sesmith
Member
I haven't seen this on this forum so I thought I'd put a post here.
I had a local shop change the plugs on our 2007 xlt last summer (about 7k miles ago, had 100k on it then). This winter, at times, I noticed a raw fuel smell coming inside when driving, especially when stopped at lights. I found no fuel leaks. I saw something mentioned on one of the F150 forums about spark plug torque, so I checked them all today with a torque wrench. Sure enough, 3 or 4 were loose. 2 were loose by 1/2-3/4 of a turn. All tightened to spec now (25 ft. lbs.) and the fuel odor is gone.
I haven't had a chance to stop by the shop to see if he had used a torque wrench, and they mysteriously loosened, or if he never torqued them properly to begin with. I was an auto tech for a number of years previously, and to his defense, this is the first set of spark plugs I've ever used a torque wrench on (and 25 ft lbs is a pretty tight spec).
Live and learn. Just thought I'd pass this along for anyone with similar issues.
I had a local shop change the plugs on our 2007 xlt last summer (about 7k miles ago, had 100k on it then). This winter, at times, I noticed a raw fuel smell coming inside when driving, especially when stopped at lights. I found no fuel leaks. I saw something mentioned on one of the F150 forums about spark plug torque, so I checked them all today with a torque wrench. Sure enough, 3 or 4 were loose. 2 were loose by 1/2-3/4 of a turn. All tightened to spec now (25 ft. lbs.) and the fuel odor is gone.
I haven't had a chance to stop by the shop to see if he had used a torque wrench, and they mysteriously loosened, or if he never torqued them properly to begin with. I was an auto tech for a number of years previously, and to his defense, this is the first set of spark plugs I've ever used a torque wrench on (and 25 ft lbs is a pretty tight spec).
Live and learn. Just thought I'd pass this along for anyone with similar issues.