US1 Fountain

Where the hell are they?
I can't even find the plug wires.

Have read on a Ford message board it is not uncommon for the spark plugs to work loose and blow out taking the threads out of the aluminum head too, so figured I'd check them out.

2112

Are they coil on plugs? therefore no wires?

DKerns

As 2112 had said, they are Coil on Plug setup. They are on the intake side of the valve covers. Remove the 7mm headed bolt to remove the coil.

Be careful on how tight you tighten them as there are not that many threads in the heads, mainly on the early models!

US1 Fountain

So the 10 round items, approx 1 1/2" in dia with 2 small wires going to each, are individual coils with the spark plugs underneath them? I never would have guessed.

Truck is an '03. Does that make it an early model with short threads?

Thanks.

scottc

Make sure you use a torque wrench to install them. I believe you torque then to @11ftlbs, but check for your exact application. If you strip out one of the plug holes be ready for one hell of a job to fix it. I have been told you must raise the body to pull the heads. If you can't find the spec, tell me the year and model and I'll check it out for you.

BL6

From what I read on Ford Trucks forum the 2000-01 had the problems with too thin of head material or not enough threads and plugs would blow out. They said Ford increased wall in later models. I've owned both 2000 & 2004 Excursion.
My dealer had never heard of it. Made me wonder if it just happened to a realitivly small but vocal number of people or if it was quite common.

Ted G

It is more common on V8 engines than V10s but they have issues with plugs coming out. There is a head update but there are a lot of places using a timesert to fix the bad plug hole. Get a new set of Motorcraft plugs (aftermarket seem to do it more) and then use a torque wrench to install-IIRC it is 90-190 in/lbs. but I would look it up. DO NOT OVERTORQUE under any circumstances-this seems to be a causal factor in some cases. BTW, it is virtually always the #3 or 4 spark plug (back of the pass side head) -no one (even Ford) seems to know why.