About a week after doing the dreaded Tritan V-8 tune-up, I had a spark plug shimmy its way out of the threads and before I knew it, the plug did its damage. The fuel rail kept the coil and plug loose in place with the compression of the cylinder making it jump up and down untill the treads were toast.

Is this somthing a "hila-coil" (sp?) can fix or do I need to replace the whole head. And if the "hila-coil" will work, do I need to take the head off or is that somthing that can be done while on the motor?

Any help would be great as this is the wifes truck and...well...you know the old saying. When the Wife is happy, the family is happy....and she aint happy right now...lol.

Thanks,
James D.

 

There are aftermarket fixes available. Check with a good auto supply store.

 

heli coil will work just fine you can find the size you need at any auto zone just get the piston up top dead center just to keep the shavings from getting so deep an most of the heli coil sets you can buy has a tap in the pack just use the right drill bit that it calls for on the pack i had to get my long drill bit from sears and and cut it down to fit drill it out but be sure not to run the bit in to deep so that it dont hit the top of the piston then tap it then take your shop vac and suck out the shavings spray out with some brake clean an let dry then put sum red locktight on the heli coil an run it off until its flush with the top of the plug hole or just a little deeper then install the plug that will make the wife happy once again

 

I have a 2002 5.4L Triton. At 114K I had a plug fly out of the head on a road trip. The plug had a Heli-Coil wrapped around it's base. The guy I bought it from obviously went through what you are experiencing now. The heads have so little metal at the spark plug hole.
I wound up having to replace the whole motor since the only way to remove the cylinder head is to remove the motor from the truck.
Sorry about your bad luck. Triton motors suck. I have a Jasper engine now and I am getting 15MPG on the highway on a F-250.

 

Surely someone in the Ford establishment must realize that not facing up to this problem will cost the company dearly. All the good they try to do with the new products cannot erase the bad feeling and PR this particular problem is generating. Lets hope they will come up to the plate and do what is right . There are so many people with this problem waiting to happen . There apparently will be a flood of used vehicles with the affected 5.4L out there for sale after the temporary fix has been done. LOL