I have to remove the driver side head because a spark plug broke in the head. I tried the lisle tool and it worked on 5 out of 6 broken plugs. I have my truck in our school shop right now and am wondering if it would be easier to pull the engine from the truck or pull the cab off. It's a 2006 SuperCrew short bed with a 5.4. Thanks for the help.

 

I have not done it yet but my understanding is that it can be done without either.

Hopefully someone who can state wither way with certainty will chime in.

 

With the tool already removing 5 broke plugs it might be just dull and not grabbing like it did 5 plugs ago.

Try a new/ different Lisle tool before pulling the head

 

^ this.

 

Read the above posts, all are true.

I had the same issue, but worked around it.

Get a new lisle tool. Get a drill bit extender (10ish bucks on amazon). Get a 90* drill adapter if its the plug against the fire wall.

Drill into the plug, the electrode may have broken off "too long", keeping you from being able to bite into the plug with the lisle too.

And for the record, you can pull either head without pulling the engine or removing the cab. It's actually way easier to remove the driver's side. Repair manuals recommend pulling the engine for the job, but it's totally unnecessary.

 

I had another shop spend 1.5 hours with a different tool trying to get it out with no luck. I almost have the engine ready to pull and then I will try the drill bit trick.

 

Still not sure why you're planning on pulling the engine out to remove the head.

 

It does make torqueing the head bolts much easier, but I'd take an extra half hour of fiddling with that over pulling the engine

 

Having just pulled and replaced my engine. I would never pull the engine over pulling the cab. the cab can be pulled leaving the fenders on. It is much easier than pulling the engine. While it's off you can touch up spots on the frame rails that may have rusted as well. the joy of working on the engine without the cab in the way will make up for the aggravation. I also managed to scrape some of my sound deadenor when I pulled mine which pissed me off as well