Ford V-10 Sparkplugs

[blazenpm]

I own a 2013 Georgetown Class A. It has a Ford V-10 engine. I was informed by a friend who has the same engine that he had a sparkplug problem. Apparently, the plugs sit in helicoil that is set in to head and the plugs are threaded into this. Anyway, he said that his ( a 2001 V-10) plugs were not torqued and they eventually loosened to the point that they blew out of the head. He had to have the hole rethreaded and new helicoil installed. My question: In the newer V-10's like mine 2013 is or was this problem resolved by torqueing the plugs or whatever? Anybody have any experience with this issue?

[jolooote]

RLS7201. Yes but there is an isolating gasket between so metals don't contact!

[DrewE]

WE3ZS wrote:

I'm not fully up to speed on when the F53 saw the 3V motors or if the Econolines ever saw them.

The E series (Econoline) chassis never ever have had the 3V V10 engine due to "space constraints." I assume that means the three valve heads are larger and so the engine just doesn't fit in the doghouse properly, but i suppose it could also be constraints on available cooling air or something like that. Regardless of the technical details, the E series vehicles with V10s invariably use a two-valve variant.

[WE3ZS]

There is always some amount of confusion whenever this topic gets discussed.
The PI or Performance Improved head design change in '00 delivered more HP/TQ but still had the 4 thread spark plug holes that contributed to the plug blowout issues.
In mid model year '03 the V-10 was updated with an increase in the number of spark plug hole threads, which pretty much eliminated the plug blowout issues.
In '05 the Super Duty trucks saw the new 3 valve V-10 (and 5.4 V-8) which of course had completely different heads and higher output than the PI 2V variant. It was on some of these earlier 3V engines that the 2 piece spark plugs would break when removing, that has been addressed with special tools to remove the parts and a redesign on replacement plugs.
I'm not fully up to speed on when the F53 saw the 3V motors or if the Econolines ever saw them.
The lock-n-Stitch and Timesert repairs are better suited for this repair if needed then the Helicoil, the first two seem to have less instance of repeated failure after the repair.

[6_2Superduty]

rexlion wrote:
The issue didn't feel "blown out of proportion" when my 2001 5.4 spit out a plug, then a couple months later spit the same one out again. I got rid of that sucker fast.

I had that happen on a 2001 5.4 also. The bad thing about it there is no warning.The problem was corrected in 2004. Later 5.4s had aproblem with the plugs breaking when they were being removed.

[ferndaleflyer]

I ran a 1997 with a 5.4 motor 200,000mi changed plugs 3 times and never had a problem. I was told to remove them when the motor is hot.

[Dutch_12078]

tarnold wrote:
My v10, sticker date 5/97 has a "V" in the 10th position. What I read this equals a1997. The engine code is in the 8 th position, which on mine is a "s" which equals a 6.8 Sohc Mfi.

Yes, your Class B and other vans and light trucks received the V10 before the F53 Class A chassis was redesigned and equipped with them for the 1999 model year. The 1997 F53 chassis was powered by the 460/7.5L V8. There were no model year 1998 F53's built, although early 1999's were built in late 1998.

[tarnold]

My v10, sticker date 5/97 has a "V" in the 10th position. What I read this equals a1997. The engine code is in the 8 th position, which on mine is a "s" which equals a 6.8 Sohc Mfi.

[Dutch_12078]

empty_nest wrote:

donn0128 wrote:
That issue was early vintage V10s. It was fixed years ago. Yours, no worries

What year make was it fixed? I had it happen in a 1999 5.4L. I now have a '03 F350 V10 and also a '07 Class A with the V10.

The V10 was upgraded from 275HP to 310HP with new heads in mid-1999 chassis production. If the tenth digit in the chassis VIN is an 'X' it's a 275HP and is a 1999 model year. If the 10th digit is a 'Y', it's 310HP and a 2000 model year with the improved heads. A 2001 chassis has a '1' for the tenth digit, with later years counting up from there until letters start again with an 'A' in 2010.

[RLS7201]

jolooote wrote:
bEEN TOLD THE hELICOILS ARE sTEEL INTO AN aLUMINIUM HEAD. Steel and Aluminium don't mix well. Corrosion of each other.

Aluminum heads with steel spark plugs. Cast iron block with aluminum heads.
Think about it.

Richard

[John_Wayne]

I was told if on the front or rear of your heads, if you have a "P1" these were the improved heads with more threads. 130,590 miles 2 plug changes on mine with no problems. Now my Dometic refrigerator cooling unit that's another problem on my 3rd one of those.

[n7bsn]

empty_nest wrote:

What year make was it fixed? I had it happen in a 1999 5.4L. I now have a '03 F350 V10 and also a '07 Class A with the V10.

2001 as I recall.

[empty_nest]

donn0128 wrote:
That issue was early vintage V10s. It was fixed years ago. Yours, no worries

What year make was it fixed? I had it happen in a 1999 5.4L. I now have a '03 F350 V10 and also a '07 Class A with the V10.

[jolooote]

bEEN TOLD THE hELICOILS ARE sTEEL INTO AN aLUMINIUM HEAD. Steel and Aluminium don't mix well. Corrosion of each other.

[garyemunson]

A LOT of the early Ford modular engines (not just the V-10 variant) had plug, crank, and chain tensioner issues. Your 2013 is the bulletproof result of Ford taking a bath on those warranty repairs. Fleet use V-10s regularly deliver 300K plus troublefree miles. Probably the most durable gas truck engine out there now. Drive on!