2007 Ford V10 engine
My son is a mechanic. He stated that Ford V10’s are notorious for “spitting out “ spark plugs. Has anyone experienced this problem?
Forum Discussion
T18skyguy wrote:
If you do the job always get new spark plug boots. I got mine at NAPA, and I used Motorcraft plugs. On the Ford forum they advised against Autolite or NGK. I used a very small amount of anti-seize and torqued them to the spec the advised.
The boots are pretty inexpensive. Add a touch of dielectric grease to both ends of the boot when installing it.- When Ford first came out with the 'modular' engine (V6,8 and 10) the plugs were initially a problem. The early ones also had issues with the timing chain tensioner. By 2005 those problems were engineered away. The V10 is a 300K+ motor now. I'm always quite interested when I hear of people having blown them up. I just have to wonder what they did to cause that?
- If you read the instructions for "Timesert" (aftermarket repair kit) it says it covers Ford 1993-2004 4-6-8-10 cylinder engines.
Talk about a flat learning curve! - Wikipedia
2-valve 4.6 L, 5.4 L, and 6.8 L engines found in many 1997-2008 Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury vehicles may have aluminum cylinder heads with threads for spark plugs that are stripped, missing, or otherwise insufficiently bored out. Ford acknowledges this issue in TSB 07-21-2 as well as earlier TSBs. Ford's TSB does not state that this issue is caused by owner neglect. Ford's only authorized repair procedure for out-of-warranty vehicles is to use the LOCK-N-STITCH aluminum insert and tool kit. For vehicles under the New Vehicle Limited Warranty, Ford will only cover the replacement of the entire cylinder head; however, the Ford recommended spark plug service interval extends beyond the duration of the New Vehicle Limited Warranty.
3-valve 5.4 L and 6.8 L engines built before 10/9/07 and 3-valve 4.6 Ls built before 11/30/07 found in many 2004–2008 Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury vehicles have an issue with difficult-to-remove spark plugs, which can cause part of the spark plug to become seized in the cylinder head. The source of the problem is a unique plug design that uses a 2-piece shell, which often separates, leaving the lower portion of the spark plug stuck deep in the engine's cylinder head. The 2-piece OE spark plug design is intrinsically flawed, thus making it susceptible to this problem. Ford acknowledges this issue in TSB 08-7-6 as well as earlier TSBs. Ford's TSB does not state that this issue is caused by owner neglect. The TSB provides a special procedure for spark plug removal on these engines. For situations in which the spark plug has partially broken off in the cylinder head, Ford distributes multiple special tools for removing the seized portion of the plug. Their TSB explains the multiple procedures required for handling the different cases/situations that occur when parts of plugs are seized in these engines. This repair is covered for vehicles under warranty; however, the Ford recommended spark plug service interval extends beyond the duration of the New Vehicle Limited Warranty. carringb wrote:
They aren't "notorious" for it. It's just the only problem they've really ever had. But it was very limited.
The initial '97-99 V10s only had 4 threads, so the plugs weren't hanging on tight to start with, but the bigger problem was over-torquing them during services.
2000-2003 had more threads, but it turned out the real root cause from some (again, only a small number) having plugs blown out was the threads weren't concentric with the pilot bore. This is why a handful of engines would have multiple blow-outs, and why Ford recommended repairing all threads in a cylinder bank. By the end of 2003, Ford had replaced all the machines doing that step, and the problem went away for good.
After 2003, it's a total non-issue. I suppose it's possible for somebody to still over-torque a plug using air tools, but that can happen with any aluminum head.
Starting with 2005 3-valve V10, which the E-series never got, they gained a new problem with the new extended plugs getting stuck and breaking. This was mitigated with an updated single-piece extended spark plug, and an improved method for removing them from carbon-fouled engines. But again, this only affects F-series and F53 Class A chassis.
This ^^- All of Ford's "modular" engines (4.6, 5.4, 6.8) have had the problem, which is on the scale of a few thousand incidents over several million engines, most of which involved throwing improperly installed replacement plugs. About the same rate as modern Chevy small-block V-8s. That has not kept me from buying Ford vehicles with V-8 and V-10 engines, none of which has reached the mileage for a plug replacement, and none have thrown originally installed plugs.
- MEMTB said " I suppose it's possible for somebody to still over-torque a plug using air tools, but that can happen with any aluminum head."
I have never in all my years of turning wrenches ever seen a mechanic use an air tool to remove or install spark plugs. Anyone who claims to be a mechanic hand threads them in to snug then torques from there. Anti-seize is always involved. - I would think that Anti-seize would act somewhat like a lubricant and cause over torque.
Dusty - A similar experience, for what it is worth. In 1968 I bought a BMW with iron block and aluminum heads, short threads. Plugs needed frequent service, 3000 miles nominally, but really you needed to run a different heat range for around town vs high-speed highway driving, so I needed to change plugs often. About 1 in 10 of the plug changes, a plug would break and stick in the head. I had a special tool (actually a large square shaft screw driver) for removing broken plugs. The seized plugs would never really damage the head, but they were a PITA. BMW recommended against thread lubricants, because they tend toward over-torquing the plugs.
I ultimately fixed the problem by trading the BMW for an Audi, aluminum block with iron heads. I still needed to change plugs for highway vs around town, but steel on iron, they never seized. That car got replaced by a Chevy that would go 30,000 miles on one set of plugs, plug tech was improving.
