Originally Posted by Gfaze

Two drinking beer while the third one did all the work?

Originally Posted by dallison

How about the mid 2000's f150's that had to have the engines removed to change plugs?

Originally Posted by Never Summer

Seriously?

Originally Posted by Legend2TL

Helped a friend in college tune-up his Maverick V8, took us hours to replace the 2 right rear plugs which were Autolites. The other 6 were Champions. We wondered from the worn electrodes and OEM brand if they were the original plugs.

Originally Posted by dallison

How about the mid 2000's f150's that had to have the engines removed to change plugs?

Originally Posted by teranfon

I've heard that they were a real pain. If they were worn Autolites, they probably were originals. Throughout the years guys have stuffed 390s and 428s in the Maverick's engine bay. THAT would make for an interesting plug change.

Originally Posted by Costco

oh and just for kicks.... one of my auto instructors who is a big Ford fan, swore off of Hondas for the rest of his life because of his experience with vacuum lines in his Honda a LONG time ago

Originally Posted by Legend2TL

Helped a friend in college tune-up his Maverick V8, took us hours to replace the 2 right rear plugs which were Autolites. The other 6 were Champions. We wondered from the worn electrodes and OEM brand if they were the original plugs.

Originally Posted by fsttyms1

Has any one tried replacing plugs on one of those motors yet??? It is quite possibly one of the dumbest or ill thought out designs ive ever encountered. I helped a friend last night and we both wish we had never started. Plug changes should be a simple procedure, not on these motors. There is a WHOLE procedure just for loosening the plug so that the stupid design doesnt break off in the head (which 2 did) that ford had to design a tool to remove(thats not cheap) . We talked to the local ford dealer which just shook their head because they have been dealing with this for some time now said they would remove the 2 broken plugs for 50 bucks.

Said goofy plug (in red is what snaps off in the cyl head, blue is where it snaps off from) should have been made in 1 piece instead of 2 piece(yes the lower metal piece is seperate from the upper threaded area)

Originally Posted by fsttyms1

Oh and the ford 3v plugs. The idiot that designed this plug should be shot

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...ght=spark+plug

Originally Posted by Will Y.

I remember that!
I "only" had a problem with the 1st plug nearest the firewall in the one bank on my dad's 302 V8 Maverick. The other seven plugs would take a few minutes with a couple of extensions and a flexi joint on the ratchet wrench, but that last plug was a pain.
I may not have changed that plug more than twice in 6+ years, although I tuned the (rest of) the car at least once a year.

OTOH, that's better than Chevy Monzas with the 350 V8 option, which required removing engine mounts and dropping the engine to get at the plugs.

Hopefully Terry's situation of having to remove every accessory and drive to remove the valve covers won't be an annual task!

Originally Posted by Costco

Is this the Maverick you guys are talking about? Looks fun...



This is the LT1 F-Body engine bay:



oh and just for kicks.... one of my auto instructors who is a big Ford fan, swore off of Hondas for the rest of his life because of his experience with vacuum lines in his Honda a LONG time ago

Originally Posted by fsttyms1

Oh and the ford 3v plugs. The idiot that designed this plug should be shot

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...ght=spark+plug

Originally Posted by Gfaze

Seems like a couple small spot-welds on the new plugs would do the trick and keep the parts from separating.

Originally Posted by friesm2000

issue is not the plug itself, but the head design, and how the plug has to reach through a large unthreaded protion (which carbon then builds up in, and siezes the plug in there)

Originally Posted by fsttyms1

Part of it is the plug being a 2 piece. Some of the newer plugs are 1 piece to help eliminate it. If you put anti-seize on the un threaded part it helps.

Originally Posted by sporting

Terry,

I am looking at possibly purchasing a 2010 E350, would you steer me the other way? I am scared now after reading this thread. Are the 2010's easier to work on? It seems that way with the longer hood?

I found one that is pretty clean with 9k, running boards, tinted glass, rear sensor xlt for 19k. What is your opinion on it?

Originally Posted by sporting

Why is the 5.4 difficult? And do you think 19k for it sounds fair? Its not a cargo, but a passenger van.

Originally Posted by teranfon

The 5.4 just seems to take longer to perform basic maintenance (at least for me). Little things like changing sparkplugs are a pain in the butt. Plenty of sensors that need to be removed to access basic items. It's a relatively stout engine, just not packaged all that well imo.

I don't really know it that's a good price or not. I'm not really familiar with them, other than knowing they are very expensive to begin with. I imagine a number of these things will be going up for sale if fuel prices continue to escalate. Maybe check online and see what comparable vans are going for to help determine what to offer.

Originally Posted by friesm2000

i would not say so much, and the reason being is that the majority of the people who do buy them, buy them for the one purpose, and that is work, and being able to carry all of there tools and supplies (so yes some people maybe able to consolidate to a smaller vehicle, but most will not though, because they need the cargo volume and weight carrying ability of a full-size van)

Originally Posted by teranfon

The 5.4 just seems to take longer to perform basic maintenance (at least for me). Little things like changing sparkplugs are a pain in the butt. Plenty of sensors that need to be removed to access basic items. It's a relatively stout engine, just not packaged all that well imo.

I don't really know it that's a good price or not. I'm not really familiar with them, other than knowing they are very expensive to begin with. I imagine a number of these things will be going up for sale if fuel prices continue to escalate. Maybe check online and see what comparable vans are going for to help determine what to offer.

Originally Posted by teranfon

Perhaps, but the poster who asked the question stated this was a passenger van, not one used for cargo. Anything used for the transportation of people is generally used less or other alternatives explored if fuel prices raise dramatically.

Originally Posted by fsttyms1

Yea, on my craptastic engineering design which should have gotten the guy fired, they ran teh fuel rail right across the coilpacks, so to change the plugs or coils(which were/are known for needing replacement) you have to remove the fuel rail bolts and mojo it out of the way to get to the plugs. I had to disconnect the passenger side just to replace the rear plug. A redesign of the mounting bracket and a different bend to it could have located it one side or the other of the coilpacks (this is in my Expedition and not the van, but im not sure if they have changed design at all?)

Originally Posted by Legend2TL

We're not (although we pretend to be on weekends ).

Amusing story to go with that sentiment.

I worked as electrical engineer designing avionics for military aircraft in the 80's. Another engineer, Rich was invited to go to a USAF base and spend a day with technicians. This was part of a program the DoD had to get the defense contractors more familiar with what it's like to operate and maintain their products. He got to spend the day with a F-15 technician. Their task that morning was to replace a hydraulic filter in the rear of the fighter. Rich looked at the shop manual for the aircraft and it showed pictures of the rear hydraulics, location, and access panels. Looking at the illustrations he figured maybe 15-20 minutes to remove and replace the filter. He removed the access panel and started to look around for the filter in mass of pipes and tubing. Not only could he not see it, he couldn't even feel around for it.

The tech was amused to say the least. He told Rich to stick his right arm into the access hole, go to the left as far forward as he could reach and then Rich felt the filter barely. He had no idea how they could remove it. It took both of them all morning to remove the filter clean up the drained hydraulic fluid (it's very flammable) and reinstall and safety wire the new filter. The tech exlained this was one of the worst maintenance tasks on the Eagles hydraulics.

The tech didn't know why engineers at McDonnell Douglas in St. Louis had to locate the filter so far out of reach since it could have easily been positioned by the access opening. Rich came away with a new appreciation for the folks who have to keep these complication machines flight ready.

They should do the same with auto engineers