paid off, I got all of the remaing plugs out with any breakage, The OTC 6918 seemed to perform as advertised. I followed the instructionss on the Lisile 65600 tool with sucess, All peices came out, but it was tight. In summary I don't know if the Evinrude/Johnson engine tunner helped or it was the Kroil or maybe the combination of the two that helped me. Before installing the new plugs, I sprayed carb cleaner in each cylinder and blew them out with compressed air to help dry out the oils I used to help break the carbon loose on the plugs. I installed 8 new Autolite HT15 plugs with Permatex antisize on only the lower part of the plugs, not on the threads per the Ford TSB, my 3/8" torque wrench was broken so I gave each plug a snug pull on my rachet after they made contact with the head. Installed all components that I removed and started engine, ran rough for a short while, I could smell the oils burning out of the cylinders, then smoothed out. Truck runs great, took it out for a 70 mile run on the interstate. All is well so far. Joesig

Summers22

iTrader: (2)

Or run Seafoam in the gas for 200 miles, warm up the engine and remove the plugs. Did this on my 07 with 113K with none breaking. Had the Lisle on hand and returned it minus $4.95 shipping, cheap insurance.

hondashadow54

I had the plugs changed on my 2005 f150 5.4 at 109,000 miles. As my luck would have it 6 out of 8 plugs broke. The mechanic told me that it was the worst he has ever had. He had had some break in the past, but it was a rare occasion. All said and done with a coolant flush it was $681. I had new single piece iridium plugs put in. Sure hope I never have to go through that again!

xpander343

I changed all my spark plugs today on my 07 f150 it has 167,000km on it and missed badly at about 70-80kph(45-50mph) and has a rough stumble sometimes.
I took the truck out for a few highway runs and brought it in, and used about a 1/3rd of a can of combustion chamber cleaner on it. While the engine was still hot I took all the cop's out and cracked each plug on the driver side about an 1/8th of a turn and sprayed more combustion chamber cleaner down the holes.
I waited about 5min for them to soak and while everything was hot I used my 3/8's cordless impact on the plugs. I have the proper 9/16th otc spark plug socket too. All 4 came out nice and easy. Two of them sounded kinda tight and I'd thought they'd broken but they came out perfect. Put new plugs in with some anti-seize on the ground portion of the sparkplug like the TSB says.
I then went for another highway blast and got it hot again and brought it back in. I removed the PCM and bracket on the passenger side.
I followed the same procedure on the passenger side as the driver, cracked them all a bit and poured some combustion chamber cleaner down the holes.
All 4 once again came out with no issue. I needed a wobble to get the back plug out.
I was very surprised that none broke considering everything else I've had to do on this truck has been a pita. The whole job took maybe an hour and a half.
I used motocraft sp515's in it and it runs much better now. The stumbles are gone now.

Mulestang

Just and FYI. My 2008 has and engine build date of 10-12-07. According to the TSB, I was supposed to be 'safe' and out of the affected range (engine build before 10-9-07). I'm not. I have black boots, so I believe that means I have the old-style heads. Guess the dates in the TSB weren't completely accurate. Bummer...

DaleLowrie

I own a 2006 XLT and I've changed the plugs twice in the last year and a half. When I got the truck, it had about 70k miles on it and the spark plugs had never been changed. My buddy is a Ford fanatic and told me about the big possibility of them breaking off in the heads. So every night for about 2 weeks, I would get home from work, let the truck sit until the engine was relatively cool and I sprayed Seafoam's "Deep Creep" down into each plug. I also put Seafoam in my gas every fill up for those two weeks as well. They came out super easy. It took me about 1 hour from start to finish.

JoshWi

Just bought an 04 w/ the 5.4. Truck was misfiring on cyl 8. Had no clue about the plug issue. I did have crap that I had to blow out to get my socket down far enough to bite the plug but other than that and the tight space getting to the back plugs, I had no issues changing the plugs. Unfortunately I didn't use anti-seize but with the life expectancy of the MC plugs, I don't foresee having the truck long enough to replace them again. I even got away with using a standard spark plug socket. I got lucky.