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5.4 Tritan Ford Engine spark plug blow

M

MSS3020

Well-known Member
Plug blew out on my Ford Tritan 5.4. I see I have choices on how to "fix" this. What have you used and or recommendations..
 
Better get the other 7 out and new installed and torqued correctly this time or else you have the possibility of this happening 7 more times.

If your shop looks at you with a blank stare when you ask them what they torqued your plugs to then find another shop.
 
I should prob add to this that I do my own work most of the time..So I will be fixing this..
 
I'd re-thread it and put a proper insert in it. You know it's a common problem, when you google spark plug rethreading, and ford triton pops up:
like this
 
Seems like it is always the back 2 on the passenger side when I see this happen. There are several ways to do it, but I have found a heli-coil is best. Napa sells a re-threader kit which is what I use. Heavy grease on the tap to get most of the chips. I have done 25-30 of these over the years and never had one fail after repair. Get everything you can out of your way, go slow and careful, anti-seize the new plug threads , dont over tighten it.
 
Agreed. The Torque spec is very low and doing it by "feel" is the best way to end up with a ruined spark plug thread. The plugs need to be changed per spec as leaving them in too long results in the plug galling to the threads and the COPs going bad.
 
Its not always someones fault, water leaks at the hood seal lets it settle down in those long tubes and gets corrosion going which makes them blow out. Read that somewhere in a Ford TSB. Thats why it almost always is the back cylinders, usually #3 when I see it. True a loose plug will do that too, on any engine, especially aluminum.
 
I"m glad to find out this water leak thing is not just on my old "98 F150......I have never found how water gets on the rear plug but it does and gets a miss everytime it is in the rain, a real PITA. Otherwise a great truck, bought new, wife still drives it everyday, 165,000 on it with no major engine or trans problems other than that rear passenger side plug shorting out.
 
Did you recently change the plugs?? I have a 97 Triton 4.6. Neighbor had a Triton 5.4, changed plugs himself, within a week blew one out. When I ask if he had the repair manual, and followed the torque spec, he said; no, just tightened by feel. These have to be right on the spec, not a lb more or trouble will follow, soon. Get other 7 out, check threads carefully with magnifying glass, get manual, follow spec on replacement. If you changed the other 7, get them out now, so you can repair any that need it all at once. Tom
 
Yeah, common issue. You can replace that rubber seal , but it will probably still leak. On my Uncles 97 F150, we built a little shield/gutter type deal to cover just the passenger side near the rear, never had trouble since .
 
I have had the truck for 1 year.. Bought it for a song.. in great shape..new about the prob after I bought it and started reading about it. Prob would have bought it anyway..BUT.. I have no idea about the other 7..I have heard if it isnt missing or in need of tuneup.. leave plugs alone.. ha ha..I was leaning toward the heli-coil way but then I see there is a insert sold that goes in and a special plug goes into insert..BUT plugs are not sold by themselves so not sure I care to go that route..Even considered trying to find a place that might have "Good" heads I could replace out??
 
Changing the heads is NOT fun on that engine ! I know of the kit you are talking about, I personally wouldnt do that one as it looks sorta mickey -mouse IMO .
 
I don't think this has to do with water getting down around the plugs. We had people trying to trade them to us when they were less than a year old. Boss took a few of them in until he found out about the design problems. If we do take 1 in on trade it goes straight to the auction.
 
I'm told there is a special procedure to change the plugs.

The head/sparkplug design is extremely bad = Design/factory defect and should be covered under warranty regardless of miles

Someone talked about a PowerStroke – the original IH/Ford engine was fantastic the 6.x is garbage -lot of head gasket and injector problems

Was a Ford person but purchased a Honda instead.

If the US companies want my business they should make a quality product.

Quality is no longer job one at Ford
 
That happened on my 6.8 V10 about two years ago. Local garage did the insert type repair. No problems since.
 
I think there are some do's and don'ts regarding removing the rest of them too.
Not sure though. I think it involves warming the engine up and some PB blaster and working them out ever so carefully. Maybe google will have it there somewhere.
 
This is NOT a "design defect"! The root cause of this is poor sparkplug installation. If the plug is not properly seated, then it CAN blow out. The fix is usually a "heli-coil", and proper plug installation. No problem. Had one done in a truck at 250,000, and had no problems up to when the truck was sold at 350,000 - and the additional 50,000 the next owner put on.
ANY aluminum head can have this happen.
 
Just the intake manifold gasket. There are two types of GM engines -those that have blown the intake gasket and those that will blow the intake gasket. And it's not just one engine - evrything from 3.8 & 4.3 V6 to 7.4 & 8.1 V8s.
 
2-valve 4.6 L, 5.4 L, and 6.8 L engines found in many 1997–2008 Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury vehicles have an issue with stripped or missing spark plug threads in the cylinder heads. Ford acknowledges this issue in TSB 07-21-2 as well as earlier TSBs. Ford's TSB does not state that this issue is caused by owner neglect. Ford's only authorized repair procedure for out-of-warranty vehicles is to use the LOCK-N-STITCH aluminum insert and tool kit. For vehicles under the New Vehicle Limited Warranty, Ford will only cover the replacement of the entire cylinder head; however, the Ford recommended spark plug service interval extends beyond the duration of the New Vehicle Limited Warranty.[57]

3-valve 5.4 L and 6.8 L engines built before 10/9/07 and 3-valve 4.6 Ls built before 11/30/07 found in many 2004–2008 Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury vehicles have an issue with difficult to remove spark plugs which can cause part of the spark plug to become seized in the cylinder head. The source of the problem is a unique plug design that is made with a 2-piece shell, which often separates, leaving the lower portion of the spark plug stuck deep in the engine. Ford acknowledges this issue in TSB 08-7-6 as well as earlier TSBs. Ford's TSB does not state that this issue is caused by owner neglect. The TSB provides a special procedure for spark plug removal on these engines. For situations where the spark plug has broken in the head, Ford distributes multiple special tools for removing the seized portion of the plug. The multiple procedures required for the different cases/situations of plugs seized in these engines are explained in the TSB. This repair is covered for vehicles under warranty; however, the Ford recommended spark plug service interval extends beyond the duration of the New Vehicle Limited Warranty.[58]

Federal-Mogul, parent company of Champion Spark Plug, and Brisk Silver Racing have introduced a 1-piece machined shell 3-valve spark plugs that addresses the OEM 2-piece spark plug's separation issues.[59][60]
 
fixed a lot of them with a kit from NAPA , rethread the hole and put in an insert, never had a problem after. I have seen some of those heads that only had 2 or 3 threads for the spark plug, so it isn't just installer error , and several that blew out with very low miles before anyone had tampered with them , and some that blew after someone replaced plugs. bottom line is its an easy fix for anyone that bends wrenches for a living, so no big deal. lots easier than putting rings in an oil burner chevy , or timing chain issues, or the aforementioned intakes.....they all have their issues people.
 
Chevys just blow out the company stock when they go bankrupt...
Thanks for keeping your post on topic. Not.
 
If the problem is this common like this is - its a bad design/design defect pure and simple

You should not have to basically rebuild an engine (fords recommendation) at 100k because of a spark plug

If a vehicle can't last more than 100 k with out having its engne rebuilt its a bad brand and we shouldn't buy it
 
A "design defect" is not caused by a maintenance issue - which this IS. I have had 4 5.4 Triton engines (4 different vehicles). Only one ever had this problem - and it was fixed without "rebuilding the motor".

Not a design defect, just poor maintenence. These motors will last WELL over "100 k" - if maintained properly (like any engine). All of the ones I've had were well over 200,000, except the one I currently have - which is at 130,000, and climbing.
People just get excited about things they don't understand. You can buy whatever vehicle you want - I will, too. I'll stick with a Ford because I KNOW they will last.
 
I have an insert kit if anyone wants to buy one. The vast number of these blowouts on this engine make it a design defect that Ford does not make right to the owner. I used one stainless insert and fixed my truck.
 
If everyone is having the same maintenance problem its a bad design = design defect.

Changing spark plugs isn't difficult and shouldn't be -- except in a ford.

By the way if you follow the Ford procedure their is still a very high probability that you'll end up with the stripped plug blow out problem. And ford recommends a head replacement - and a number of dealers recommend a new motor as the cost of the head replacement is high

The problem is that they didn't leave sufficient metal / or use a stronger alloy in the heads where the spark plug threads are. When you remove the plug you end up tearing out some of the surrounding metal. The new plug goes in without sufficient good threads to hold it in and it blows out.

Again design defect

just because you were the exception and had good luck doesn't diminish the problem

If it was simply some one over tightening the plug until it gets easy then I'd agree with you.

But from everything I've heard it's more than likely the removal that's causing the problem.
 
Just to add that Ford doesn't recommend fixing the threads like inserting a Heli Coil or other fix.

Problem is worse when the engine is in a front wheel drive car with very limited access to the rear plugs.
 
(quoted from post at 12:49:54 03/04/14) If everyone is having the same maintenance problem its a bad design = design defect.

Changing spark plugs isn't difficult and shouldn't be -- except in a ford.

By the way if you follow the Ford procedure their is still a very high probability that you'll end up with the stripped plug blow out problem. And ford recommends a head replacement - and a number of dealers recommend a new motor as the cost of the head replacement is high

The problem is that they didn't leave sufficient metal / or use a stronger alloy in the heads where the spark plug threads are. When you remove the plug you end up tearing out some of the surrounding metal. The new plug goes in without sufficient good threads to hold it in and it blows out.

Again design defect

just because you were the exception and had good luck doesn't diminish the problem

If it was simply some one over tightening the plug until it gets easy then I'd agree with you.

But from everything I've heard it's more than likely the removal that's causing the problem.
Click to expand...
t is a stretch to claim no defect, as Ford DID come up with a fix in the replacement & later factory heads by increasing the thread depth to get 5 or 6 threads instead of 3. Note the dates that mark the problem heads 'before' and no problem heads, 'after' the specific date.
 
(quoted from post at 17:16:38 03/03/14) Seems like it is always the back 2 on the passenger side when I see this happen. There are several ways to do it, but I have found a heli-coil is best.
Click to expand...

Had a blow out on my '00 Expedition with the 5.4 Triton V8. Had the local dealer fix it, they heli-coiled it and it's been good to go since (about 6 yrs.). It was the driver side rear, the guy there said that was the hardest to get to, wouldn't know myself.
 

That is most likely the root cause not enuff threads... I will forgive ford as this was the first attempt to use a aluminum head :roll:
 
I have a 2002 Ford E-350 5.4.Bought it with 125,000 miles.At 140,000 it blew a plug. I changed all the plugs at that time.And was lucky it didn"t need a heli-coil. This past January with 215,000 miles, I started it up to warm up. Maybe ten min. of idling. I didn"t get 2 feet out of the driveway and it happened again.Different cylinder this time.Lucked out again and and a new plug went in and held.(for now).After reading this thread I"m starting to get freaked out. So I called the dealer to see about changing all the plugs.! new coil pack $78.00,(2500 miles driving around with the coilpak broken and just hanging on the plug)$5.26 for each new plug.5 hours labor @$430.00 (yes it is a van,very tough to work on) They will warranty 12 months or 12,000 miles. I hate to drop that kind of money.But how lucky can the third time be?
 
(quoted from post at 03:11:29 03/05/14) I have a 2002 Ford E-350 5.4.Bought it with 125,000 miles.At 140,000 it blew a plug. I changed all the plugs at that time.And was lucky it didn"t need a heli-coil. This past January with 215,000 miles, I started it up to warm up. Maybe ten min. of idling. I didn"t get 2 feet out of the driveway and it happened again.Different cylinder this time.Lucked out again and and a new plug went in and held.(for now).After reading this thread I"m starting to get freaked out. So I called the dealer to see about changing all the plugs.! new coil pack $78.00,(2500 miles driving around with the coilpak broken and just hanging on the plug)$5.26 for each new plug.5 hours labor @$430.00 (yes it is a van,very tough to work on) They will warranty 12 months or 12,000 miles. I hate to drop that kind of money.But how lucky can the third time be?
Click to expand...

Try do'n a V10...... What a nitemare... It does pay well tho....
 
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