Might get this... what should I look for & ask about

[cj309]

Not to dispute about the v10 but I have a 2003 and have had no trouble out of it besides the fuel mileage which in my excursion runs 10 In town 12.6 hwy. just my 0.02

 

[Diamondpilot]

Not to dispute about the v10 but I have a 2003 and have had no trouble out of it besides the fuel mileage which in my excursion runs 10 In town 12.6 hwy. just my 0.02

My uncle has has 3, a 99, 02, and a 05. All 3 are plow trucks. Not a single issue. About a dozen customers of mine have them, most with 4.10 gears but one with 3.73 and one with 4.30 gears. All are around 12 mpg. One guy spit 2 plugs on his 01 but other than normal maintenance all the others of my 15 truck sample have been great.

Even the one that spit the plugs the fix was done for something like $500. Not out of line for a 13 year old trucks upkeep.
It's no diesel, never will be, but its by far the best gas engine in trucks of that era.

Chris

 

[CJONE]

My uncle has has 3, a 99, 02, and a 05. All 3 are plow trucks. Not a single issue. About a dozen customers of mine have them, most with 4.10 gears but one with 3.73 and one with 4.30 gears. All are around 12 mpg. One guy spit 2 plugs on his 01 but other than normal maintenance all the others of my 15 truck sample have been great.

Even the one that spit the plugs the fix was done for something like $500. Not out of line for a 13 year old trucks upkeep.
It's no diesel, never will be, but its by far the best gas engine in trucks of that era.

Chris

Chris I have been finding a common thread with the spit spark plugs. The majority were changed and not torqued in correctly. Sad but alot of mechanics are living in the 80's and not following procedures the the mfg are specing. Do you think that was the case with your experience on the spit plugs. CJ

 

[Peacock]

Chris I have been finding a common thread with the spit spark plugs. The majority were changed and not torqued in correctly. Sad but alot of mechanics are living in the 80's and not following procedures the the mfg are specing. Do you think that was the case with your experience on the spit plugs. CJ

A majority of the plugs that were spit out while I was at the dealer were original.

Funny how when it first became common Ford stated that they were over torqued by techs. Yet many had the white paint dot indicating factory installed.

The problem isn't with torque. It's the piss poor design that uses 4 threads to retain the plug.

 

[Patches]

Friend has an '02, I'm pretty sure, V-10, F350 and has just over 50,000 on the clock and just had the exhaust manifold bolts replaced, again. The selling dealer did the repairs both times, so gave a little help with pricing, but what the h#!! is going on there? When questioned about the issue they had no answer for him, other than to say they had 3 more to do after his; 2 V-10's and a 5.4

 

[Diamondpilot]

Chris I have been finding a common thread with the spit spark plugs. The majority were changed and not torqued in correctly. Sad but alot of mechanics are living in the 80's and not following procedures the the mfg are specing. Do you think that was the case with your experience on the spit plugs. CJ

Can't say. He bought the truck used and it happened two years later.

Other then brakes and a alternator it's needed nothing in 140,000 miles.

Chris

 

[Stimw]

A majority of the plugs that were spit out while I was at the dealer were original.

Funny how when it first became common Ford stated that they were over torqued by techs. Yet many had the white paint dot indicating factory installed.

The problem isn't with torque. It's the piss poor design that uses 4 threads to retain the plug.

The Timesert instructions say that the repair kit covers Ford 4-6-8-10 cylinder engines from 1993 thru 2004!!!

 

[Peacock]

The Timesert instructions say that the repair kit covers Ford 4-6-8-10 cylinder engines from 1993 thru 2004!!!

Yeah iirc, the 3.8 also had inadequate plug threads, but didn't have enough cylinder pressure to have a problem. They typically just blew the head gaskets instead!

 

[CJONE]

Can't say. He bought the truck used and it happened two years later.

Other then brakes and a alternator it's needed nothing in 140,000 miles.

Chris

I have had more problems getting em out than fixing blown ones. The timeserts work great. I do agree on the piss poor design AND the aluminum head on anything that needs to last. CJ

 

[slowzuki]

Re exhaust studs - I think mine has had 2 or 3 broken since I bought it several years ago, once it heats up they seal right up so there is only a slight noise. I'm guessing if I replaced them they would break again so I'm gonna let it be.

Re the plugs, mine is an 01, I'm not sure if the plugs have been done but I haven't spit one out yet. They are at about 120,000 miles now, I guess if it starts misfiring I'll have to try changing them. They last so long now its easy to put it off a long time. The newer trucks had the 2 piece plugs that break apart which is a different bit of fun.