Ford V 10 spark plug removal

After reading the poat below about ford V 10 engines and spark plug hole problems, I don't think I will be doing a plug change in the near future. How many miles can the engine go on a set of plugs? My Motorhome is a 02, with 37,000 miles. Why is there such a problem? Thanks Stan

well,one problem is the newer engines burn so clean,the plugs last 100,000 plus miles and tend to grow to heads...its not really a new problem...the 360FE engines were a RPIA to get plugs out of after 50k.
drive it till you have a problem and then let a pro break em off...you'll be money ahead.

Recommended service interval on my '01 F 150 is 100,000 miles.

Like another post stated, one of the biggest problems is the extended change interval meant the plug was usually siezed in the head and broke when you tried to remove it. Instead of driving it until it drops and then paying through the nose to get someone with all the special tools to remove broken plugs, and possibly also have to repair the threads in the head, go ahead while the miles are still relatively low and do the job yourself. My suggestion would be to spray some PB Blaster around the plug and let it set for a few days before doing anything. Once it has had a chance to soak remove the plugs and replace then with new ones. Many manuals say to install plugs dry, but I've always put a little bit of high temp antisieze (the silver kind)on plugs I'm installing and have never known it to cause a problem. About the only thing it does do is keep the plug from siezing and make it alot easier to remove to change the next time. Good luck.

The problem is aluminum heads that are real thin in the spark plug area. So you have a very few threads holding the spark plugs in. In some engines it is only four threads from the factory. The aluminum expands and contracts during heat cycles. This causes the threads to wear/weaken. Also the engines running cleaner lets the plugs be in the head up to 100k before the recommended tuneup interval.

So carbon builds up on the bottom of the plug which makes it more prone to seize when being removed. Ford knew of the problem as early as 2006 when they issued a service bulletin with removal instructions and special remove tools to help get the broken plugs out.

So you have a bad designed that was kind of brought on by Ford having to make the engines run hotter to met the EPA regulations.

A good friend had a Ford F250 with a 5.4 blow a spark plug out of the right head at 75K. Plugs had never been touched but Ford told him it was a wear item and would not cover any of the cost of the repair. So a spark plug is a wear item???

Ford also has major issues with their 4.0 OHC engine too. Same friend had a Mercury Mountaineer with 88K shreading the timing guides and ruined the crank with metal shavings. Once again Ford did nothing to help him.

He is now driving his first GM product. He is 61 years old and been a loyal Ford new vehicle buyer,but no more.
Question answered on why Ford is having issues with spark plugs

That is a big part of the problem. Your spark plugs have been in the engine for 11 years already. I would bet that one or more would seize right now if you tried to remove them.

What is the cost of eight or ten spark plugs compared to a ruined cylinder head????

What made the problem even worse than it already was is that you can't pull the heads on many of the Ford trucks, like you can on most other 'normal' vehicles, without raising the cab off the frame. Had a customer about a year ago with one of the Triton V-8's that blew the plug out of #8, and had next to no compression on #8 to boot. About 6 months ago I had another customer that had exactly the same problem. First guy asked me about repairing it. After checking the cost of a used engine and a rebuild, and then seeing that the cab had to come off to do anything, I told him to buy another truck, he'd be money ahead to do so. Second guy just parked the newly minted boat anchor and bought another truck on his own.....

Stan there are a number of reasons that sparkplugs get to be an issue to remove. One is the long time between removing allows for build up that actually makes removing them difficult. The obvious and simple solution would include removing the plugs at more frequent intervals that don't allow such build up. A dear friend of wine who was an engineer at Ford has told me that Fords since the late 1990's have had not much success removing the sand from the castings. This causes what he calls "Errosion corrosion" as the jacket water carrys the sand against the inner surfaces of the heads and intake manifolds etc. This is more apparent at the thermostate when the metal is eaten away at the neck, but, I imagine it may also make the area around the spark plug tubes weaker. The only think I could recommend if this is happening is if you remove the plugs at greater frequency, apply a small (and I mean small) amount of anti seize to the threads of the plugs. Obviously you will not want the very first thread of the plug coated, but, this could help some. Personally, I have my doubts that errosion corrosion is causing much of this issue. I would think most of the problem is the build up on the spark plug. Now I have done work on Triton V10's and since I don't see the truck until it no longer will tow the boat or tractor etc, it is already stuck. I turn it a little out, and then a little in etc until it comes out. I have not yet broken a head, or had to use an impact or anything. It is just hard, and since it was Thanksgiving I am thankfull that no one who has asked me has had a van. The only guy with a van that had a Triton V8 was my engineer buddy. Serious, go figure, and his intake manifold was eaten away around the thermostate.

My Toyota manual says that I don't have to change the plugs until I get 100,000 miles on the engine.

However, I took out the plugs and coated the threads with no-seize compound soon after it was new to make the plugs easy to remove when I do have to change them. Otherwise they can be real hard to get out and might damage the AL head threads by using too much force to get them out.

Works for me.

The problem is not with aluminum heads, per se, but with the head design on certain Ford engines. There's not enough threads to hold the plug into the head, and the plugs literally blow out of the engine. The platinum plugs themselves are fine for 100K, but they tend to blow out long before then.

Google "ford triton blown spark plug" for more info. I think the design problem was fixed in 2003.

When I remove spark plugs from aluminum heads, I like to first heat them using a brazing tip on my acetylene torch. They will usually come right out with no thread damage if you heat them up.

I own a 2001 F-150 with the 4.6 and and hear all the horror stories, so I didn't want to mess with it myself. I took it to the local Ford dealer and they recommended performing a "motor vac" that supposedly cleans the combustion chamber and in the process the spark plug threads. My truck has 151,000 miles on at the time, plugs never been changed. They did the "motor vac" and changed the spark plugs and installed new coil boots, to my knowledge they had no issues removing the old plugs. Maybe they B.S.ed me on the motor vac, I don't know, but I do notice the engine runs smoother and picked up a little mileage but I've only put on 1,000 miles since the work was done.

I changed my plugs in my F-350 w/V-10 when it had 100,000 miles whith no problem.I was warned in advance to be cautious in removal and installation,make sure they stay straight all of the time.There are only a few threads that are alluminum so much care is needed.In my area there were more problems with the 5.4 V-8.Coil-packs started going out about 10,000 miles later,one at a time.

I have never seen an original plug blow out, but apparently others have. I've never had a problem getting the original plugs out. The biggest thing to watch is the installation torque. 05 and up Tritons are a whole 'nother ballgame of plug problems.

you don't have to pull the cab to remove the heads on a triton engine, but it is a whole lot easier to work on the engine if you do.

Found my 4.0 noise, that you talked to me about last week on here, getting ready to go ahead and pull the engine. Got a timing chain and guide kit on the way. Of course it was the rear, timing chain guide. Wish I didn't have to pull the engine to get to that darn bolt though.

Your V-10 doesn't have a problem with spark plug removal. It has the "normal" style plug in it.

Do NOT use any anti-seize or lubricant when you put new ones in. They us a low torque, 7 to 15 ft lbs and if you use a lube they will be clamped to tight before reaching that low torque and THEN they tend to blow out.

Every plug I have had to helicoil was because of improper installation. You should get 80 to 100 thousand miles before needing replacement.

Make sure and clean all of the metal out of the oil pan and oil pump suction tube.

It seems like Ford hired the stupidest engineers they could find in the last ten years. They have had some major flops in the engine area.

1) The overhead cam setup on the 4.0 is a complete night mare. Timing chains have been used for fifty years. Why do you need to drive one on each end of the motor?? No one else does not do that. Then you make it rub around a metal guide all of the time. Real dumb move. If you want more wrap around then use a bearing in an idler.

2) The spark plug issue on several different engine models. 5.4 with only Four threads in an aluminum head to hold the spark plug in. Then making people think they should go 100K between plug changes when new plugs may cost $70-$100. Then causing head damage in the thousands.

3) The 6.0 Diesel junk motor. I have seen some articles state that the warranty issues on that one motor cost Ford 1 billion dollars in warranty claims/cost.

I was really thinking about the next vehicle being a Ford after getting burnt on my GM bonds. I don't think I can afford to own a Ford with the engine troubles they have. I can't afford the high repair cost on relatively low mileage motors.

I was going to check the pan, not figuring to find much, clean break on the end of the guide, figure one piece.