I know the Ford Triton engines are spitting out plugs like watermelon seeds but, they finally sent a TSB out after Ford was denying it forever. The root cause seems to be aluminium heads and very short plug threads. The insert repair seems temporary and many have resorted to helicoil repair.

https://m.carsdirect.com/car-repair/...roblems-solved

https://www.cartalk.com/content/my-w...ree-months-ago

https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-p...-out-of-a-head

 

iownme, I know the Triton engine issue all too well (fixed that issue on my Expedition). In short, what you are seeing can be caused by one of two things: 1) spark plugs not tightened/torqued sufficiently, and 2) spark plugs tightened/torqued too much. It is a fine balance. The Ford issue was that they only had 3 threads in the head to hold the spark plug in place and after doing a plug change, some of this metal stuck to the plug and when the new plug was put in, it overly stressed the aluminum and after about 5,000 miles, would eject the plug. In my case, I had the same plug blow out twice (I could reinstall the plug after it blew out the first time). I ended up buying the special Timesert kit and I drilled out all 8 plug wells and put the new sleeve in. Much better than a helicoil as there is no means for the gases to wind their way up around the gap in the helicoil and the sleeve put in a minimum of 6 threads everywhere, vice being still stuck with the 3 threads in the head. But, this also involved me pulling the heads off of the truck to ensure I didn't get any metal shavings in the engine. But, it did give me a reason to port/polish the heads. He he he he he he.

 

 

Work on car.....have a beer break.....work on car....have a beer break.....work on what was it again? Yeah car....have a beer break.....yeah it'll wait until tomorrow......

 

 

remains of coil left attached to spark plug

 

So, I'll have one for you, bud. :-) :-) :-)

 

 

iownme, if you ever get another Ford and you need that kit, let me know. My kit is better traveled than most people. I have sent that kit all over the US. The guys in my truck club would have the issue and I would send the kit to them. I just asked that they cover the cost of shipping and bought their own inserts. I got the same run around from Ford. they tried to tell me that my engine was shot at 100K miles and that they could fix the problem after I spent almost $6000 on a new engine. I knew better. I told them where they could put that new engine and I did the whole fix plus upgraded the engine for under $1000 and had something that is guaranteed not to fail again (which Ford would not say they could do).

I hear your problems. take it slow and steady and see what you find. I would say at this point it may be worth your time to pull the remaining 4 plugs and see what you have. Better to find the issue now than when you are on some dark, lonely country road and "pop goes the weasel".