Another one of these! input please

#21
I believe that a helicoil will leave a small point in the combustion chamber which will be a chronic cause of pre-ignition in that chamber. The time sert is the only way to go as far as I know.

Remember, even if it does cost $400, you will be able to sell it and recover some of your cost. Also, there must be guys selling or even loaning theirs...
 
#22
yea i wish one of those guys would speak up. btw.. whats pre-ignition and its affects??. at this point i think i just wana fix this instead of throwing new heads on it with the same damn # of threads. i assume all the p/p heads out there going for 2k could potentially have the same problems and if thats true F that.


ok how about the difference between these two:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Heli...hZ002QQitemZ4649884124QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWD1V

or the timesert:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BIG-...018QQitemZ280036587599QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWD1V

is it just a brand name thing or why are they a 100 dollar diff??
 
#23
Never changing your plugs is not necessarily a good strategy. I had one pop out on my completely stock '03 GT at less than 5000 miles on the odometer. The spark plugs had never been touched. Of course, I don't know if Ford installed them correctly when they assembled the engine.

I considered a Helicoil, but rejected that option after checking the F150 forums, where numerous truck owners reported Helicoils failing after a few weeks or months (the Helicoil and plug come out together). I found zero fails reported by those who had opted for Timesert, so that's the way I went. A local speed shop who specializes in Mustangs did the job for less than $300. It's still OK at 15K miles, so has outperformed the factory by more than 2:1 so far.

I bought a $70 Sears inch-pound torque wrench just to periodically re-tourque my plugs. I don't use anti-seize because a F150 forum contributor performed an experiment that indicated 13 ft-lbs with anti-seize was equivelent to 18-20 ft lbs without, and can damage the head threads. Evidently, the anti-seize lubricates the threads, reducing the torque required to attain the optimum clamping force. I imagine this effect probably is very dependent on brand and how much you use. Some F150 guys compensate by reducing the torque when they use anti-seize.
 
#24
well sice i used ainti seize.. than according to that data my plugs shouldve been too tight so they shouldnt of popped off. but, of course when dealing with fords or mustangs or any combination of the two, what "should" happen is not going to happen

just an update, my local mustang shop has the tool and is going to re-thread the hole for $100. i guess thats ok, but i just got back from ford and spent a whopiing $106 on a new cop and plug (probably got ripped the hell off), and im looking at about $50-70 to get it towed to the shop. so all in all its gonna cost me three days w/o my car, alot of hassle, only one plug getting repaired (7 left to still fail at any given point that it wants to), and minus around $300. now im in the perfect mood to go to family and eat thanksgiving. yeah right, the only one im giving thanks to is ford for being such a ****ty company and screwing me 300 bux.
 
#25
I hear you man, to me $300 is a lot of money also...

I encourage you and everyone who has this problem to go to www.nhtsa.gov and file a formal consumer complaint.

When enough complaints have been filed the government will force Ford to respond.
 
#26
weensmease said:
I HAVE THE ANSWER!!!!!!
just give in with the rest of the fam and get a Volkswagen! Problem Solved!:D

Glad to see it's getting worked out for less then you thought it would cost!!

Now hopefully when they thread the hole in your head they dont cause anymore damage or let any crap get in there!

hopefully your car will return to life soon!
Click to expand...


thats not a solution. If somebody wanted to trade in for a car less likely to give them troubles a volkswagon would be the last car I suggest.
 
#32
Kilgore Trout said:
I hear you man, to me $300 is a lot of money also...

I encourage you and everyone who has this problem to go to www.nhtsa.gov and file a formal consumer complaint.

When enough complaints have been filed the government will force Ford to respond.
Click to expand...

complaint filed.. but its not like im gettin my $$ back. wtf are we gonna do? i guess just let the rest of em go bad.. annnnyways, i never did get an answer to the question that do the p/p (like vt stg 2's for ex) heads come with more threads for the plugs to fit in to? or would it be possible to have the same probs with those heads also? i got all the final #'s btw. not like anyone cares but ill throw them out so it can piss me off again.

1 motorcraft plug and 1 coil over = $106
Retap Head and Install Plug = $100
Tow to Shop about 35 miles away = $75
Total = $281 for one blown out ($2.95) spark plug. Think about that when you change your plugs and dont torque them to .001 ft lbs of the "right" amount.


hahahaaaa.. id dint even see all that talk before i posted this. yeah its my bro folks, and he drives vw's so give him a break. funny you found this thread on here. anyways, its all over tonight when she gets picked up at 8. i gotta thank kt for stickin with me on this.
 
#33
Glad things are finally getting fixed for you :nice:

I'm not sure if my NPI model of car has the same problem, though sadly I am getting a ticking sound from the passenger side when the rpms are 1100-2100 or so :shrug:. Hopefully I won't have the problems of which you had ;)
 
#34
Unfortunately, the NHTSA generally only responds to safety conplaints (the "S" stands for safety). If we could convince them the ejected spark plug caused us to lose control of the car and hit a tree, then they might take action. The 1984-1996 Ford TFI ignition modules were failing at a rate of more than 100,000 per month, and NHTSA ignored the hundreds of owner complaints for 10 years.
 
#35
weensmease said:
check your spelling captain!:nice:

It was an inside joke...obviously your NOT inside! have a good one! :)
Click to expand...

How about this for a inside joke, do not try to get into a insulting pissing match with a person who can edit your posts

and about my spelling, I use way too much of my brain to retain automotive repair knowledge to worry about spelling. :nice:
 
#38
Is this plug blowout a problem for all modulars? Damn, and just to think I've been changing my plugs now for the last 5 years on my car without a torque wrench and tightening them down pretty snug. I'll be definitely paying more attention next time around.
 
#39
yea from the responses im gettin in here, and just lookin at all the thread in the search forumn it seems to be. i even put my plugs down to spec and it still blew, the only real 100% definitie answer is that its a bad design and too few threads acctually get locked down (4 i think). that is just absolute crap, and i think everyone like me who is going/been through this would agree.
 
#40
steveb24 said:
yea from the responses im gettin in here, and just lookin at all the thread in the search forumn it seems to be. i even put my plugs down to spec and it still blew, the only real 100% definitie answer is that its a bad design and too few threads acctually get locked down (4 i think). that is just absolute crap, and i think everyone like me who is going/been through this would agree.
Click to expand...


Steve, it is a bad design, I think whats going to end up happening is a settlement kind of like what happened with the plastic crossover intakes. That started through a class action lawsuit and complaints to the ntsb
 
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