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I live in western Massachusetts. Salt use here makes purchasing older trucks locally a bad idea. I headed south and just purchased a 2005 Ford F-150 in Virginia. 215K miles, little rust, with 4x4 and 8 foot bed, $4,000 cash. Reasonably happy with my purchase so far.
Before purchase, I noticed some vibration on driving, and check engine light on. I took to local oil change shop (shop 1) for a pre-purchase inspection. Showed misfire on cylinder 2, and O2 sensor fault/lean. Mechanic on duty advised that vibration likely related to misfire, which made sense to me. I was on my way to week long vacation with family in South Carolina, and wanted the vibration and check engine light to be fixed before my 500+ mile return trip from VA to MA. Not knowing that shop 1 also did tune ups, but after leaving shop 1, I hurriedly called shop 1 and asked for a referral to a another shop (shop 2), which checked out on Yelp with a 4.5 star rating.
Shop 2 was courteous and accurate, but also very expensive. Following a $115 diagnosis fee, they proposed to replace 8 spark plugs and the no. 2 cyl. ignition coil pack ($460 labor, plus $55.36 for the spark plugs, and $110.95 for coil pack), replace an upstream O2 sensor ($101.20 labor plus $136.17 part), and rotate 4 tires ($23). I was a bit stunned by the cost, and asked why it was so expensive, and one of the reasons they said was that the engine on my truck has a type of spark plug that due to corrosion frequently breaks off when attempting to remove, and that extra time and a special tool are required to deal with this. Again, on the basis of the referral and on their good rating on Yelp, as well as the fact that I was not in a good position to do the work myself, I reluctantly agreed to their proposal.
Yesterday, I picked up the truck from shop 2 and took back to shop 1 for an oil and air filter change. I showed them my invoice from shop 2 and they told me in short that I got ripped off. Said they would have done the same work for less than half what I had been charged. Told me the book showed 1.8 hours to do a spark plug job. Apparently, whoever at shop 1 had referred me to shop 2 wasn't in the know. I'm debating how to handle this. I've already paid my bill, but I'm considering leaving a description of my experience on Yelp and/or Google. FWIW, the truck ran well on my return trip.
Here's my question - does my truck (4.6L V8) really have the type of spark plug that breaks off? I've done a little research on it, and it appears to me that this problem is associated with engines having 3 valves per cylinder, but I haven't been able to tell positively whether my engine is 3 valves per cylinder or whether it has the odd 2 part spark plug.... If it is of any help, the VIN number of my truck is 1FTRF14W25NB82935. I looked on Rock Auto, and selected 2005>Ford>F-150>4.6L V8>Ignition>Spark Plug, and the resulting Motorcraft spark plug associated with the vehicle is pictured below. It does not look like the 2 part spark plug having problems.
On a related note, I'd also be interested to hear any opinions about whether the fee charged by shop 2 is normal or excessive.
Thanks,
Al Motorcraft SP493 spark plug
Last edited by ALnMA; Feb 25, 2018 at 11:07 PM.
Reason: Add picture
That’s what happens to unfamiliar people when they
meet professional asshats... at least your truck runs better...move on and never let it happen to you again.
...they proposed to replace 8 spark plugs and the no. 2 cyl. ignition coil pack ($460 labor, plus $55.36 for the spark plugs, and $110.95 for coil pack), replace an upstream O2 sensor ($101.20 labor plus $136.17 part), and rotate 4 tires ($23).
Shops charge "retail" for parts, but $136 is crazy for the o2 sensor when a Motorcraft one is $42, Bosch or Denso is $30, cheapest is $20.
I agree with what RatrodS said... try to work with shop #2. Get their posted hourly rate and times it by 1.8, that should have been the labor charge for the plugs, ask for the overcharge back.
The 5.4 3v is the one with the plug issues. The 4.6 2v does not have that issue and never has.
No intent to hijack this thread, just stating my confusion on plugs in the 4.6L. I'm planning to buy a work colleagues 2008 F150 2WD 4.6L in a couple of months. Have been reading on this great forum and don't seem to see nearly as many engine concerns for the 4.6L as compared to the 5.4L. But saw this article which says they used the two piece spark plugs in the 4.6L Mustangs and Explorers. Seems odd that the same motor in the F150 would have different plugs.
No intent to hijack this thread, just stating my confusion on plugs in the 4.6L. I'm planning to buy a work colleagues 2008 F150 2WD 4.6L in a couple of months. Have been reading on this great forum and don't seem to see nearly as many engine concerns for the 4.6L as compared to the 5.4L. But saw this article which says they used the two piece spark plugs in the 4.6L Mustangs and Explorers. Seems odd that the same motor in the F150 would have different plugs.
4.6L engine spark Plug type?
