Anyone driving a Ford

I just finished up replacing the plugs and a couple of coils on my neighbor's Ford Truck with the 5.4L 3-valve engine. What a major nightmare that job is and scary what can go wrong. Then, before I could celebrate, I took a misfire on my Crown Victoria so I will be doing a full tune-up on that later this week.....not looking forward to it either.

I have always supported Ford as I found the parts to be much higher quality than GM, but these spark plug issues make me want to stay miles away from ever buying one again.

Ine has been been very reliable. Ive out over 60k on it just brakes, rotors, starter and the frixkin door latch and lock mechanism but it starting tomllol.like crap with all the dings and dents

97 f150 350,000 miles 02 e150 260,000 miles.
My dad is a GM man he tried to give me grief about a Ford awhile back, so I asked him if he knew way there are so many antique chevrolet vehicles? Because the chevrolet won't run long enough to were it out. End of the conversation, lol.

I have been a Ford guy for the same reasons, but when you have to replace plugs, you gain some grey hair. Between the 2-piece plugs or in the case of my car, heads that only have 3-4 threads, the risk of ruining a head are pretty high.

To add to the fun, nobody can agree on the proper way to replace them. Dealers disagree with Ford and Service Bulletins keep changing constantly while independent shops have a completely different method.

Seems like the bottom line will be which ever methods you use, if it ruins the head, you were wrong. There is a reason why I didn't follow the family tradition of becoming a mechanic.....stuff like this is one of them.

3 threads! What motor. I have used a piece of rubber vac hose to start hard to get too plugs. If it starts and turns easy then its not crossed.

I've said it before and I'm going to say it again, bought 2 brand new fords on 2006 and 2007, also bought brand new chevy on 2006, the fords are E 250s and chevy 3500, the following year the chevy leaks oil from the transmission gear box, while the fords have zero issues, now fast forward to 2009 and 2010 again bought Fords e 250s, the only issues so far with both vans are passenger side axles, and the door handle spring latch the other day, but nothing mechanical so far with Fords.
Now if it were the smaller sedans it might be a different story, I heard horror stories about their smaller sedan line ups, but in that class Chevies are also horrible too, I've had Pontiac grand am that's a nightmare, couldn't be happier the day I sold it.

Gave up on Ford when they went to Triton motors.

My truck is a Chevy, and I'll buy nothing else again. Knew someone driving the Transit, and those things are plagued with problems.

So I am looking to add a Chevy City Express at some point in the future, likely used.

I prefer the cab controls in a Ford, but I will look past it, because of the luck and good service the last two Chevy's have given me.

Reliability is the key feature for me and Ford has stood out in that way for me over the years. I could get 300k miles out of every 302 or 351 motor without hesitation and this 4.6 in my car is at 192k now and has only needed one COP and one injector all these years.

I say all that, but I will also tell you that I do not like the design of the Triton engines either. They have to rev too high to make power and the deal with the spark plugs can turn a tune-up into a very expensive repair rather quickly. If you like to do your own repairs, it can cripple you.

Like you ACE, I have not stripped one yet. I have a good feel for the resistance and know when the threads are engaged well, but getting them out on these motors is where the issue exists. The whole time you hear those squeaks you are thinking about the thousands it will cost if disaster occurs. I don't like it and the shops around here charge a huge premium to work on them for the liability risk involved.

I guess that is why I still drive the old iron. My next vehicle will probably be a late-70's truck again or Jeep CJ. Those things are simple to work on, cheap and plentiful parts, and you don't need scanners to troubleshoot.

I keep finding myself reverting back to cave man with each passing year.

My e350 just hit 175,000. Barely broken in

Damn ! None of my vans hit 100 k yet, you guys are driving some serious miles ! Wow.

You have Dp, just not numerically. Driving in your area is mileage in dog years compared to this area.

Final note on the Ford's....if you plan on changing the spark plugs, get yourself a magnetic spark plug socket. I did the car today and could have punched someone trying to do it without my special socket.

The rubber protector in the traditional plug socket kept getting stuck on the plug. Even after applying silicone to the rubber, it would still stick. With those deep plug wells, the only way to get the rubber doughnut back out was to remove the plug again.

It made life a lot more frustrating than it needed to be. At least it is done now....I think I will stop offering to help others for awhile and try to forget this day.

Lol, I can almost sensed your frustrations, ha..ha...

dp1 wrote:Lol, I can almost sensed your frustrations, ha..ha...

So did the neighbors....Mothers were telling the kids to get inside and lock the doors after the #4 plug.