'99 - '03 Cylinder Head Problems On 5.4L

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Robert Krecak - 28 Apr 2006 11:21 GMT

Has anyone experienced or know of anyone who has had a sparkplug blow out of
their cylinder head and strip the head threads for no apparent reason?
Apparently there are 100's of people across the country that this is
happening to and Ford is not admitting to any wrong doing. It seems that the
#3 sparkplug hole on the passenger side only has 4 threads making it
susceptible to thread stripping, even with the originally installed
sparkplugs. Was curious to see what people had to say about this problem.

Bob

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Ole - 28 Apr 2006 11:36 GMT

> Has anyone experienced or know of anyone who has had a sparkplug blow out of
> their cylinder head and strip the head threads for no apparent reason?
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>
> Bob

Take a look at this site:
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/printme.php?url=/automotive/ford_spark.html

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IYM - 28 Apr 2006 13:22 GMT

It seems to indicate that every one of those stories involved the 5.4L....Is
it different for the 4.6L? I have changed my plugs 2 times and have never
had any issues (knock on wood)....I have 100K on the truck. I changed the
originals at 75K, then at about 90K the engine started running rough
whenever I gave it some gas when I needed power. I thought I had a bad
plug, so I changed them all again, but it turned out I had a wire starting
to go bad. New set of Ford wires and it fixed the issue. I never had any
issues with this truck and it get great mileage (about 18-19 hwy) for a full
size pick up. So anyway, any concerns on the 4.6L as far as this plug blow
out issue?

> > Has anyone experienced or know of anyone who has had a sparkplug blow out of
> > their cylinder head and strip the head threads for no apparent reason?
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> Take a look at this site:
> http://www.consumeraffairs.com/printme.php?url=/automotive/ford_spark.html

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SnoMan - 28 Apr 2006 12:56 GMT

>Has anyone experienced or know of anyone who has had a sparkplug blow out of
>their cylinder head and strip the head threads for no apparent reason?
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>
>Bob

THe problem is that Ford used a improper torque spec and head/plug
design and they loosen up and wobble until the threads are eaten away
by hot gas errosion and plug rattle and then they blow out. Stell and
aluminum has defferent expansion rate when heated which aggrevates the
problem) Ford redesigned head and changed plug type to fix problem. If
you have a old one, do not panic, just make sure plugs are snug/tight
and check them again after a few thousand miles and see if they are
lossening. Also check them warm, not cold as they will get tighter
when they are cold as aluminum contracts around threads. Whn you
remove them for serviceing, do it from a warmed engine, not a cold
one.
-----------------
The SnoMan
www.thesnoman.com

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