V10 spark plug repair kit

[andrewzx92000]

I recently talked with an engine rebuilder and he said that there is a kit available specifically for the V10 head from a company called Lock-n-stitch. They have a site and offer a lot of rethread kits for different applications. He said that he had personally seen the kit in action and was very impressed.
He also told me that the V10's all have short threads in the heads. The new plug in 2000 helps some, but they can all come loose and blow out, wish ford had put more than six threads in there. Andrew

[keithf]

Andrew, thanks for the post. I found their site at http://www.locknstitch.com.

Some-one also posted this site a while ago - http://www.timesert.com/sprksert.html

I have no experience with this, but have both sites bookmarked just in case.

I'm at 50k now...and hoping I don't hear a bang upon startup or while driving. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img]

Keith.

[andrewzx92000]

I think that in most cases there is not a problem with the plug threads if the plugs are kept tightened to the recommended 7-10lbs. If they get loose which at that small amount of torque they will. Aluminium and stainlesss steel expand and contract at different rates and eventually that plug is going to get
loose in the head from heat cycles. The problem I had with my 5.4 was that the plugs seized into the head and I have heard of others that did that. The wise thing to do is not leave them in there but about 40K miles, use anti-seize sparingly and don't overtighten them. These are not 100,000 miles plug set ups and Ford could have easily fixed this properly by doubling the amount of threads in the head and there would not be a problem. Andrew

[jinshiyang]

The problem I had with my 5.4 was that the plugs seized into the head and I have heard of others that did that. The wise thing to do is not leave them in there but about 40K miles, use anti-seize sparingly and don't overtighten them. thread insert helicoil

[andrewzx92000]

Hi Folks, just wanted to write an update for this thread. Since the time I wrote the above information I have learned a lot.
The plugs should be torqued to 25-28ft lbs to keep them in. The guy at blownoutsparkplug.com has the right information. I changed my plugs and put them at 14lbs and within 10,000 miles I had one come loose. I torqued them up to 28 and have not had a problem since and now have 170,000 on the v10 van.
I would not use never seize on the plugs, it will only aid the plug coming loose.
I didn't want someone using the information and causing a problem in their engine.
Andrew.