My BIL's F-150

[Diamondpilot]

Well over thanksgiving dinner my BIL told me he had a check engine light on in his 2006 F-150 4x4 SuperCrew with the 5.4L and 3.73 gears. We went out after some football and checked it out and the code said miss fire on the #8 cylinder.

I asked him what maintenance he had done to it and he said "not ________".:laughing: He said he gets the oil changed every 5,000 miles and the air filter once a year. Its on its second set of tires which the first set made it to 70,000 miles and it has new front brakes as of 10,000 miles ago. By the way it has 108,000 miles. He had never changed anything else on it.

We sat down and formulated a plan with a shopping list and decided to change both the front and rear diff with synthetic gear oils, the tranny fluid and filter along with a bucket flush, the transfer case, coolant, fuel filter, air filter, and spark plugs and of course the bad COP on cylinder #8.

He came over last night and we pulled it into the shop and pulled the drain plugs, dropped the tranny pan, and started everything draining. We also followed the Ford Service Bulletin on spark plug removal.

This morning we went out and buttoned everything up and installed all the fluids, filters, ect. We ended up breaking one spark plug off and did not have the proper tool for removal so we just buttoned it up with 7 plugs, disconnected that cylinders injector, and he drove it home 70 miles. He said it had a miss and would vibrate a little at certain RPM's but other than that it drove fine.

He will be taking it to his Ford dealer a few miles from his house Monday morning for them to deal with the plug.

He was kind of upset and its a bummer that Ford built such a great truck but he settled down a little when I pointed out that its cost him only 1 set of tires and front brakes above normal oil changes, a few air filters, plus gas. It will be interesting to see how much they charge him and I will post back but even it they get him for 4 hours labor and parts for a total of maybe $300 that is not bad for a truck that lives on construction sites, pulls trailers, battles snow in the winter, and life in the city stop and go traffic for 108,000 trouble free miles. This is 3rd F-150. He had a 99 with no problems and traded at 100,000 miles for a 2003 that he traded at 60,000 miles for this one. This will be the first issue with any of the three.

Just wondering if anyone else has had issues with plugs breaking off?

Chris

 

[not2old]

Just wondering if anyone else has had issues with plugs breaking off?

Chris[/QUOTE]

It's a common problem with the modular motors and actually all Fords with aluminum heads. Champion makes special one-piece plugs for these motors and I'd recommend everyone re & re theirs plugs frequently, using anti-seize every time. I believe there is a proceedure for soaking the plugs in penetrating oil overnight if there is reason to believe they haven't been removed in awhile. Best to make sure of this while still under warranty.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Just wondering if anyone else has had issues with plugs breaking off?

Chris

It's a common problem with the modular motors and actually all Fords with aluminum heads. Champion makes special one-piece plugs for these motors and I'd recommend everyone re & re theirs plugs frequently, using anti-seize every time. I believe there is a proceedure for soaking the plugs in penetrating oil overnight if there is reason to believe they haven't been removed in awhile. Best to make sure of this while still under warranty.[/QUOTE]


We did just that, soaked the plugs. We first backed them out 1/8th of a turn and soaked with Carb Cleaner. We let it sit 15 minutes then blew them out and soaked overnight with PB Blaster. They were in for 108,000 miles. From what I read on the net if you do not changed the plugs by 60,000 miles expect problems. I can not believe he let them go this long but thats my BIL.:ashamed:

I did some reading on the net and they say just as you did that this is a common problem. Its sucks but I can live with that since its been such a good truck. Not even a light bulb replaced and it still looks as good as new with the exception of a small golf ball sized dent on the tailgate.

 

[Dmace]

Champion 7989 one-piece plugs

We found these after spending a weekend removing two broken plugs from my good friends 06 F-150 5.4l after just 60k miles. Also needed to replace two COP's but at least their cheap (>$50).

 

[75H2]

Just a lurker on this thread, don't have a P/U, yet. But, I thought I read before that the only way to go was motorcraft replacement plugs as they had some unique "coating" on the threads? Hype or fact??

How hard are the plugs to see/reach on the 5.4? I'm old enough to remember when you could reach them on older sbc's

 

[flusher]

Well over thanksgiving dinner my BIL told me he had a check engine light on in his 2006 F-150 4x4 SuperCrew with the 5.4L and 3.73 gears. We went out after some football and checked it out and the code said miss fire on the #8 cylinder.

I asked him what maintenance he had done to it and he said "not ________".:laughing: He said he gets the oil changed every 5,000 miles and the air filter once a year. Its on its second set of tires which the first set made it to 70,000 miles and it has new front brakes as of 10,000 miles ago. By the way it has 108,000 miles. He had never changed anything else on it.

We sat down and formulated a plan with a shopping list and decided to change both the front and rear diff with synthetic gear oils, the tranny fluid and filter along with a bucket flush, the transfer case, coolant, fuel filter, air filter, and spark plugs and of course the bad COP on cylinder #8.

He came over last night and we pulled it into the shop and pulled the drain plugs, dropped the tranny pan, and started everything draining. We also followed the Ford Service Bulletin on spark plug removal.

This morning we went out and buttoned everything up and installed all the fluids, filters, ect. We ended up breaking one spark plug off and did not have the proper tool for removal so we just buttoned it up with 7 plugs, disconnected that cylinders injector, and he drove it home 70 miles. He said it had a miss and would vibrate a little at certain RPM's but other than that it drove fine.

He will be taking it to his Ford dealer a few miles from his house Monday morning for them to deal with the plug.

He was kind of upset and its a bummer that Ford built such a great truck but he settled down a little when I pointed out that its cost him only 1 set of tires and front brakes above normal oil changes, a few air filters, plus gas. It will be interesting to see how much they charge him and I will post back but even it they get him for 4 hours labor and parts for a total of maybe $300 that is not bad for a truck that lives on construction sites, pulls trailers, battles snow in the winter, and life in the city stop and go traffic for 108,000 trouble free miles. This is 3rd F-150. He had a 99 with no problems and traded at 100,000 miles for a 2003 that he traded at 60,000 miles for this one. This will be the first issue with any of the three.

Just wondering if anyone else has had issues with plugs breaking off?

Chris

The Triton engines are well-known for spark plug problems. The plugs are difficult to remove after 100K miles and the two near the firewall are bears to get to. My 01 F150 with the small Triton has 106K miles on it and will need plugs soon. I asked my dealer for an estimate--$20 each for platinum plugs and about $200 labor in case he damages the threads in the head and needs to install inserts in one of the holes. If he does the job with no thread damage, then the labor cost will be adjusted downward.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Champion 7989 one-piece plugs

We found these after spending a weekend removing two broken plugs from my good friends 06 F-150 5.4l after just 60k miles. Also needed to replace two COP's but at least their cheap (>$50).

Thanks Dmace. I have seen them plugs after reading about broken plugs in F-150's. He did not get them but I read about them later. He got some $13 a piece Denso or NGK plugs, I can not remember which it was at AutoZone.

I am curious how you got it out? I know there is a tool kit but this one broke off flush at the top of the sleeve where the threads end. We go on the net and some say to chip it out. I was scared to do that. I could see if it pulled the porcelain out then you could tap it and make a puller using some all thread, a piece of pipe, and a jamb nut to pop it out.

As for the COP's, they are cheap, he paid $30. I see them on line for $15 to the door. This is the first one I have had to replace and have owned 6 F-150's, my dad has had 4, and my BIL is now on his third. Granted me and my dad change trucks at 50,000 to 80,000 miles and my BIL keeps them about twice as long unless he just gets a wild hair up his butt to get a new truck.


The spark plugs is not the smartest design but at 108,000 miles if this is the first issue he can live with that. He works construction so his truck lives a hard life and its been a good one. He is not the best at maintiance. He had a Grumman Aluminum "Bread Truck" that had a seamless gutter rig in it. It was powered by a Dodge 318. I was there and he was washing it and we pulled the dipstick and there was no oil on it. My buddy said do you want me to run to Napa and get some oil? He said heck no, it made it here, it will make it to Napa to get some oil... Thats his attitude.

He is kind of torn. He married my sister 12 years ago and was a GM man. Me and my dad changed him. He was commenting on how many water pumps, transmissions, switches, ignition switches, ect he used to have to change as we were doing all this stuff this weekend. He was telling me about being towed off the site a few times and the Ford and Dodge guys giving him crap. The one thing he did like was he could work on them trucks pretty easily. They were all 90's era trucks with 350's and pretty simple but broke down often. He is upset at Ford now but its not really that big of a deal and once he though about it over a few beers since he has gone 10 plus years without any shop time till now.

Chris

 

[Diamondpilot]

Just a lurker on this thread, don't have a P/U, yet. But, I thought I read before that the only way to go was motorcraft replacement plugs as they had some unique "coating" on the threads? Hype or fact??

How hard are the plugs to see/reach on the 5.4? I'm old enough to remember when you could reach them on older sbc's

It may very truck to truck but his is a loaded 4x4 Lariat. The drivers side is easy and you access them from the top. The are up by the valve covers. The passengers side is a little more difficulty because of more hoses, ect. He removed the computer on the firewall via the 4 10mm screws and 3 wiring harness and it made it much simpler.

So many things are hard to work on these days. My dad is a Corvette man and everything on it is a 8 hour job. I am not sure there is any truck on the market that is easier to work on than another. The hope is you do not have too.:thumbsup:

I think the Motorcraft thing is hype. Its not the threads, its the stainless sleeve that extends beyond it. Good plugs like Dmace pointed out and anti-seize will go a long way.

Chris

 

[Diamondpilot]

The Triton engines are well-known for spark plug problems. The plugs are difficult to remove after 100K miles and the two near the firewall are bears to get to. My 01 F150 with the small Triton has 106K miles on it and will need plugs soon. I asked my dealer for an estimate--$20 each for platinum plugs and about $200 labor in case he damages the threads in the head and needs to install inserts in one of the holes. If he does the job with no thread damage, then the labor cost will be adjusted downward.

The plugs on this one were not too hard to get at. We had plenty of extensions, universals, ect. After doing it I would think $200 in labor is a fair deal. I would just send it to the professionals though at that price. I am guessing he will have that much at just getting that one broken plug out.

It comes down to him as this has been 108,000 of trouble free miles. He now has to spend a little money to get it back in tip top shape. Us doing all the fluid changes ourselves saved him $400 in labor easily and we had just $150 in supplies. Not bad for every fluid in it changed other than the brake fluid and all new filters.

Chris

 

[mperatikos]

i read your threads here , #1 use the motorcraft plat. plug and put antiseize on the threads #2 do not use and aftermarket COP they tend to have resistance variations that will trigger a missfire code even when you dont missfire , you only save $15 with aftermarket, #3 snap on and a few others make the proper socket for the plugs, and change them every 75k miles...... oh yeah always make sure the engine is dead cold when you rmove the plugs