Hey Ford Techs! 2005 5.4L Ford striped spark plug
 

Somebody was just asking about this problem. I just had the plugs replaced about 15,000 - 20,000 miles ago.
I could tell yesterday something was wrong as it developed a mis.
Today the check engine came on. Went to the same shop and it coded bad #7 coil. Then they noticed the spark plug was loose. Since it would not tighten, it's stripped. That's all I know so far, have to wait until Monday now.
I know the "help" section at Checker & AutoZone sells an "on head heli-coil" insert for this. I guess the theory is any particles will be blown out the exhaust. Being that it is #7 on this Expedition, I can't imagine it's easy to vacuum it out.
And of course I can't imagine the labor in pulling the head off and doing it the right way.
Any ideas?
And I've had the famous tappet noise for quite awhile also. Is that most likely in the head assembly or cam adjuster. No fault codes and TSM's seem to indicate this is normal.
Truck is too nice to get rid of (and I just spent $1500 on all new air-ride parts) and a new vehicle is just not in the budget.
I even looked at the 2011 GT 5.0L at $6999 retail and boy, that sure would be cool and cost effective but I can't imagine it's an easy swap. Or is it?
Thanks for the input!

Re: Hey Ford Techs! 2005 5.4L Ford striped spark plug
 

If you go with the helicoil, fill the flukes of the drill and tap with grease before use, and most if not all the cuttings will stick in the grease.

Re: Hey Ford Techs! 2005 5.4L Ford striped spark plug
 

I posted a similar thread about these a month ago. I was interested in buying a 5.4 Ford van.
Ford sells a kit to repair these issues. You are first I have of with this problem in something newer than a 1998. I was under the impression that the problem was solved (new head design). I guess it is also possible that your shop stripped it miles ago and it is just now working itself out.
Very sorry about the problem but I am very interested in how you fix it.

Re: Hey Ford Techs! 2005 5.4L Ford striped spark plug
 

just use the sleave kit that ford sell. i do them at work all the time and none have come back yet. the tap nose is normal for that motor.

Re: Hey Ford Techs! 2005 5.4L Ford striped spark plug
 

Jeff,

Our company has hundreds of vehicles with the 5.4, I know of several over the last 5 years that have spit out spark plugs. Once they helicoil the head, all is good.

Good luck

Sean

Re: Hey Ford Techs! 2005 5.4L Ford striped spark plug
 

X3 on the Helicoil. I have done a few and have not had one come back.

Re: Hey Ford Techs! 2005 5.4L Ford striped spark plug
 

Thanks...I can sleep better tonight!

Re: Hey Ford Techs! 2005 5.4L Ford striped spark plug
 

You must be very carefull doing this as there is NOT alot of material for the Helicoil to "bite into"

Re: Hey Ford Techs! 2005 5.4L Ford striped spark plug
 

As I recall there is a tool available to tap and heli-coil the spark plug hole and captures all of the tapping debris. I think it was sold through Eastwood.

Re: Hey Ford Techs! 2005 5.4L Ford striped spark plug
 

May not have been stripped when the plugs were changed, Ford has/had a problem with those motors.Research it...
This is the reason I won't buy new Ford, or ANY Ford. I had an Eddie Bauer model Expedition that did the exact same thing in 2006 . Since I traveled a lot for business I bought the extended warranty from Ford because my wife is handicaped and if I was out of town I wanted her to be able to call someone to come and get her and get it fixed.

Loved the truck other than its propensity to suck gas, but one day, right in front of a Ford dealer a plug blew out on the ground. She literaly turned off the street and went to the service department.

The Service manager showed her a repair order for one the just finished that morning, 4100.00 to fix it, but it should be covered under warranty.... he said. There was no Helicoil kit available for it then, you had to replace the heads

Long story short, or at least shorter, in the end it took four months and a law suit to get them to pay half. Their rational, "it was not a lubricated recipocating part and therefore not covered"
THEY BLAMED THE SPARK PLUG! The fact is the machine that cut the threads had the occasional off day, it didn't always cut them deep enough. Its like a lottery, get a bad one you're screwed

First call to Ford Customer service got "We don't have a problem"

Several rungs up Ford's Customer Service Ladder all answered the same way,...

Really, the local delaership had done three, and that was a small town dealer. Another nearby dealer had done several... Whats more there was a class action law suit involving some 30,000 cases... But Ford had never heard of the problem... BS !!!

Original plugs never changed, under the mileage for the warranty... Took it all the way to a V.P of Customer relations who told me in these exact word "Sorry you feel that way, maybe you SHOULD buy a Toyota"

They finally settled and paid about half...

This was after I had a crap load of trouble with a 7.3 and its POS trans in an F350 and I let a car salesman talk me into trying another Ford.

And by the way, the V10 does it too.

F... Ford

Re: Hey Ford Techs! 2005 5.4L Ford striped spark plug
 

did the repair kit on a ford lightning p/u and no problems and it was my bosses kid who owned it and he was hard on cars and trucks and as you know these have a blower

gmonde

Re: Hey Ford Techs! 2005 5.4L Ford striped spark plug
 

Jeff-
NAPA sells a repair kit that comes with a self tapping plug adapter that converts it to a HT series Autolite plug (used on late model Mustangs).
It also comes with the plug and a shorter plug boot (plug sits higher with the adapter). The kit is reasonable in price(under $100) and is something that many shade tree mechanics have bought from us and given positive feedback. I'll post the part # tomorrow when I get to my store.

Eddie Bolton

Re: Hey Ford Techs! 2005 5.4L Ford striped spark plug
 

Napa also sells an Improved design Champion plug for this problem. stock #7989

Re: Hey Ford Techs! 2005 5.4L Ford striped spark plug
 

Heli coil makes a kit to address the problem with the half thread plugs. Used it many times and I rent it out to other mechanics in town. Everybody that uses it loves it and cant believe how easy it is to use.

Re: Hey Ford Techs! 2005 5.4L Ford striped spark plug
 

I think the NAPA # is 770-3223 its called Sav-a-thread--- you end up with a M14-1.25 thread size when ya get done---better double check but thats the number I remember-----you hafta use a different size(diameter) spark plug too when ya get done---comp

Re: Hey Ford Techs! 2005 5.4L Ford striped spark plug
 

Turned out the fault code for distributor was actually the spark plug was bad, somehow it lost the electrode. Not the ground strap, the electrode. That explained that problem.
Apparently the plug was loose also. That caused some carbon build up around the threads. So the mechanic tried to tighten the plug and felt something wasn't right (this was Sunday afternoon). So Monday morning he consulted the TSM on spark plug r&R (imagine a TSM on R&R spark plugs!) which I also found online Sunday night.
Engine should be warm, not hot.
spray Ford solvent down the spark plug tube.
Let soak.
Loosen spark plug 1/4 turn.
spray more solvent.
Let soak.
Lather, rinse, repeat...
Once he got the plug out he saw the plugs were intact. Plug replaced. Parts and labor were free under warranty from the shop.

This has been a very good vehicle as it has not cost me any money except maintenance and wear items for almost 115K miles. I change the oil every 5K with synthetic and have followed all the prescribed maintenance intervals. I just spent about $1500 on all the air-ride but if this was a standard suspension vehicle I would be on my second set of shocks by now (which would still be cheaper than air-ride). The left door regulator went out a few months ago (on our E-150 also, same week!). It still has the original trans and rear end which I'm not confident I could say about a 1/2 ton GM product with 115K on it (and I'm not the easiest guy out there). I consistently get around 16 MPG in city / freeway driving, rarely dips into the 15 MPG zone and if all freeway would be 17-18 MPG and that's with 3.73's.
I do not like the "tappet" noise but everything I've researched says it's an inherent problem (why?). I wonder if that is also an issue on all Ford modular engines. My 5.4L 2V E-150 with 100K on it doesn't have that issue and I don't hear it on every Mustang out there.

FYI - my research on the heli-coil fixes is be careful the insert is the same material as the cylinder head. Some are stainless and are not the same heat exchange and can cause grounding problems with thermal expansion differences?

Re: Hey Ford Techs! 2005 5.4L Ford striped spark plug
 

I've seen that before!! Was it the platinum on the electrode that fell off?

Re: Hey Ford Techs! 2005 5.4L Ford striped spark plug
 

Yes...
Funny thing is, it hasn't run this smooth at idle for a long time. When I had the plugs changed back in August, it was an attempt to get it to smooth out along with injector cleaner, fuel filters, etc.
So my WAG is the plug was bad from day one. I'm already seeing about 1 MPG increase in similar driving conditions.

Where I got hosed is when I took the truck in with 48K on the odometer, just before it ran out of warranty. The Ford dealer service advisor told me there was a recall on the plugs and they would all be changed under the recall. So when I changed the plugs at a little over 100K miles, I thought it was the second set of plugs. Wrong. The plugs pulled out were the originals. So some Ford tech flagged Ford for the hours, probably turned in some plugs that were in his tool box and I went home thinking I was set for another 50,000 + miles.

Re: Hey Ford Techs! 2005 5.4L Ford striped spark plug
 

Glad to hear you got it fixed. The NAPA part # that I was refering to was 600-3248. Anyone interested should look it up at NAPAonline.com. You can see a picture of it after you enter the part # in search. The kit is slick and can get you out of a bind in a hurry.

Eddie Bolton

Re: Hey Ford Techs! 2005 5.4L Ford striped spark plug
 

While not really a Ford guy, I recently have acquired some experience with these things, mostly in Ford Expeditions, F150 and F350 pickups. The 5.4 isn't exactly the hardest pulling thing you ever drove, especially in an F350. We only had one blow out a spark plug, and it went back to the dealer on warranty. I work for the City of Los Angeles Department of General Services, Fleet Services division. What we have are an epidemic of engine misfires caused by antifreeze and water getting on the coils, migrating down the spark plug well, collecting there and shorting out the secondary ignition, especially on the passenger side cylinder bank. This is caused by failure of the connectors on the two heater hoses.Coolant leaks under pressure from these points and drips directly onto the coils. The yellow light comes on, the SCAN tool comes out, and the P0300 Engine Misfire codes are displayed, by cylinder.The first time one of the guys had to tune one up, he was screaming bloody mayhem and murder at it. That's the most difficult to work on truck I ever have seen. I had to replace an engine in a 2003 F350 with a new crate engine, and that got the award in the shop as being the year's nastiest job . There's a secret warranty on the head threads, but they obviously don't want you to know that so they can get paid twice for it. Who else but a dealer??

Re: Hey Ford Techs! 2005 5.4L Ford striped spark plug
 

I have used this kit to repair several 5.4's very easy to use and so far no problems.

http://www.denlorstools.com/home/dt1...to_repair.html