The 2004 to 2008 Ford 3 valve engines 4.6 5.4 6.8
has been resolved.
The truck is great. The engine is great. The help from Ford is not.
Ford used a poorly designed Spark Plug also made by Ford (Motorcraft).
When the breaking plug problem came out Ford made an 11 page procedure "Just to change these plugs". This did not solved the problem!
If this procedure worked, then why does Ford Service Centers charge YOU for breaking your plugs and or removeing your
Cylinder heads doing "the" procedure?
In some cases $3000.00 to $4000.00.
Service Centers charge $350.00 to $400.00 just to replace your plugs, IF nothing goes wrong. 35 inch pounds of torque should not break a Spark Plug. Hard to get to plugs is a normal in most engines. I have no problem with that. Thoses who choose to do their own repairs know this is not normal.

This is the real problem.
Ford will NOT help people correct this screw-up they made.
They did not help the 1999 to 2003 Ford people when their Spark Plugs were blowing out of the engine because they only put 3 threads in the head.
The solution
A class action suit has been filed in 6 States already and is growing.
I feel they screwed me so I am in.

 

I don't know what you are trying to accomplish with this thread. yeah, we all know about the spark plug issue. I experienced it first hand and was very upset at the high labor bill to change my plugs. I still prefer Ford to any other manufacturer by a wide margin. but this has been covered over and over and over again. And the problem was only with the 5.4L engines. Again, you can post whatever you want, I just don't get it I guess. You're kind of beating a dead horse here.

 

He is trying to get more people to force Ford to address the problem I think. Its a good idea but the problem is that its 4 years after the fact. I have a 2006 and I found a shop that changed mine for $100 plus parts. They did not break a plug but they took every precaution. It helped that I lubed the plugs for several weeks before I did the change though, I think. What has my tailfeathers ruffled is Fords stupid front disc rotor idea. They are meant to be thrown away at your first brake change and if you have them turned they are too thin to be reused. They warp every 10K miles like clock work. Thats where you need to sue ford. Thats a safety issue.

 

Hmmm...
I smell a Troll

 

I was going to leave this one alone, but I had to come back and put my 2 cents worth in. What did G.M. do back in the '70s when their P.O.S.'s were rusting off the frame after just 3 or 4 years? Did they buy new sheet metel for their customers? I don't think so. They just went on making the same mistakes for the next several years. What did G.M. do for the cars that had the paint just peel off the hood or trunk? Sorry, it's out of warranty.
Fordication, put a micrometer on a brand new after markent rotor. I't already at minimum. I've got almost 23 K on my '07 and no front rotor warp and that's with two tire rotations.

 

54K on my rotors. Put new pads on a few months ago and the rotors were fine. Only warping I ever heard of was from poor driving technique like riding the brakes, or over loading them (heavy/frequent towing).

 

No there was a problem with some of the rotors. Mine warped very easily on my factory rotors. I had them turned at about 40,000 miles and they warped again quickly. I just ran them, I just did a front rotor and pad change at 81,000. I put akebono pads on and duralast rotors. We'll see what happens now. But, I do not ride the brakes, or do a lot af towing, and I have a brake control installed, so when I tow my dad's enclosed trailer, the trailer helps me out on the braking as much as I want it too.

 

My factory rotors warped at about 60,000 miles. I had them replaced and these warped within 10,000 miles. I do not ride the brakes, nor do I tow anything heavy. I decided to put Duralast rotors on 22,000 miles ago and have not had any problems since.

 

My '07's rotors are originals with 32K on them and brakes are great. I live in the western part of Virgina and the truck was originally sold in Waynesboro and the OO lived in Salem and I found it at C-burg and now it's back near W-boro.

Point is .... NOT FLAT country.

I do use that button on the console to kick it out of OD on long down hill runs or when coming into 45 zones from a 55 zone. On steeper WVa. type grades, I'll frequently drop speed and bring her back into 2nd from 3rd.

I rarely need brakes in dring these hills, but if I left it in OD I'ld sure use them a lot. My '77 has about same rear gear with 3.50 where as the '07 has 3.55 gears, but the '77 does not have OD 4th so when you let up off that, it slows.

As to the plugs, I'll get the tool and plugs and do that by 50 K.

 

I have changed my front rotors 3 times now and tried having them machined twice due to warping issues... You should not have to down shift and or use a trans brake or exhaust brake to save your discs... I travel for my job coast to coast mountians to prairies and a lot of offroad and city driving... I had the duralast rotors on last change and they also warped... I am now running powerstop drilled and slotted rotors all the way around with ceramic pads, I have about 2000 miles of xcountry driving on these with no issues yet, and they stop very nice and have great pedal feel, break in is very important on ceramic pads for pedal feel.

As for the initial start of this thread "spark plugs" I believe class action lawsuits are a great idea, the problem is real, Ford admits to it, and it is expensive to some, it really should be a recall to Ford, they really should own up to it. I love Ford and have driven Ford trucks all my life and will continue to. I have also dealt with the plug issue had 2 break off but removed myself and repaired...

 

FWIW, Recalls apply to safety issues only.

Always fun to talk about Ford's responsiblity in dealing with poor designs. I guess the multiple TSB's and plug/head redesign's are a sign that Ford has done nothing to address this issue. What do you want Ford to do, replace your plugs for free, give you new cylinder heads or a new motor all for free? In my book, Ford screwed up but they did provide resolution.

To the inexperienced (those who have not yet changed their plugs) the breakage problem seems like a huge issue. Once you've done the job and used the right tools to extract broken plugs (if you break any). You'll find that it's really not as horrible a deal as you've lead yourself to believe. Heck there are folks who have changed their plugs with no breakage and without following the TSB.

 

I don't think the OP is trolling, just ticked off that he got caught up in this issue that Ford should have backed in the first place but refused.

I think that a class action suit is appropriate if for nothing else to partially assist those who were affected by the design flaw concerning broken plugs and spitting plugs.

And yes, I think we are beating a dead horse and I also believe that Ford turned their back on some loyal customers.

Thankfully I didn't get caught up in this but my BIL's 2000 V-10 was spitting out plugs like broken teeth for a while.

Being the good truck they are, they did fix the design problem. It's not good enough to say that other car builders have their issues too, we're driving fords and we've kept Ford alive and well.

 

Closed until forum moderators can look over posts.