mrdux

Here's my scenario;

I took my 07 FX4 5.4 to have the plugs changed and new fuel filter installed. The truck had a minor miss under load that was not there under normal driving. Most posts here pointed to a spark plug issue. The independent shop owner said they were very familiar with the plug issue and had done several that had broken with no problems. They ended up pushing the electrode sleeve on one plug into the cylinder and it ended up costing me $1010.86 to get it back after they took off the left head and fished out the sleeve. I was pretty upset to say the least but I figured they didn't do it intentionally and Ford had just designed a crappy plug. I took the truck with a lighter checkbook but no hard feelings toward the shop.After reading several similar posts here I figured I wasn't the only person who had to deal with this.

As soon as I got it back it started having a noticeable hesitation when taking off then soon after it started really acting up when it was idled down while the engine was warm. It would sound like a diesel trying to run on 1/2 its cylinders. I took it back to the same shop since I feel they had not done something correctly when they put the top of the engine back together. They spent 2 days swapping out parts on the fuel system, throttle body control, etc. After they decided they had done all they could, they took it by the local Ford dealer to get the opinion of their most knowledgeable mechanic. He said it is a cam phaser issue and out of the last 3 they had tried to fix, 2 were no better after the $1800 repair and the customers received refunds. The independent shop called me and told me to come pick the truck up since they were in over their heads and had no idea how to eliminate the problem. They handed me a work order that had almost $500 worth of parts that had been replaced and marked it NO CHARGE. At least I felt they TRIED to take care of it.

My question; this problem did not start until after they had pulled the head to remove the broken plug. Could they have possibly gotten one of the cam phasers out of whack when they reassembled the engine? The truck runs great right now until it drops down to warm engine idle then about 1 out of 4 times it starts to "diesel". The rough idle clears right up once the engine is revved back up to above 1000 rpm.

I have an appointment to put the truck in another Ford dealer service shop who has a much better service record on the Triton 3v engines. I have told them I want them to diagnose the actual problem then let me know how much this is going to set me back. I know I'm going to be out a big chunk on this but don't see I have any options if I want to continue owning this truck. The really aggravating thing is I bought this truck with 69K miles on it after I sold my 01 F150 5.4 that I put 170K miles on and never turned a wrench on except regular service.

Should I consider going back on the shop that did the plug work when the truck is finally fixed? The owner has a good reputation and does a ton of business for the local police depts, dealers, etc. I don't want to start a s***storm unless I feel I have no other options and find out they WERE at fault.

Any ideas?

Mod (Ret.)

Your point(s) are very well put. Since this is costing you out of your pocket, you are doing exactly what I would do: research and find a reputable mechanic experienced in this 5.4 Triton engine.