Spark Plug disintegrates and destroys engine at 85k - Diesel Forum

RenoF250 · 01-23-2006, 02:24 PM

Never been in the V-10 section before but a woman at work here has a F-350 with the V-10, no mods, and about 85k on the clock. apparently her husband was just driving it and everything was fine then it made a nasty noise and lost power so he had it towed to the dealer. The dealer just got back to them and said the spark plug disintegrated and it will be $4k. They are livid. Not that it matter much but aren't those supposed to be 100k spark plugs? Don't you think this is grounds to file a grevance with Ford to have the cover the repairs? If so does anyone know how to go about that and what their chances are?

Just talked to the husband and apparently the spark plug did not disintegrate it just shot out of the head. After looking into it it appears to be relatively common but not many or getting results trying to make Ford pay for it.

V10 man · 01-24-2006, 02:22 AM

Remember dealers don't fix things they replace parts. Chances are they want to replace the head. What they need is the time-sert insert to fix the plug hole.

RenoF250 · 01-24-2006, 11:06 AM

Yeah, I told them that and they said the dealer told them they could not Heli-Coil it. I told them that was probably because they would not get the $4k and they said well they already have the engine torn apart and a new head ordered. I will tell them to make sure the get the bad head back. Otherwise the dealer will probably Heli-Coil it and put it in another vehicle.

robsd · 01-25-2006, 02:17 PM

Do you know the year?

I almost want to buy a timesert just in case. But really I don't think this is a real common problem. I realize this doesn't help if it has happened to you.

If you look up the timesert website it is a sort of DIY project to be done while the head is on the block...

Time Sert

barrelhorses · 01-27-2006, 08:41 PM

I had a similar issue with a Toyota Camry. My wife was driving it one day and it started making a terrible noise. She pulled over and called a tow truck to take it to the dealer. The dealer told her the head was shot. They said they were able to get the plug back in but would not guarantee how long it would hold. They wanted like $3K for the repair. My wife called me and I left work to go check it out myself. The plug seemed to be seated pretty well, so I drove it off the lot. I drove it a couple of weeks, then took it to a local auto repair shop (non dealer). They checked it all out and said the only thing that was needed was a tune up. I paid them for the tune up and drove the pee out of the car for a couple more years.

BadDogPSD · 01-27-2006, 10:25 PM

From what I can tell, this was a problem with the early V10's. Not enough threads to hold the plugs in and something to do with the head design. $4k for a head repair? That's a lot of cash!