How hard is it to get my spark plugs out?

[JExpedition07]

September of 2009 if I remember correctly but that's not the point. I They something that was perfectly perfected and needed no improvements in my opinion and cause an issue. No one out there would say that they did a great job on the three valve. They screwed up in more ways than one. Then they had to go back and fix their screw-ups.

The two-piece plug design and it breaking off in the head is a classic example why I tell people they should not believe so fully the engineers and the manufacturers who recommend thanks. This is precisely a situation that shows they really don't know what's going to happen in a couple of years. People talk about all the testing and research they do and all the torture test for hundreds of thousands of miles and Laboratories and even on the road... Well obviously they didn't figure that out now did they.
It took until it was an epidemic problem and a huge percentage of vehicles if not almost everyone that was having the plugs chains at the recommended change interval was having the plugs break off inside of the head. We had dealers pulling heads off of engines because of this. If that's not a design flaw I don't know what it is. Because some moron made a two piece plug that fits too closely into a cylindrical hole in the block with a terrible design with a torpedo tip on it to start will stick so badly that it breaks in half as you try to remove it.

I wouldn't have had to fix it years ago if they wouldn't have screwed it up in the first place.
Now don't get me started on the moron that allowed them to make the first gen 5.4 heads with only 3 and 1/2 threads in the head.

The 2-valve was perfected and needed no improvements? How about being outdated and getting outperformed by global competitors and domestics alike. The old 4 speed trans was in the same boat. If they kept offering old setups the market would just go elsewhere and they would be out of business. You’ll have to take your variable cam timing hate back to the 1st gen section.

Offering that old drivetrain setup today is like trying to market a horse and buggy next to cars.....good luck with sales.

 

[TobyU]

The 2-valve was perfected and needed no improvements? How about being outdated and getting outperformed by global competitors and domestics alike. The old 4 speed trans was in the same boat. If they kept offering old setups the market would just go elsewhere and they would be out of business. You’ll have to take your variable cam timing hate back to the 1st gen section.

Offering that old drivetrain setup today is like trying to market a horse and buggy next to cars.....good luck with sales.

You are correct in the overall Auto industry, I just don't agree with it.
Things that work properly and last long time are not outdated to me. I actually prefer to replace them with something just like them.
I understand most of the world doesn't work that way but I don't have to like it. There is one thing to think about... What if?? Just maybe if the Auto industry wasn't the way it was and wasn't driven by change and competition on new, improved, Cutting Edge Etc... Maybe cars wouldn't be priced where they are today.

 

[TobyU]

Toby, I agree and I don't think that you are wrong...but I think you might be missing one aspect the enters into this.

The auto industry is now and has always been driven by change. Just like the fashion industry for example. There are an entire ranges of industries that rely on "change". Can you imagine if the same clothes were worn by the catwalk models two years in a row? That's why we see such outlandish outfits in the pictures. Thankfully the auto industry isn't quite that wild but they do...they change JUST to change and as you specifically note, not always with good results.

The industry IMHO feels the need to change to keep up with the other guys whos experimenting with different engine configurations etc and so on and so on.

Just another component into the "why".......2 piece plugs my ass. Just think, that Engineer got a Christmas bonus based off of coming up with that moneymaker for Ford.

You and I(meaning buys as a group), paid for it.



jeff

It's not that I'm missing the point....just that I don't agree with their point.

You'll see more of this in my other response that I just posted. Just because things are the way they are doesn't mean I have to like them and I only have to marginally accept them.

 

[TobyU]

Maybe a lot of my point is that new doesn't always mean better. Too many people are hung up on accepting this. People even Thrive just waiting for the next new thing. I do not!
I sit around in apprehension if not fear because they're going to change something and it's going to mess things up.
Often, new comes with a whole new list of upcoming problems and hurdles to overcome just to get back to where you were in the first place , only then does the overall and finalized mprovements come.
To this, people say if we didn't start there we would never get advancements.. I say some things I don't need advancements in.

 

[07navi]

I don't mind replacing a vct and chain guides in 10 hours+- for another 100k+ miles and throw the right plugs in it at the same time. I like the 5.4 and they don't all give problems anyway.

 

[TobyU]

I don't mind replacing a vct and chain guides in 10 hours+- for another 100k+ miles and throw the right plugs in it at the same time. I like the 5.4 and they don't all give problems anyway.

Well then call me spoiled dot-dot-dot because I don't want to have the risk of needing to spend the time or money to replace the timing chain and cam phasers and VCTs when I've had so many earlier 4.6 and 5.4 and never had to do this on any of them.
Far too many people are accepting this as normal or okay like you are. I'm just a stickler and going to be a jerk about it.

 

[07navi]

Well then call me spoiled dot-dot-dot because I don't want to have the risk of needing to spend the time or money to replace the timing chain and cam phasers and VCTs when I've had so many earlier 4.6 and 5.4 and never had to do this on any of them.
Far too many people are accepting this as normal or okay like you are. I'm just a stickler and going to be a jerk about it.

It's not OK but all vehicles have their own little consistent problems, the 5.4 is just a little worse. My v-10 spit plugs out, broke exhaust manifold studs off up in the head, and went through timing chain tensioners so I guess I am used to it.

 

[TobyU]

It's not OK but all vehicles have their own little consistent problems, the 5.4 is just a little worse. My v-10 spit plugs out, broke exhaust manifold studs off up in the head, and went through timing chain tensioners so I guess I am used to it.

Yes, and the sad part is the manufacturers can't/won't use the information on failures on old ones to make new ones that won't fail. That would take money away form them, the dealers, and the repair industry as a whole.
It REALLY is a big conspiracy.