F53 V10 First Timer Questions

j.robinson389 wrote:
My wife and I just bought a 1999 31' Georgetown Class A on the Ford F53 Chassis with the V10 in it. 30,000 miles. My wife and I are still fairly young (early to mid 20's) so we don't have a lot of vacation time yet, so we won't spend a great deal of time traveling in it, we are more of the drive somewhere and park it for a week type of people. So costly handling and driveabilty upgrades will probably not happen. I expect only about 2k miles per year for us. But I do have a few questions about the chassis and drivetrain.

Questions:

1. I have read about countless problems about these engines blowing out spark plugs. Is there anything I can do to help prevent this? I am pretty sure the original plugs are still in it.

2. I believe there was a problem with the original oil dipstick on this chassis, how do I know if I have the updated one or not?

3. Do you recommend spending the money and buying a ScanGauge II? Or is usually not necessary?

4. Should I put a transmission tuner on it? It seems that Trans Command is popular is this the "best bang for your buck" unit, is it a must have product?

5. What transmission was put on this chassis? 4R100?



Any other advice or recommendations would be greatly appreciated, we are new at this, and I want to try and make as few "rookie" mistakes as possible.


Thanks for your help,
Jake

427435 wrote:

Golden_HVAC wrote:
The early V10's in motorhomes only had a problem when the person installing the spark plugs overtightened them, and pulled out the threads. Usually not a problem in a RV IF you left the spark plugs alone and never replaced them until the 100,000 mile change interval. That would take years!

The spark plug torque is only 37 foot pounds, and torquing the plugs to 50 or 75 foot pounds would remove any threads from the aluminum head, and it would never fit properly, until a new set of threads where put into the engine (this can now be done without removing the heads) and new spark plugs installed.


Fred.

The part about not messing with the spark plugs in the pre-2003 V10's is a good idea unless you or the mechanic have time and really know what they are doing.

The 37 ft-lbs will also likely tear out the aluminum threads. The correct torque is about 14 ft-lbs. You really need to use an IN-lb torque wrench set at 168 IN-lbs.

For more info, here's a copy/paste from an old post of mine:

The design (4 threads in an aluminum block) is not very robust. When plugs are changed at a dealership, they usually don't get changed correctly. To do it correctly (maybe cautiously is a better term) takes time that a dealership won't invest. I have also previously posted this.

If the mechanic just put his wench on the plugs (especially, if the engine was cool), he may have taken some of the original aluminum threads out with the steel threads on the plug------leading to a failure done the road. It is also probably a good idea to also recheck the torque every 20,000 to 30,000 miles.






From what I learned on the Ford V10 Forum the proper torque was 168 IN-lbs with high temp never-seize on the threads.

Better to remove the plugs, but that has to be done carefully to avoid problems. Here's how I did it.

1. Remove the coil-on-plugs and blow out the spark plug wells with compressed air.

2. Squirt in WD40 or PB Blaster and LET SET OVERNIGHT (or at least an hour).

3. Loosen the plugs just 1/8 to 1/4 turn!!! NO MORE.

4. Squirt more WD40/PB Blaster into the well and LET SET OVERNIGHT.

5. Remove the plugs and check the threads in the head with a bright pencil light.

6. Check/replace the plugs (be sure gap is correct----which I think was around 0.055").

7. Place a LITTLE high temp never-seize on the plug threads. Be sure none gets on the spark plug tip!!!

8. Hand start the plugs (a spark plug socket with a rubber insert and a 6" extension is a big help). The plugs should screw in easily until their shoulder bottoms in the head.

9. Torque to exactly 168 IN-lbs (14 ft-lbs).

10 Recheck the plugs after 5,000-10,000 miles (and maybe every 25,000 miles thereafter to be safe).


If all else fails (or you want an insurance policy when traveling), buy a Timesert Kit.



I did the above at about 40,000 miles before heading to Alaska. The plugs came out without any aluminum on their threads-------possibly due to allowing 2 days to let the PB Blaster to soak in.

I rechecked the torque on them after about 20,000 miles and they were all fine. The MH now has about 64,000 miles on it.

I also spent about $400 for the Timesert kit (check fleabay) and carry it as an insurance policy. I doubt I'll ever need it, however, but I wanted to be able to deal with the problem if something happened on the Alaska Highway.


I love the BB Chevy engines also, but finding parts for the V10 and the Ford Chassis is a lot easier than for the out-of-production BB Chevy engine and chassis today.