Yeah i am going to have the whole engine out anyways so i should be able to get to the spark plugs easily so i can be careful

 

spray them with a bit of pb blaster an hour before changing them. Taking them out isnt to bad, its putting them back in. Be sure not to over tighten them.

 

There have been a lot of guys who ask about this and the best advice I can give is to use a high quality torque wrench and make sure it is adjusted and set right. If you over torque them, you will strip the threads. If you under torque them, they will back out and vibrate up and down on the threads and strip them out over time. If you don't have one, invest in one because every competent mechanic should have one.

 

Yeah I have a torque wrench. I will make sure it is done right. I will have plenty of time to make sure of it

 

I wish I had plently of time to work on my truck...

 

im going to be doing mine this weekend...not looking forward to it and im a ford tech lol having patience and applying the proper torque and your golden...key word in there was patience...

 

My understanding is it was all PI head trucks up to 2003, which would be 99'-02' 5.4's and 01'/02' 4.6's. There was only 2-3 threads to hold the plug in so if they weren't torqued properly, they would blow out of the head, taking the threads with them. A lot of rebuilt heads from those years have timeserts installed. I know Ford was replacing them (your cost) with 03'-design heads. But if you torque them properly to spec it shouldn't be a problem.

 

Yeah that is the plan.
I do have time to work on the truck but only on the weekend. I just dont want to lol i have to put a whole new frame on the truck this weekend and it isnt going to be fun. But after that i will be on the fast track to getting it on the road!

 

My 2000 5.4 blew a plug, got it just re-tapped, and obviously it blew for a second time about a month later (I am a girl I had no idea, just believed the first mechanic about just retapping the threads) so I found this forum, read some threads, got it fixed with a heli-coil kit this time around by a different mechanic lol. love my truck, hate the engine. I just had the one plug put a helicoil in it, and new boots and plugs put on the rest, hope they hold!

 

Can't you just replace the plugs they put in with plugs with longer threads? And i was also thinking that I should get platinum plugs so they wont rust in there too.