ford4v429 Posted December 14, 2008 Share Posted December 14, 2008 (edited) With the 'now fixed' head designs of the 3V heads, please dont 'forget' about those prior to the new ones- everyones becoming painfully aware about the plug extentions snapping off in the head at removal...even following the most current TSB about the problem, something as simple as removing a spark plug can become dangerously expensive...Champion and Brisk Racing are making one piece plugs- great idea(DUH), but the champions I bought are the poorest quality part Ive ever seen- even at 103.00 a set. The Brisk plugs look ok, but are over 20 bucks apiece, and I never heard of them before- why cant Ford get a Autolite/Motorcraft/whatever OEM quality replacement requested for the couple million of us out there stuck (pun intended) with the original plugs- I'm sure if Ford suggested a alternate spec one piece motorcraft replacement it would be good for everyone concerned. Saddest thing is after the blowouts on the 5.4's theres another spark plug issue- these types of things simply cannot be afforded in this day and age, when the chevy guys at work start razzin about Ford not even being able to properly design a spark plug hole, its kinda hard not to agree- I'm still kinda suprised there wasnt a class action suit on the 5.4 blowout issue...5.4 plugs might not stay in the head, now 4.6 plugs might not come out...even the most die hard Ford guys gotta be scratchin their heads a bit about such basic problems making it into production for years... On the 4.6 its another such basic 'oops', yet can easily cost folks over a grand to get a set of plugs changed- with the same 'bad idea' 2 piece plug for next time... a good quality one piece plug would sure be nice. heres some pics of the Champions I bought- wrote Federal-Mogul(own Champion) about it months ago, no response...Made in Mexico in case anyone was thinking maybe they were Chinese junk. the one with the short threads- will it bottom out/damage my cylinder head? I aint gonna find out, the three with the off center electrodes- do you gap them diagonally? No thanks. the fine metal shavings crimped under the seal- wonder if theres any on the INSIDE to fall into the engine? again I aint gonna find out. My 06 has over 23k on it now, but I'd rather wait till a OEM quality plug shows up than risk messing up a great running car to pull/never-seize the plugs...at least my 09 has the newer head design- lets just hope there isnt some other big boo-boos in that design...the wifes 07 V6 shouldnt have any troubles either from what Ive heard- just the V8's with the crowded chambers.. short threads on one of the 8/way off center platinum tips/'steel wool-like' shavings under the seal Edited December 14, 2008 by ford4v429 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atomaro Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 You dramatically reduce the chances of a failure if you remove them before the recommended service interval. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ford4v429 Posted December 16, 2008 Author Share Posted December 16, 2008 You dramatically reduce the chances of a failure if you remove them before the recommended service interval. worst Ive heard so far was even following tsb on a 20k car still breaking 6 of the 8 off...I think plugs are supposed to go 75 or 100k, but even low mile cars are having them snap...and quite a few reports of plug fouling from the recommended nickel anti-seize. best prevention so far I guess is pulling every 5~10k, cleaning and re-neverseizing...but I'd also be worried about wearing out the aluminum threads as everyone that pulls them sucessfully even says they screech all the way out- gotta be rough on those threads. At least with a one piece plug you could muscle them out once every ten years without worrying about snapping the extension off while trying to remove at 30 ft-lb like the stockers are doing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2k05gt Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 worst Ive heard so far was even following tsb on a 20k car still breaking 6 of the 8 off...I think plugs are supposed to go 75 or 100k, but even low mile cars are having them snap...and quite a few reports of plug fouling from the recommended nickel anti-seize. best prevention so far I guess is pulling every 5~10k, cleaning and re-neverseizing...but I'd also be worried about wearing out the aluminum threads as everyone that pulls them sucessfully even says they screech all the way out- gotta be rough on those threads. At least with a one piece plug you could muscle them out once every ten years without worrying about snapping the extension off while trying to remove at 30 ft-lb like the stockers are doing... I pull mine every 10K to clean them. I race my 2005 Mustang so I don't see the carbon buildup that daily drivers do. I replaced the plugs at 35K I now have 70K on the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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