Triton V8 in my Ford F250; seven out of eight spark plugs broke in the cylinder heads as I was replacing the plugs.



The tool is an extractor used to pull the broken piece out of the head. It is pretty much an all day job. WTF!

 

I'm a mechanic in Detroit.

I can't even remember how many of those I've had to do?! I think that engine almost ruined Ford. Supposedly, they had to design that style plug do to the way the head was built? At least they were nice and gave it a different sized socket head so the average diy'er has to think twice about removing them. That extractor kit isn't cheap either.

The only ones that are really shitty to do, are the two closest to the firewall. Anytime a 3 valve ford comes in for a tune up I tell the customer upfront that if any break, it's $150 a piece for me to extract them, plus the cost of the tune up.

That usually scares away most of them, and I don't care one bit...Let Ford deal with it.

 

The very last one I pulled was near the firewall. It did not break cleanly, and I thought I was fucked. I ended up screwing the plug back into the head, and then quickly backed it out again. It broke cleanly, and I was able to pull the top out and then use the extractor.

I have heard of nightmares where the extractor does not work, and you end up pulling the cylinder head. My blood pressure went through the roof.

 

make sure you anti-sieze the new ones! lol that sucks glad you got them out though!

 

Well, I anti-siezed most of them. I had installed a few before I realized that they should be anti-siezed.

I also learned after I bought the plugs and had most of them in, that there is a new one piece plug that will not break when you pull them.

Anyone know if this is true?

 

Isnt it standard to anti-seize all plugs all the time?

 

I always do but some people give me the stink eye for doing so... I guess it's because I used to be a Ford tech so it was pretty standard procedure there.

 

Problem identified.

 

It is rare that I am literally rendered speechless by idiocy of design.



The fact that a dedicated tool exists whose sole purpose is to remove broken spark plugs from the head of a Triton V8 engine...

 

Yes, but on the threads. These little bastards like to break off below the actual threaded section on the extended part that contains the electrode/ground strap. Over thousands of miles of heat cycling, that part pretty much becomes fused to the cylinder head and due to its cheap, thin walled design, snaps off when you try to remove the plug.

Just be thankful you own a pickup truck and not an econoline van with the 3v head.

 

Have an 06 rustang gt in need of a tune up, hated life when I first read that problem about a year ago. Might just bite the bullet and take it to ford to deal with.

 

Pro-tip: Just never change the plugs.


The estimate I give for the job is between $500 and $5000. One, I had to buy the tool, so that's a charge. Two, it's a pain in the ***, and then some, so that's a charge. Worst case (I've seen it) the car needs head removal and a trip to the machine shop. If it were my car, I'd buy some junkyard heads, do the new plugs on the used heads, and then just swap the heads. It's easier on the back.


If you change them, anti-seize is obvious, as much as you can get on the threads, without getting too much into the combustion chamber or on the electrode. There is a 1 piece repair plug that can be used. It plugs onto the broken plug, and makes the car drive-able. It doesn't fix your issue (needing spark plugs), but the car is okay. Generally, you just suck it up, and get the ******* out.


**** THE FORD 3 VALVE.

 

FTFY.

Hey Troy, tell them about your Dodge truck with the broken seatback tilt mechanism that requires you to jam something between the seatback and back of the cab to keep the seat from flopping backwards.

Detroit is the toilet and the domestic auto industry is still circling the drain.

 

It's reassuring to see that little has changed since the glory days when I pwned a '93 Grand Am with the infamous LD2 "Quad 4" engine.

 

Oh the quad 4. The beast

 

The longer I go without a tow vehicle, the more I realize I want a Toyota or Cummins.

 

I got really good at removing and replacing the cylinder head on that engine.

 

I remember it was one of the hotter 4 cylinders back in the day. I vaguely remember its reliability issues. I never had one, but drove one once and was pretty impressed for a young lad.

 

Problem with the ford is two fold, the long threads stick into the cyc and develop carbon buildup that locks them in the cyc head. The other issue is the stock plugs are not all metal as you have found out and break in very very easily.

Problem one solution, believe it or not I have a friend that is a master Ford tech and has used this for years with great results. Use a 1/2 impact on the plugs. It shocks off the carbon and they come right out. Dont it myself and it worked great.

Problem two is that you replace the plugs with all metal ones, as much as i hate to say this Champion makes an all metal plug that will take some torque and come right out in the future.

 

Thanks for the great tip. I heard about the all metal ones, but Advanced Auto does not yet carry them. They failed to mention they exist when I purchased the plugs.