eze1082

I've got the same story. Plugs changed, less than 8000 miles later fuel smell and misses and ticks. Three finger tight and one close to. I know that all three couldn't have been missed. I wonder if there backing out because of the carbon build up around the threads and when there replaced the 25 lbs torque spec isn't enough and there backing out.

khaag27

Yup happened to us after ours were changed too, wasn't seated all the way.

mn_f150

Same here. Changed the plugs in December. By mid January I had a gas smell in the cab while the truck was idling. After I got up to speed, the smell would go away; it was only there while idling. Two weeks ago, I went back to the plugs and found 3 plugs were loose. #4 was so loose that when I torqued it, it took 1 to 1.5 turns to get it tight. Yikes. Admittedly I didn't spend much time torqueing them when I installed them in December, so it could have been "installer error" on my part. They are torqued to 25 ft lbs now, so I am hopeful the problem is resolved.

eze1082

I've been running sea foam in the fuel every now and then and wonder if that had anything to do with them backing out from cleaning.

galaxie289

Just wanted to add . I had the dreaded "ticking" and thought it was the Cam Phasers, but then I noticed a gas smell in the cab, After reading on here I had the plugs checked and found #4 almost falling out. Replaced it with a new one and gas smell gone and so was the ticking.

Thanks to the forum from saving me from a costly cam phaser job.

redfishtd

Everybody thinks they have the feel and can tell just by past tightening experience .
The other point is people don't self check ,I don't trust myself let alone someone else .
Torque wrenches don't cost that much and with modern equipment they are a must . You can strip out aluminum threads in heads by over-tightening or if too loose the plugs strip out the threads as the sparkplug is ejected out of there .
Rotors can be warped by unequal torques , lug nuts can be sheared off . Wheels can and do come off by not torquing nut on front wheel bearings . The f150 needs 295 pounds on that front bearing nut . Even with the big 300 pound torque wrench it feels wrong but it isn't ,that's a lot of mojo .
Since i'm an old guy I can tell you my feel is way off from what my torque wrenches say . Yours may be way off from being tired or sore .
Those sparkplugs on my 05 5.4 3v were a big pain when they broke so no way am I going to be careless with my plugs . I am changing them about every 30k . I torque check them at least twice after I clean the carbon out of the hole .
Click it or lose it .lol

Mod (Ret.)

an old thread revived. Good to see the search does work at times.

atxford

Just wanted to post a thank you! My front drivers side had backed out even after torquing to spec.

650NutKase

go 5 ft lbs over spec. This will keep them from backing out.