Back on the hunt, interim project was a disaster need advice.

[Jb1rd]

As many of you know I bought what I thought was a sweet little 2003F150 SC, not so sweet, bad compression and my bad for not getting one done. (Quick survey how many of you do this when purchasing a new to you van, be honest now?) I am now back in the mix and from what I am reading Ford F'd the dog on these 5.4 motors with the plugs which seemed to be the demise of the truck I just bought. Is the V10 the same platformort totally different? Feeling nervous and confused now, don't have deep enough pockets to go along with the stupidity I just displayed:Wow1: not sure which direction to look now??????? HEEEEEEEELP PLZ

 

[QCAuto]

I work on newer crap daily, my vans old school 351w and has 380km all original drivetrain.....so far. I don't usually comp test I just get a vibe from an engine. I just listen very carefully, or I buy as fixer upper and know I'm gonna have trouble!! Only got stung once in thirty

 

[boardrider247]

As many of you know I bought what I thought was a sweet little 2003F150 SC, not so sweet, bad compression and my bad for not getting one done. (Quick survey how many of you do this when purchasing a new to you van, be honest now?) I am now back in the mix and from what I am reading Ford F'd the dog on these 5.4 motors with the plugs which seemed to be the demise of the truck I just bought. Is the V10 the same platformort totally different? Feeling nervous and confused now, don't have deep enough pockets to go along with the stupidity I just displayed:Wow1: not sure which direction to look now??????? HEEEEEEEELP PLZ

Got a smart phone?
A 15$ ob2 wifi adapter and a 5$ Torque app gets you a lot of information about a vehicle in a shirt amount of time.
I personally don't do a comp or leak down test on a vehicle I'm looking at buying. But I certainly hook up to it and run the program to make sure all the system info is looking correct.

 

[java]

The V10's spit plugs too. They are basically the same motor with 2 more cylinders.

Most shops have become quite adept at putting a helicoil in the heads for a very reasonable fee....

 

[BIGdaddy]

Our 2003 5.4L Triton V8 in our Expedition was supposedly not subject to the plug-spitting tendencies of earlier rigs. At least that's what I remember the TSB saying when we I checked on it back in 2004-2005 when I heard about the incidents.

Has it been found that they ALL do it, regardless of model year?

 

[java]

Ah thats true, the latest generation didnt do it. They fixed it half way through the 01 model year.

 

[QCAuto]

The newer ones snap plugs off. I own a shop and charge one hour per plug. YouTube 5.4 broken plugs. I avoid tritons in my personal vehicle after working on them lol

 

[Shocker]

I bought a new Expedition in 2003 with the 5.4 and it was great. Zero issues over the 140k miles we had it. I personally think that the plug issue is overblown to some degree. All you ever hear about is the problems online. So you automatically assume they all suck. You never hear about the tens of thousands of engines just chugging along with no problems at all.

Like the Omnispark on the GM LT1 engines. If you read online, they appear to go bad if you spit on the ground 10 feet away. Even though there are millions of them running around with no problems.

I wouldn't hesitate to get the V10. Just take a look at the service records, etc.

 

[Jb1rd]

Not quite the adventure rig I had in mind but she's an adventure nonetheless 😁 a little happy distraction while I suffer Florida's insanity and find the right Van



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[tgreening]

Nothing wrong with the 5.4 or the 6.8. I've had both and they were relatively trouble free. Few bad COPs here and there,never any plug issues like you hear about, and overall fairly minor stuff. Mine went well over 100k with no major problems. The one V10 had almost 150k on it and I think it was the first time the plugs had ever been chnaged was wehn I did it. The biggest pain in the butt on these motors (to me) was their habit of breaking exhaust manifold bolts. Both 5.4s and 1 of the V10s. Again, not huge trouble, just annoying to fix.

Given what can happen to a modern Ford diesel when it takes a dump (got 3 of those too), I'll take those Ford modular troubles any day.

 

[Arctic Travelller]

The biggest pain in the butt on these motors (to me) was their habit of breaking exhaust manifold bolts. Both 5.4s and 1 of the V10s. Again, not huge trouble, just annoying to fix.

PLEASE explain how this is done, as I currently have four broken studs, but so far no leaks............Thanks, Arctic Traveller

 

[tgreening]

PLEASE explain how this is done, as I currently have four broken studs, but so far no leaks............Thanks, Arctic Traveller

As I recall, every one that broke was passenger side. You need patience, plenty of PB Blaster, and patience. When we did them it was a combination of down through the engine bay, and up through the wheel well. I cant really give you a step by step as I didnt really commit that to memory, and its been a while. None of them were a real pain to get out and replace. I believe there was only one that broke off flush and had to be drilled /easy outted. If that happens for you be extremely careful drilling. Drilling out the bolt is no big deal, but trying to drill out a stuck broken bit is a whole new ballgame. Don't go there.

Hopefully you can commit a few days for it to be out of service. Get it on stands, remove the tires, and anything else that inhibits access, and spray the Blaster. Dont be stingy with it. Do it more than once and over the course of a day or so. Thisis easily spent time, much easier than dealing with busted bolts, so you want to do what you can to not break any more, and make whats already broke easier to remove. While you're in there, replace them all, unless you're looking to just fix and dump. In that case, fix them all. Give the next guy a break.

 

[Arctic Travelller]

Thanks for the info, but what I don't understand is how you actually get the studs out once they have been soaked. Do you drill and use an easyout?..............Thanks again

 

[Bbasso]

Iirc in late 2004 Ford realized the plugs were being spit out and added more threads in the heads to prevent it. So in the mid 04 and newer 5.4 And 6.8 motors have minimal chance of spitting plugs.

 

[tgreening]

Originally Posted by Arctic Travelller
PLEASE explain how this is done, as I currently have four broken studs, but so far no leaks............Thanks, Arctic Traveller

Origanally Posted by TGreening

As I recall, every one that broke was passenger side. You need patience, plenty of PB Blaster, and patience. When we did them it was a combination of down through the engine bay, and up through the wheel well. I cant really give you a step by step as I didnt really commit that to memory, and its been a while. None of them were a real pain to get out and replace. I believe there was only one that broke off flush and had to be drilled /easy outted. If that happens for you be extremely careful drilling. Drilling out the bolt is no big deal, but trying to drill out a stuck broken bit is a whole new ballgame. Don't go there.[

Thanks for the info, but what I don't understand is how you actually get the studs out once they have been soaked. Do you drill and use an easyout?..............Thanks again

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