05 f-150 problem

[jbcalhoun]

I'm curious, why couldn't he change the plugs himself?

The back plugs are up under the cowl and damn near impossible to get to.

The plugs go into the top of the head and have problems with dirt getting in and around the plug. If you don't carefully clean the area before removing the plug you stand a chance of getting dirt into the cylinder and or on the threads and can gall or even strip out the threads.

It's an all day affair for me to change the plugs on the 5.4 or 4.6 and it isn't because I'm 61. They are just a bitch to get to.

Brad

 

[M. Sage]

Nah, access isn't a problem. There's more than enough room to do it (especially if you start pulling other crap off the truck - if it's in your way, take it off!). The problem is the design of the funky-ass plugs they used in these trucks. They only did it for a few years. It's extremely easy to snap a plug off in the head.

I'm curious, why couldn't he change the plugs himself?

Requires a special socket to change the plugs (they're 9/16"). Requires a very special tool to extract a plug in the (very likely if you're unfamiliar with this job) event that you break one off. Requires all damn day of soaking the top end of the plugs in something that will creep in and eat the carbon that jams the plugs in place, carefully turning them just a little bit forward and back until that happens and you can remove them. I've done two of these trucks. Broke one plug on the first job, zero on the second one because I knew what I was looking for. Had to borrow that special tool to get the broken part out (a $150 tool, and that's a less-expensive aftermarket tool that's still impossible to find from parts dealers - it's good to have connections).

The job goes like this: You start with a cold engine, and you start in the morning. The truck is definitely going to be out of service for a work day. Remove the coils, remove whatever else you need for access. On an 05 I did, I wound up pulling the battery and ECM to get more room. YMMV. Once you have access, you blow the dirt out and break each plug loose. You're only going far enough to break the seal; just that initial "*pop!* it's loose". Because it's not loose... Far from it, there's 100,000 miles (more usually) worth of carbon holding the ends of those plugs in. Now you pour some carbon-eater into each hole. You don't have to fill the holes, a couple teaspoons worth is enough. Too much and you can actually damage the engine if you don't get it out. I used Seafoam because I know it's a badass cleaner. Again, YMMV, but use something that you know will work. Cheap stuff that's mostly kerosene probably won't work... Kroil might (it creeps very well), but I don't know how well it eats carbon.

Then you wait an hour. Carefully work each plug back and forth a tiny bit, maybe 1/16th of a turn, to help the cleaner seep in and loosen the carbon. Go do something else for another hour... After the second hour of waiting (which is going to be about three hours after you start), you might get a plug or two. Some of them will come out way more easily than others, and a couple will be total bitches about it. Don't rush it. When they start to loosen, back them out with a short handled ratchet (long handle will encourage you to overdo it) until they start sticking, then work back and forth a bit and leave it for another hour. Feel is really important here. If you start having to use force, you're going to end up breaking a plug.

The plugs typically break below the nut. There's a long shield around the ceramic. The shield gets stuck to the head because of carbon and breaks off, taking the bottom ceramic with it. There's nothing to really grip, you get a flush top with a tiny electrode hole down the center, in brittle ceramic, so screwing something in that isn't going to work.

Expect the truck to be torn apart for about 6 hours total. It's going to smoke like a mofo when you start it because of the cleaner falling into the cylinders as you remove the plugs. That's normal, don't worry about it. You'll have to drive the piss out of it for a couple minutes to get the smoke to go away completely, or just let it smoke for about five minutes of normal driving.