I own a 2006 Expedition and have a spark plug problem. I hired what I thought was a mechanic to replace the plugs in my 5.4L Ford. He evidently changed 2 before he broke the 3rd. Told me he was getting a flat bed truck to take mine to his garage. That was the last I heard from him. It's been 4 days so he's a ghost. Now I'm wondering how can fix this. I read your article about removing and replacing plugs but you didn't mention how to remove a broken plug. Thanks

 

that all depends on where the plug broke off if the nut is gone or not. welcome to the sight

 

Lisle tool co makes a good tool to remove broken Ford spark plugs. Most auto stores carry them , common problem.

 

nakuloco2000 has a procedure video posted for replacing a broken spark plug on these engines. Hopefully, they know what to do and don't just start tearing the engine down to replace the broken plug. Or get bent at the broken plug and screw up the extraction to the point they have to tear the engine apart.

https://www.fordforum.com/forum/ford...-method-30914/

 

one other thing that people don't know of when changing out spark plugs on these engines is that the engine can't be started to pull it into the garage it should be pushed in with the engine completely cold this way it reduces the chance of plug breaking off in the holes. pipe dope works really well for the next time the plugs are to be changed it has the advantage of the plugs not sticking to the heads. and most people over tighten them in the first place instead of using the torque wrench to tighten them they use the old method of the socket and ratchet and run the risk of stripping out the threads because the heads are made from aluminum and not cast steele

 

OK guys, thanks for the help and suggestions. I finally found a reliable good guy mechanic who won't take all my money. Problem now is he found a transmission line leaking. I had noticed the transmission "slip" just a little when I put it in drive. Could someone give me a few details about cost and repair? Thanks in advance.

 

that depends on where it's leaking and the type of line it is made from sometimes all one has to do cut the line and rejoin the two ends with a steel line repair kit which uses a couple of compression fittings and a union then again you might want to replace the whole thing using a new steel line that has to bent or shaped something similar to the one that got removed both methods are fairly cheap to do

 

Transmisson line is all fixed. It was leaking at a clip that held the two lines together. On the other hand, the spark plugs are still a disaster. The mechanic has replaced 6 of the 8. He said in order to get the 2 in the back of the engine the cylinder heads would have to be removed. Now I have a new problem. The check engine light came on and I can't get over 2500-3000 RPM's. I suppose I have to finally give in and take it to a Ford dealer to get it fixed properly.

 

no one can run fast enough to give me one of those engines the 5.4 or the 4.6 they made them to throw away and to make more money in the service bays not for someone like me who can usually do it myself. For me personally I'll just stick with the old style engines with one cam in the block and the heads were made of steel or iron. no one makes a dependable engine like they used to with pride anymore now it seems to me that all they really care about is the money and getting away with as little as possible. good engines are the ones that are going away at a pace that no one can keep up with. this is just my humble opinion and not intended to offend anyone

 

I finally did what I should have done from the beginning. I brought it to a Ford dealership. They put it on their computer and it read #4 plug was bad. When that was repaired it showed #3 plug was bad. When that was repaired it showed #2 plug was bad. So after those plugs were changed out it's been running real good.