1997 F150 4.6- spark plug blow out

deerefan · Mar 18, 2014

I was just thinking the other day after hearing about this issue with these motors how fortunate I have been to not have had this happen in 16 years of owning this truck. Spoke too soon. I have found a mechanic 40 miles away that actually put the new motor in my truck in 2009 that is very familiar with the repair needed to provide a permanent fix. I am very hesitant to drive the truck that distance. I feel it may do damage to the cylinder, even if I unplug the fuel injector. Thoughts?

mred · Mar 18, 2014

I had to get my truck towed and AAA very nicely supplied a nice ramp truck and took it 100 miles to my mechanic. Who knew it was free. I would not drive it at all but that is me.

motownbrowne · Mar 18, 2014

AAA plus will do it, not the standard subscription. It's been worth having it for me. You can even use it for someone else's car and really save the day.

Diamondpilot · Mar 18, 2014

My BIL broke a plug 5 years ago on a 5.4 F150. He unplugged the Injector and drove it 3 days before getting it fixed. It will not hurt a thing.

Chris

Stimw · Mar 18, 2014

If you look at Timesert (popular aftermarket repair kit sold) repair instructions it states that the plug blow out problem happens on 4, 6, 8, and 10 cylinder Fords from 1993 through 2004!!
Talk about a flat learning curve!!
Some vehicles need the heads removed for access! (motorhomes) You can't JUST remove the cabs on those for access.

nickc · Mar 18, 2014

i fix these quite often, you probabally could drive it... but i wouldnt. just my .02

deerefan · Mar 20, 2014

Diamondpilot said:
My BIL broke a plug 5 years ago on a 5.4 F150. He unplugged the Injector and drove it 3 days before getting it fixed. It will not hurt a thing.

Chris

The truck is now repaired, $400. This included the recommended repair by Ford and 8 new plugs. The mechanic that did the repair does one of these every few weeks, mainly 99-02 models. Mine is the first 97 he has done. It baffles me that Ford did not release a recall on this. It seems to be a somewhat common issue. It is all over the internet with a couple companies that specialize in this repair. I towed the truck there on our trailer with our new Tundra- pulls real nice.

arnoldziffel · Mar 20, 2014

I too have a '97 with the 4.6. So far, so good.

I'm surprised you had this happen as I thought I read somewhere years ago the problem appeared in the larger engines. I MIGHT have read that the problem also appeared in newer (more valves?) versions of the 4.6 engine.

Diamondpilot · Mar 20, 2014

deerefan said:
The truck is now repaired, $400. This included the recommended repair by Ford and 8 new plugs. The mechanic that did the repair does one of these every few weeks, mainly 99-02 models. Mine is the first 97 he has done. It baffles me that Ford did not release a recall on this. It seems to be a somewhat common issue. It is all over the internet with a couple companies that specialize in this repair. I towed the truck there on our trailer with our new Tundra- pulls real nice.

It was a bad design but the real issue was people over torqued the plugs. They only need 7 ft lbs. A man can do that with a screw driver.

Chris