snowborderz

On the way home last night, i heard a loud noise and then this really loud sound comin from under the enigne. After looking around, i found that the spark plug boot was loose, so i pulled it off, looked in the cylinder, and the plug was just sitting in there. Pulled it out, picked up a new plug, cause the threads on the plug looked stripped, and now the new plug isnt going in. I think the cylinder walls are stripped on the head, cause the plug just spins.....this freakin sucks, anyone know how much this is going to cost me? Anyone else have the same problem before, and maybe offer some advice...thanks

not sure if it matters, but i changed the plugs about a year and a half ago, had the intake manifold replaced in march

Gooman

I had a 5.4 van at work do this,we had the dealer do it and he also took off the other head due to a gasket leak,price was like 2400.00.I think you could probably get it done for 1500.00 or little less.This is not a rare problem with ford triton style motors,I seen a whole web site of disatisfied folks who have had this happen,ford wont offer any help on their defect.sorry to hear of your misfortune and hope your back on the road cheaply and soon..........................Gary99gt5sp

stang2000

Usually if a plugged won't go in and is stripped, the head(s) have to come off and re-tapped to put a heli coil in the bad cylinder, to be able to put another plug in. We have a Ford service van at work and that happened to the van the service mananger drives. I'm don't totally remember, but I believe it was somewhere aroun $1200 to fix it. Be smarter to buy a new head, IF that's what it is. I am no mechanic, but I do know of this particular experience at work.

monkeydude3

it's asbolutely obserd. We have 5.4s coming in our dealer left and right with this problem. The problem is they didn't use enough threads in the head for longevity.

I would think everyone should petition or something. Luckily with me, the NPIs don't have the prob with the plug threads, they have **** for valve guide seals!

Gooman

Stang2000 that price sounds right,the problem is due to too few threads on spark plug hole and one site was saying the coil paks trap heat and the head is aluminum and plug is steel and so on.fact is there are hundreds of these and good ol fomoco is playing dumb.I think not torking the plugs tight enough may play into it and have heard not to use never seize on the threads.This is the only motor I have heard of this problem.I had a plug come loose and blow out of my yamaha waverunner(aluminum head) and I just put it back in,no damage to the threads.This makes me wonder about the 99 gterd I am driving now,oh well wish you luck and the best getting back on the road.................Gary99gt5sp

snowborderz

so you guys think it would be cheaper to just buy a new head and have it installed? if so where is a good place to buy one, and would i have to buy both or just one side?

monkeydude3

don't do just one unless you have to.... i think my car had one head replaced in it's life time and now one bank (the older non replaced head) is blowin oil out really bad through the valve guides, and the other one is pretty okay.

If you can get two new ones... may be a time to look into a head/cam setup...

sorry to hear your woes man... at least you don't look like a diesel truck every time you accelerate!

micheal0484

I believe there is tool that you can get from summit that will re-tread your spark plug holes. Just look around.

stang2000

I had to reedit my thread up there, lol. It said I don't have the experience at work and now I changed to I DO have this experience a t work. Damn it I'm always typing too fast, lol. I was thinking of lunch which is sitting here now to eat.

Don't go buy heads if you don't have to, like I said I just know of what happened at my work and it COULD be possible but I am no mechanic. BUT if you did have to have it done and the estimate is $1200 or so, ****, then buy 2 new heads, maybe even something ported if you can swing it for that much.

red99droptop

I had the same problem, I was driving normal heard a little sound at first and then the plug blew out of the head when I accelerated a little. I took it to a mustang performance shop I deal with and he said he see's this a lot. It happened right after I bought the car and he said whoever had the car over-tightend the plug and stripped the head. They put what he called a head insert in and fixed the problem for 150 dollars. No more problems. He said he has had many people go to the dealer or other shops and they tell them that they have to replace the whole head, and he says it is not neccesesary. Told me I will not have any problems with the head insert, I did not have any problems after.