Jerry9n wrote:
Did mine a few years back on my 06 Expy 5.4. Seems I broke 3 or 4. Followed the Ford TSB to the tee and they still broke. My son works in a lab for Ford and brought home the dealer removal kit. Its use is very complex. I bought the Lisle and it worked much simpler. He took it in so the Ford boys could look at it. Follow the Lisle instructions and you are good to go. A couple of tips:
1. After you get the plug out swab the hole with a q tip with grease or similar after you vacuum to get out any chips of ceramic. (We verified the presence of the chips with a borescope)
2. Use the expensive Ford antiseize on the plugs.
3. Not sure now but when I did mine, the only one piece shell plugs were Champions. Make sure whatever plugs you put in the shell is once piece, not a two piece crimped shell like the OEM.
I had an injector go bad and had to pull a plug after it had been in there about 50,000 miles. Was a bit nervous but it came out with no problem. It was in tight and I think a two piece plug would have broken.
Good luck.
On most of the Ford forums, they lean toward the newer design plug #515. Seem quite a few had problems with the Champions and Autolites. I got mine on Rock Auto for $9 and change ea. The Lisle tool was $63 there also. If you haven't used Rock Auto, they have pretty good prices and selection, even OEM parts. I changed out my malfing multi-switch on the steering column two years ago and got a Motorcraft for $90. Dealer wanted $375! Took about an hour and very little cussing. I may take your advice on the anti-seize. Supposed to use high temp nickel. Not sure what I have. Just have to make sure to not get it on the tip or threads.
