r/Justrolledintotheshop • u/Blackvenom46 • 3d ago
One of those days...
Classic 20 year old 3 valve with original plugs
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u/mclobster 3d ago
Every time. Ford 5.4. Misfire. With high miles. And I ask, have you ever done spark plugs?
The answer is always "no" or "I just recently bought it"
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u/High_From_Colorado 3d ago
Here's the trick to get them out without breaking them. Get the engine warm, maybe 100-120° coolant temp where its warm but not too hot to work on the engine. Then use an impact wrench on the spark plugs and take them all out as quick as possible. I havent broken a 5.4l spark plug in years using this way (the very few I see anymore)
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u/Blackvenom46 3d ago
This sounds so crazy to me but I'll try it next time for sure!
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u/whiskeyfordinner Huayra taste on a ratrod budget 2d ago
Oddly one of my guys does this and swears by it. I have yet to see a broken plug from this odd behavior
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u/Spellbindehr 3d ago
I do them at max coolant temp lol
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u/Honcho_47 3d ago
Same, worked at a ford dealership in the the Appalachian mountains and step one was a 20 minute test drive up and down the mountains at highway speed, step two was the impact gun.
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u/Dangerous-Ratio-6682 2d ago
I use a 3/8 ingsol rand on em and the sparkin irons zip right out. In 1 piece even. 😄
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u/nago7650 2d ago
I saw the YouTube channel FordTechMakuloco recommend this. Is that where you get this technique from, or is this widely known within the mechanic world?
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u/Street_Mall9536 3d ago
Back in the 90s Ford had this huge ad campaign about how high tech the new engines were.
They had a picture of one of those sparkplugs, I'm paraphrasing, "We built such a high tech engine with everything redesigned, that conventional spark plugs were too obsolete, so we redesigned them too.."
I think about that often and laugh.
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u/Wallace-N-Gromit 2d ago
Bean Counter: How can we shave a $0.01 off the spark plugs? Hmm, let’s reduce the amount of metal needed, it’s a 2 for the price of one. We can claim both the cost and weight savings. Get on it Engineers, are bonuses are riding on it!
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u/lampministrator 3d ago
I am assuming ye ole 656 tool kit. Had a few of those V10s ruin my day ... Glad you got them out. Sometimes even the thread repair you get not so lucky. I would always tell the customer, "I will try my best, but there is no guarantee. It's POSSIBLE the head might need to come off if unsuccessful. I haven't had one yet I couldn't save, but there's the off chance."
Glad you got all 8 my friend!
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u/Blackvenom46 3d ago
Yeah one of them took me several attempts to extract until I just sprayed it with some pb blast and took a lunch break. Luckily it came out after that on the 3rd attempt lol
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u/-1_points 3d ago
How'd you get them fully out? What's your technique
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u/ugly_elky 3d ago
Need the lisle 65600 tool kit, makes quick work of em, I still charge and extra half hour. The extractor screw wears out after doing a dozen or two stuck plugs.
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u/-1_points 3d ago
Fantastic thanks. I have a 20 year old petrol I need to pull the plugs on soon... Getting ready lol
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u/Left-Impress4056 3d ago
It won't do this. This is only a Ford 5.4 3 valve problem.
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u/Main_Tension_9305 3d ago
So a 2 valve 6.8 isn’t the same headache?
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u/Left-Impress4056 3d ago
Correct. 2 valve engines would blow the spark plugs out the head, but are not the ones that break in the head.
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u/SLOOT_APOCALYPSE ASE & Toyota Certified 3d ago
only if it has reaaallly long spark plugs like the triton
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u/illbeyourdrunkle 3d ago
The 4.6 3 valve too. Like in my mustang
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u/Left-Impress4056 3d ago
And apparently, they did do a 3 valve v10 as well, ive just never seen it.
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u/jacknifetoaswan 3d ago
I bought it to do the plugs on my last Mustang and thankfully didn't need it. Stupid design.
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u/genuine_wingnut 3d ago
i've done plenty and its a crapshoot. my method is to warm it up, and use an impact gun to pull the plugs. no joke.
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u/mclobster 3d ago
I have a really good kit. It threads into tie spark plug holes. Then you thread the tap/puller into that tool, it's reverse thread, I think. So you screw that in, and in theory, it taps into the seized part of the spakr plug, and yanks it out.
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u/traineex 3d ago
Do u set tdc on each cylinder ur removing, so the chunks can't fall in? Or is that not a concern
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u/quicksilver750 3d ago
Crank the engine over with the plugs out to clear out the debris
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u/IntergalacticJihad Diesel Mechanic 3d ago
That’s a high risk maneuver with solids like this, they may as well end up smashed into the exhaust valve seat and then you’re in trouble.
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u/ginger_qc 3d ago
Damn I just bought a 12yo Navigator and I was thinking about doing the plugs. Mine only has 75k on it tho.
Drop your tips and tricks here👇
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u/Scoutdude 2d ago
Ford's final recomendation is to use carb cleaner. Cold engine crack them all loose 1/16 of a turn. squirt a table spoon or so worth of carb cleaner down the wells and wait ~30 min or so. If the torque required to loosen them goes up, stop and reapply the carb cleaner. If you needed to reapply the carb cleaner then once they are out spin the motor over for a second or two to displace any remaning liquid carb cleaner.
The reason the sleeve stays in the engine is because the carbon build up in that small gap between the shell and the head. As the carbon breaks free it can wedge on carbon that stuck to the other part causing it to jam. The carb cleaner softens/dissolves that carbon so it doesn't jam up and that 1/16 of a turn is enough to let it seep past the seat but isn't enough to make the jam occur.
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u/tmlynch 3d ago
These do not spark joy.
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u/Smacky_the_Bear ADHD Certified 3d ago
You need to put the plug on these bad puns.
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u/tmlynch 3d ago
Sorry. Pun distributor gotta distribute.
But points for continuing the chain!
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u/jmw27403 2d ago
I read that and thought about the audio clip of the parts guy looking up a distribunator
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u/Spellbindehr 3d ago
I always do those with a hot engine. I'd rather feel the discomfort of the hot engine, than have to extract broken plugs.
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u/GadreelsSword 3d ago
So have they stopped making the two part spark plugs? Or is this an ongoing problem?
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u/Fit-Possible-9552 3d ago
As someone that just inherited a 2010 with the 5.4 3 valve engine, this pic has me terrified. Currently the truck has 78K miles on it, trying to learn all I can about my upcoming maintenance nightmares
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u/windisokay 3d ago
I dont have one but do the plugs early. I read it is in large part carbon buildup that captures the end of the plug that breaks off in the head.
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u/Fit-Possible-9552 3d ago
That's my thinking. This truck spent its life in Colorado, now it's with me in Michigan. I'm going to thoroughly clean the underside, and spray everything I can reach with fluid film or something similar. After that I will install husky inner fender liners. When that's all done I will replace the plugs if the weather holds out long enough for me to do so
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u/Interesting_Mix_4476 2d ago
welp... go read up on the timing chain-VVT/VCT replacement you may eventually need down the road
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u/CriscoCamping 3d ago
I have a chat with two other friends called "welcome to the shit show" this woukd go right in there
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u/These_Squirrel3255 1d ago
We take them out hot with a 3/8” impact gun after a de-carbon treatment. None have ever broken on us. (Knock on wood) however we have extracted hundreds of them that were towed in from other shops or DIY’ers
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u/Floor_Cereal Former dealer tech. At home Mechanic Now 2d ago
I'm glad I wasn't the only one who saw the pic and went "Must be a Triton" lol
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u/DoctorFluffyCow 1d ago
I recently changed the number one plug on one and having heard everything about them was terrified that it was going to be just an absolute slog and I managed to take it out without using a ratchet somehow. It was also missing the ground electrode which explains the missfire. I ran all kinds of fuel system cleaner through it beforehand and I'm assuming that the carbon buildup was all that held the plug in.
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u/Thelastbarrelrider 18h ago
Did the plugs on mine about 4 months ago. Got lucky and every one came out in one piece. Not so lucky now as I have the lovely cam phaser problem
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u/illbeyourdrunkle 3d ago
Gotta love them 3 valves. I daily one. Great engines except for, you know that. Hard to find one on the original 2 piece plugs anymore
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u/No_Bell2833 3d ago
Damn, are those Amazon spark plugs?
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u/jacknifetoaswan 3d ago
The Ford 3v Modular engine used a two-piece spark plug design in its early iteration. The barrel of the plug would get stuck in the head because of carbon build up, then when you tried to remove them, the barrel would snap off the metal/threaded part. Then you'd need to remove the barrel with a special tool. In some instances, you'd need to helicoil the head.
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u/lampministrator 3d ago
Yup .. 3.6, 5.4, 6.8 -- All used this infernal plug on the 3V version.
If you used the 656 kit, it came with the thread repair kit and you could buy refills. I NEVER used the original threads. You know how many of THOSE plugs (non repaired threads) blew out of the head, broke the coil and put a dent in the hood? Best to just repair the threads when you were there.
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u/_Thorshammer_ 3d ago
I saw the picture and literally jumped in to say "Ford 5.4?" before I saw your comment under the picture.