97 Expedition Missing After wash

[qk03cobra]

I had my Expedition detailed and they washed the motor off which I know the water will stay down in the recessed spark plugs. What do you guys advise on fixing this? Do I just pull the boots off and put a blower down in there and blow the water out? Are there any tips any of you might want to give? I am going to replace the spark plugs do the wires need replaced also? What are some good spark plugs to go with on the 5.4?

[crapstang]

I had my Expedition detailed and they washed the motor off which I know the water will stay down in the recessed spark plugs. What do you guys advise on fixing this? Do I just pull the boots off and put a blower down in there and blow the water out? Are there any tips any of you might want to give? I am going to replace the spark plugs do the wires need replaced also? What are some good spark plugs to go with on the 5.4?

Get a shop towel on a little wire and stuff it down it until al the water is gone. The same thing happened on my 99 cobra and it fouled a cop...

[majorownage]

Shorted out a cop.

-30$

When the CEL comes on find out which cylinder is miss-firing.

[shumpertdavid]

pull coils, blow out with air as you indicated, as far as plugs go, use autolite or motorcraft double platinums. They're like oems and good for 100k miles. It's not a bad idea to replace the coil boots while you're at it. You can put a small amount of die electric grease on the ends of the boots where they go over the spark plugs and also around the ridges that seal the boot to the cylinder head to help protect from water intrusion in the future.

[greenbullitt]

pull coils, blow out with air as you indicated, as far as plugs go, use autolite or motorcraft double platinums. They're like oems and good for 100k miles. It's not a bad idea to replace the coil boots while you're at it. You can put a small amount of die electric grease on the ends of the boots where they go over the spark plugs and also around the ridges that seal the boot to the cylinder head to help protect from water intrusion in the future.

yup

[qk03cobra]

I appreciate the info!

[garycrist]

Get a GOOD 7mm 1/4 drive wiggle socket!

[46Tbird]

I'm glad this came up. I had a friend at work ask for help swapping plugs in his '99 5.4. I told him I recommend he take it to a shop to have it done since I didn't want to be liable for stripping out the spark plug threads in his heads. Is this a valid concern? I vaguely remember this being an issue with Lightnings.

[95DRGT]

Get a GOOD 7mm 1/4 drive wiggle socket!

true- or some coil pack screws and you can do them by hand- saves me a good 30 minutes on a plug change on the 5.4

http://www.madenterprise.com/All_F150.asp

[Wicked SVO]

I'm glad this came up. I had a friend at work ask for help swapping plugs in his '99 5.4. I told him I recommend he take it to a shop to have it done since I didn't want to be liable for stripping out the spark plug threads in his heads. Is this a valid concern? I vaguely remember this being an issue with Lightnings.

Danny, it is a huge issue, my wifes '02 F150 Super crew has the same issue, 4.6 and i've already sleeved 2 of the 8 spark plug holes. I need to just buckle down and do the other 6 as a precautionary, but damn if it isn't a chore. the last one blew randomly, broke the coil pack in half when it shot out. You'd be right in telling your buddy to take it to a shop...not that it is a difficult task, but your butt will pucker with every turn of the plug when reinstalling them lol

-k

[turbos66coupe]

The older 4.6l will blow out plugs but I've never pulled the threads out removing plugs. Another trick is to blow out the holes before you pull the plugs so all the dirt doesn't get in the threads. also as said replace the coil boots and a dab ot die electric grease.