Sorry to hear about your plug change. I watched that video and it scared the crap out of me. This situation sucks a$$
+1 I only have about 8500 miles on mine and I know I should try to pull them and put anti-seize on them but Im just too damn scared. I mean it seems to me that the dealer charges about as much as the plugs and the cost of the tool in case of breakage. I mean I would probably save money in the long end if I did them my self, but my luck one would break off in the worst spot imaginable and I would have to have it towed to the dealer so they could take the head off to get it out!!! I think I will just pay the dealer and not stress over it when the time comes.
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2006 Vista Blue Coupe C&L CAI w/ Brenspeed SCT 92 oct tune FRPP 4.10s BMR & Spohn suspension Steeda Tri-Ax & UDP Bullet Motor Mounts Ford Racing GTA's Dennys Driveshaft
I'm still running the stock plugs at 106,000 miles . One dealer said that I'd be responsible if "they" broke a plug doing the job. He said then it would cost "me" like 2 grand or something. Needless to say, they didn't do my plugs.
I will search for a new dealer. Would it be their problem if they break a plug even if the car isn't under warranty?
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2006 Black GT Manual- 120,000 Trouble-Free Miles! - Steeda CAI w/SCT VMP 93 Tune - Steeda UDPs - Hurst Shifter - Steeda Sport Springs - Steeda Pro Action Struts/Shocks - Steeda Adj. Panhard - Steeda Rear Sway Bar
Sorry to hear about your plug change. I watched that video and it scared the crap out of me. This situation sucks a$$
+1 I only have about 8500 miles on mine and I know I should try to pull them and put anti-seize on them but Im just too damn scared. I mean it seems to me that the dealer charges about as much as the plugs and the cost of the tool in case of breakage. I mean I would probably save money in the long end if I did them my self, but my luck one would break off in the worst spot imaginable and I would have to have it towed to the dealer so they could take the head off to get it out!!! I think I will just pay the dealer and not stress over it when the time comes.
Yeah man. I've changed plugs on cars I don't know how many times. When I orginally bought this car I thought "Great, they're right on top, piece of cake." Now I don't know if I should pull them now with 4,800 miles or what until 100,000 and let Ford do it. Once again, this sucks a$$.
One thing I'm sure of. You should NOT pull them at 4800 miles. They have anti seize on them from the factory. I myself wouldn't even think about it untill 40000 miles. Why bother and loose sleep over it?
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2007 GT Coupe Premium Windveil Blue, 3.31, Auto, 18" Fanblades, Interior Upgrade, Active Anti-Theft, Side Bags, Leather, K&N Drop-in, Splash Guards, 14" Antenna, Rolled Tips, Born on date...3/07
I would think the dealer would be responsible if they broke one. Whether it was under warrenty or not. I would expect them to foot the bill.....they're the dealer.
Wilsonman02 I would think the dealer would be responsible if they broke one. Whether it was under warrenty or not. I would expect them to foot the bill.....they're the dealer.
Thats exactly what I believe, I am paying trained professionals to do a job, and if they ended up breaking a plug or anything else for that matter it should definitely be there responsiblity to replace it. I mean if one of the mechanics actually said to me, "Well I got all but one plug out which broke off, so I'm gonna have to go ahead and charge you extra to repair it." I would definitely have to freak out on he/she for telling me that I have to pay for something they screwed up.
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2006 Vista Blue Coupe C&L CAI w/ Brenspeed SCT 92 oct tune FRPP 4.10s BMR & Spohn suspension Steeda Tri-Ax & UDP Bullet Motor Mounts Ford Racing GTA's Dennys Driveshaft
One thing I'm sure of. You should NOT pull them at 4800 miles. They have anti seize on them from the factory. I myself wouldn't even think about it untill 40000 miles. Why bother and loose sleep over it?
Normally I wouldn't even think about it until about 50,000 miles. Going to the dealership this week to see if they did start putting anti-sieze on them. Thought process was to keep ahead of the game for down the road... pull the plugs now, put the nickel anti-sieze on them, and not stress as much when the time comes to swap them out. I would hope that these engines run clean enough to not have carbon build up at 4,800 miles which would make it easy to do it now.
The thing that surprised me was that on the first plug, the one that came out OK (came out hard, but didn't break) was that there was very little carbon on the outside of the ground electrode shield. Just a little at the end close to the cylinder. There's only one explanation for all of this. Design flaw. This is a ticking time bomb that will explode in Ford's face. There are a ton of 3V engines out there; just wait until they all are due plug changes.
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2006 Premium GT Convertible Screaming Yellow, Black Top Black Leather Interior Upgrade Pkg. 5 Speed Side Airbags 18" "Fanblade Wheels" Shaker 500 Audio System CORSA Performance exhaust Brenspeed 87 octane tune MGW Shifter
Posts: 413
Joined: 11/6/2006 From: Kansas City Status: offline
A plug breaking off when a shop changes them is NOT their responsibility, unless the technician directly caused it. I know that response wont be well liked, but its YOUR vehicle. Repairs are YOUR responsibility. Since this is a known issue, you should be told upfront that it could happen. I understand being upset about a $2000 spark replacement/tune-up. But its a design issue. Not a shop liability. I own a shop, and will tell customers of known issues up front like this.
Things do happen in this line of work. And, I have learned what jobs to avoid like the plague. I've also learned what type of customers to avoid bending over backwards for/avoid like the plague. You know the old saying, "You cant please everyone". I am very easy to get along with and have a great reputation in my community for honesty/good work. For my good/loyal customers, I will sometimes cover these incidentals for them. Something like this though, no. Like I said, its a design issue. Not something a shop caused. There are special tools that end up being designed to help lessen the chances of bad things happening, or correcting things when they go wrong. And there is just such a thing for this. There is a procedure to reduce breakage, and a tool available to help when one does.
Sorry if I pissed anyone off with this response.
< Message edited by SCCAGT -- 2/18/2008 2:35:07 PM >
I understand what your saying SCCAGT but I do not fully agree with you. I mean if I take my car to a Ford "certified" technician that has all the training and specialty tools for such an event as a spark plug breaking off then I believe they should have to make good on the fact that they are suppose to represent the Ford Motor Co. name, even if your warranty is up. I bet if they were cool enough technicians they could probably even help you out and bill at least some of it as being under warranty even its not. But if they did warn me about the possible outcome of the situation and it came down to me actually having to pay to get it fixed, then I sure as hell would not pay $2000 for them just to take the head off pop a couple pieces of spark plugs out and put it back on. I mean that is a down right ridiculous amount of money for some f@#ked up spark plugs. I would definitely become proficient when it came to removing and installing my own heads.
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2006 Vista Blue Coupe C&L CAI w/ Brenspeed SCT 92 oct tune FRPP 4.10s BMR & Spohn suspension Steeda Tri-Ax & UDP Bullet Motor Mounts Ford Racing GTA's Dennys Driveshaft
Posts: 413
Joined: 11/6/2006 From: Kansas City Status: offline
Understand, my $2000 figure is not exact. Just a close approximation of what a head gasket job can run on some cars, when done correctly. When I have come across other jobs with a potential bad/costly outcome, I inform the customer what can happen. Lets use this example: GM 5.7's have, for years, used a cheap pot metal part for a quick connect on the intake manifold to route coolant through. This cheap little $10 part can crack and start to leak coolant. Being pot metal, and the intake aluminum, the metals expand and contract at different rates. Coolant will eventually start to corrode it, especially if flushes are not done at regular intervals, due to electrolysis. The different metals will pretty much fuse together. This $10 part is suppose to thread right out. It has a huge area for a wrench to fit on. But will end up snapping right off. Now, there is a tool that is about 50% effective at removing the threads remaining in the intake. If the metal chunks do not cooperate and come out for fear of pissing off the tech, the intake manifold must be removed to clear the threads. If the intake is NOT removed to get rid of the threads, the metal particles will enter the cooling system and cause bad things to happen. We are talking about vehicles that have well over 100K miles and the repair bill to do this would be approximately $500. Some people dont feel the vehicle is worth the repair cost. So $500 dollars becomes an enormous percentage of the market value of the vehicle.
Can you see how similar this situation is to the spark plugs becoming fused to the head and breaking off? Is it the technicians fault? No. Design flaw. Those $10 aftermarket quick connects are much stronger, and naturally, we coat the threads so it wont happen again. However, the chances of it happening again during the servicable life of the vehicle are pretty much slim to none, since its already so old. This is where I will see the problem down the road. People will have these cars when they are 7-10 yrs old and never had the plugs changed before then. This job, at that time, would probably mean a broken plug in every cylinder. So theres a head gasket job right there, at a time, when the people who can least afford it, are faced with springing the cash, or getting something new to replace the car.
The only difference between the two scenarios is, we just spent a very large chunk of change on this vehicle, and expect it to be trouble free for a fair amount of time. None of us certainly would expect to shell out a couple grand on a car due to broken spark plugs, so early in its lifespan. Spark plugs are a maintenance item. I have NEVER seen spark plugs covered by ANY aftermarket warranty. I seriously doubt they would also be covered under Fords powertrain warranty. Do some homework before getting bent out of shape with the dealer, who is independent in its operation from Ford.
It is a design flaw, but its fords design flaw not mine. If the dealer does any work on my vehicle and broke,damaged or messed something up in the process i feel they should pay it for it. Why should the consumer pay outta pocket for Fords design flaw. Doesn't make sense to me.
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Joined: 11/6/2006 From: Kansas City Status: offline
Dont know if its an issue on 08's or not. Its easy to take care of at this point right now though. The spark plugs are easy to access. Yesterday, I got some Motorcraft spark plugs for $5.11 ea. and an 8 oz bottle of nickle antisieze for $11. I will be pulling mine out once the weather is nice enough to get the car to my shop. Even though I only have 9500mi on it right now, I dont EVER want to have to worry about yanking the heads off for this simple maintenance job.
I feel they would HAVE to cover the plugs under the powertrain warrantee. A problem isn't supposd to exist BEFORE it runs out and if one does, FORD will need to cover it.
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2007 GT Coupe Premium Windveil Blue, 3.31, Auto, 18" Fanblades, Interior Upgrade, Active Anti-Theft, Side Bags, Leather, K&N Drop-in, Splash Guards, 14" Antenna, Rolled Tips, Born on date...3/07
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RE: Scary Plug Change - 
