To Fix, To replace, to die

Input and alternatives from the brain trust here.

Got a 2005 Ford F150 4x4 with the 4.6l with 175,000 miles.

Yesterday the head chose to spit up a spark plug through my coil pack. Tried the Dorman Spark plug patch and it didnt take.

So now, 1) take off said head and Helicoil? $500 2) Replace head with new heads? $1200 3) Find rebuilt motor? $2500 4) Possibly General Electric T58-8F jet engine? $$$$$

I really like the truck so I feel like fixing it, but am I about to get to a point where I should just trade it in and keep moving? I need a truck for work so the M36 is not an option.

What yall think?

Quit using Dorman "patches".

That said provided if the head is berkeleyed up too bad, I'd get the ultra dollar tool kit and fix it. If not, just yank the heads and fix it with a correct insert and fresh valve job.

Trade in value on vehicles that need work tends to be $500, which, of course, isn't even $500 but just padding on the sales price of the next vehicle.

Should you choose to go that route, I'll give you $600 for it.

No payments? You know the owner fairly well and you know the truck. Fix the head or heads and like was stated, get the heads ported and polished (or valve job) ;) and keep the truck.

I would pull the head and have it fixed. should not be too much money and then you can decied what you want to do from there. Can't have a truck that you don't trust for work. YMMV

Chris

LS swap.

No, seriously.

Go to junkyard. Fork over $300 for engine. Install. Put old engine on stand. Rebuild with mad powah! Reinstall at your leisure.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: Go to junkyard. Fork over $300 for engine. Install. Put old engine on stand. Rebuild with mad powah! Reinstall at your leisure.

Now THAT is sound, reasonable advise.

The 500$ to fix the head is nothing when you think about the 1000$ you will be spending in repair/catch-up maintenace/de-pimping the next "new-to-you" truck that you would buy.

YMMV.

If the bottom half is in good shape, there's also the option of pulling a set of heads at the junkyard, having them rebuilt/inserted and swapping them over. Probably not much cheaper than an engine swap, but easier and less to go wrong, like finding out the junkyard motor needs to be gone through anyways. This way also guarantees it will never spit out a plug again.

Surf ebay for heads too. When we were rebuilding my buddies ranger he was all ready to dump some $$ at the FLAPS for a replacement head for one that was cracked. A quick ebay surf netted a pair of rebuild heads for half the price of a single reman head from the flaps. There are some guys with the tools and talent out there who just buy junk heads and rebuild them in their spare time then turn them cheap on ebay.

Is this a common problem with the 4.6? Never heard of it before.

In reply to Enyar:

As I recall, the plugs are held in with 3 threads, in aluminum.

Enyar wrote: Is this a common problem with the 4.6? Never heard of it before.

Yes.. and No.

It happens, but not very often from what I hear*.

• It happened to me. (1200 miles from home.. when my wife was going to drive the truck 1200 miles back... alone)

1. Lower that cylinder to bottom dead center.

2. Fill cylinder with shaving cream.

3. Repair threads

4. Push shaving cream out, little metal shards come with it.

Continue to drive.

Happens all the time. Phone around until you find a shop that will charge you a couple of hundred dollars to install a "Timesert" Accept no substitutes.

There is absolutely no reason to pull the head, unless a chunk fell in and damaged the piston. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise.

Streetwiseguy wrote: Happens all the time. Phone around until you find a shop that will charge you a couple of hundred dollars to install a "Timesert" Accept no substitutes. There is absolutely no reason to pull the head, unless a chunk fell in and damaged the piston. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise.

Done the in head fix myself 3 times. Timesert fix is actually better than the stock setup. Only time I had to pull the head was with a broken spark plug and the side electrode fell in the cylinder.

Bruce

I'm not sure he'll get the couple hundred dollar treatment since he fixed it once himself. For the record mine cost about $400 to fix at the dealer.

I bought one in November for 900 that needed this, guy just gave up. I sold it to some kid at UNOH that wanted to swap a cummins in it. Those and the 5.4 death rattle really scare off people but aren't really that difficult.

Maroon92 wrote: 1. Lower that cylinder to bottom dead center. 2. Fill cylinder with shaving cream. 3. Repair threads 4. Push shaving cream out, little metal shards come with it. Continue to drive.

You are my new king.

I would call local machine shops and see if anyone had a stock set of heads cheap. Then have them magnaflux them and install.

Maroon92 wrote: 1. Lower that cylinder to bottom dead center. 2. Fill cylinder with shaving cream. 3. Repair threads 4. Push shaving cream out, little metal shards come with it. Continue to drive.

Genius! I might have to do the same thing to my 2000 TDI and my game plan was to just shove a towel in there, fix, shop vac the heck out of it, pull towel out. This sounds like a much better idea.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: Go to junkyard. Fork over $300 for engine. Install. Put old engine on stand. Rebuild with mad powah! Reinstall at your leisure.

If you could get a junkyard engine on the cheap, I'd put a piece of glass over it and turn it into a coffee table

Enyar wrote:

Maroon92 wrote: 1. Lower that cylinder to bottom dead center. 2. Fill cylinder with shaving cream. 3. Repair threads 4. Push shaving cream out, little metal shards come with it. Continue to drive.

Genius! I might have to do the same thing to my 2000 TDI and my game plan was to just shove a towel in there, fix, shop vac the heck out of it, pull towel out. This sounds like a much better idea.

I have done grease.. never thought of shaving cream. That is pure Genius

Enyar wrote: Is this a common problem with the 4.6? Never heard of it before.

Extremely common on all of the 4.6 SOHC motors. It's a design/accounting problem. Ford decided to only put three threads in each plug hole.

The 4.6 in my old P71 spit out two within 1,000 miles. We have a local shop that has a FT mechanic that just does timeserts on them.

chandlerGTi wrote: I bought one in November for 900 that needed this, guy just gave up. I sold it to some kid at UNOH that wanted to swap a cummins in it. Those and the 5.4 death rattle really scare off people but aren't really that difficult.

one of the guys i work with has a 5.4 with the death rattle, what's the cause/solution on those? he changed the valves or whatever's up top to no effect.