'01 5.4L Supercrew, 260K miles, New to me as of August

I had a plug blow out today. The #7 I think - drivers side, 3 back from the front of the engine. Cracked the coil pack off the mount. I disconnected the coil pack, grabbed the plug and limped her home.

The plug threads look fine, so I threaded it back into the head. It felt fine, but I didn't torque to 28 yet. Just got it in hand tight and did maybe 1/4 turn more.

Am I delusional in thinking that the plug may have just been torqued too low and came loose? I heard a tick the last few days from the drivers side and assumed that it was an exhaust leak....whoops!

Also, I assume that I need to get a whole new set of coil packs and not just replace the one? Never had a vehicle with coil packs before. If I'm doing all the coil packs, I might as well do plugs while I'm at it also.

Any thoughts?

 

Your most definitely not delusional to think that. In fact, more likely than not that's EXACTLY what caused the plug to blow. If you think you can get a good crank on her ***, id definitely reccomend 28-32ft lbs, I do 29 just being me. Lol

Edit: no, you can just replace that one coil. Ideally if you want it to run absolutely perfect you could replace All of them. But replacing that one coil with true MC will not hurt a thing.

 

Check all plugs for torque, replace the broken coil. No need to replace good coils. Unless you like throwing money away

 

^^^ Edzackly dis!

 

Well, looks like the head is stripped. I put the torque wrench on the plug and it just spun and spun. Damn it. I guess I'll be reading all about how to fix this now.

If I have a shop do it, what can I expect to pay?

 

Not sure on shop. But you have three options I believe. I have personally used first one
option 1- doorman thread insert, cuts threads into head and uses special extended spark plug,, I believed I used this kit
http://m.oreillyauto.com/h5/r/www.or...5425&ppt=C0334
Option 2- helicoil- you cut threads and the insert becomes a thread,, not correct for vehicle, first one I found
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Helicoil-...&wl13=&veh=sem
Option 3 - timesert
http://www.handsontools.com/Time-Ser...FRCTfgod1coCSw

 

That Dorman kit is for a 3V head. That plug isn't a special plug, it is the same style plug the 3V's use.

 

I used a kit just like that for my 2v. And it shows on the website it works for a 2v.

 

Yeah, I saw that the Doorman uses a different plug. That seems kinda hokey to me, but I know a lot of folks have used it.

I'm leaning toward Time Sert. The kit is $435 on Amazon HERE. Kinda steep, but the plus side is that it can be used over and over and I have a feeling I'll be doing this fix again. Plus, Time Sert seems like more of a permanent fix. I'd rather do it right the first time, so if the kit is $435, so be it.

Any leads on getting it cheaper somewhere?

There are several "this was so easy" reviews for Time Sert on Amazon, but is it really? I'll be doing this in the driveway...no garage.

Thanks for the help guys!

 

I did the doorman kit in the street in front of my house in thirty minutes. Have about 10k miles on it so far. But I have heard great things about timesert.