Date: May 1,2004

Here is the history of my 1998 ford E-350 van.

Bought it new in 1998, 5.4L, V8

at 90,000 miles I took it in to a ford dealer for a recall on gas tank straps. Since Ford recommends changing the spark plugs at 100,000 I told them to install new plugs while it is in the shop.

1.5 years and 30,000 miles later it blows a spark plug 3rd back drivers side.

I figured maybe the mechanic didn't install them properly so I went to a different ford dealer to get it repaired. The Ford service manager said "this does happen once in a while" and they pulled off the head and sent it to a machine shop to have them install a steel insert. The dealer also said he would check the threads on all the other cylinders and install a new set of plugs and make sure they are properly tightened. The bill was $1700.00

1.5 years and 29,000 miles later It blows another plug 2nd back passenger side. Now I am convinced it is not the mechanic's fault

 I have had it with this spark plug problem. The engine has 151,000 miles on it. I decided to order the time -big sert  steel insert kit and install steel inserts in all the cylinders with out removing the heads.

The Kit #5141 cost $133.35

The inserts # 51459 cost $7.95 each

their phone# is 800-423-4070 they are in Reno Nevada

their web site is www.timesert.com

here is a link to info on the big-sert and instructions installing the insert into a block of aluminum http://www.timesert.com/sprksert.html

Here is the victim.

I have to remove a lot of stuff to get to the plugs.

air intake, heater hoses , transmission dip stick assembly, fuel line rail , injectors , coil packs....

with all the stuff removed I can actually see the injectors and coils.

now I will remove the gas rails and injectors

It's important to remember to remove the fuse to the electric fuel pump because you will be turning over the engine to position the piston and you wouldn't want gas shooting out of the gas rails. the fuse is green and is shown turned on it's side second down on the right row of fuses.

a shot of the back of the engine from inside the cab, showing the fuel rails off and pulled into the cab. The gas supply lines are still connected to the rails. The good thing about working on a van... you have good access to the back of the engine.

with all the stuff removed It's starting to look roomy in here !!

here is the tap that comes with the kit. the shaft is way to short, I found that a 12pt 12mm deep socket fits over the end of the tap and the tape shown is very strong and durable to hold the 2 pieces together.

all taped up and ready for a 3/8 " drive

Now this tool is ready to use on the triton engine.

I did the same thing to the reaming tool from the kit. since there isn't a lot of room to swing a ratchet I will use this offset electric drill I bought this from sears $90.00 comes with 2 batteries and charger. The black 3/8" drive to drill chuck adapter I got from ACE hardware.

here it is ready to go, just have to grease up the reamer to catch the aluminum shavings.

The problem with working on a van is you can't really see down the hole where the spark plug is, so it will be like impossible to drill a straight hole so I found that a 3/4" copper coupling fits in the rim of the hole where the coil pack seats. If you put this coupling in that rim it extends the hole up so you can see better. If you are doing a pick-up truck  where  you can look down into the hole you won't need this.

to help hold the 3/4" coupling better in the hole I soldered a 2" piece of 3/4" pipe to it. This slides down into the walls of the hole and holds it in place better.

here is a stick I use to check piston clearance

with the copper coupling in place that extends the hole up. I put a stick down into the cylinder to see that the piston is down far enough that the reamer won't damage it. If it isn't down far enough just turn the ignition key to just engage the starter for a half a second and test again.

here is the reamer all greased up and ready to go.

here we go ready to ream the hole. The instructions say to stop just before you are going to cut the countersink rim and clean out all the shavings then clean the reamer and apply new grease and then go in and finish the hole cutting the countersink rim. You will feel less resistance when the reamer cuts the counter sink rim and won't go any deeper.

use a screw driver at right angles to the cutting blades to clean off the grease.

I am using a desktop camera I had laying around with a pen light taped to it. This pen light I bought from Ace hardware it's called Maglite solitare it comes with a triple "A" battery. This light is good because to turn it on, you turn the front counter clockwise and it comes on, then if you keep turning it, it focus's the light into a tight beam of light that will let you see better in the hole. This cost about $8.00 . This is supposed to be used as a key ring. When you are done with this job, put it on you key ring as a reminder to never buy a ford again !

here is the set up using the only TV I had that had a video input. This is 27 inches... hey bigger is always better !!

This is a close-up picture of the TV screen, you can see the hole and the cut seat. Now I have to clean out the medal shavings.

here is what I used to clean out the reamed hole. just wrap the baby bottle brush with a old under shirt and spray it with the brake cleaner.

here you can see the shavings that come out. move the rag to a clean spot and do it again. I did it about 4 times until it comes out clean.

now I use a vacuum with a small hose that will reach down into the cylinder and suck out the shavings

after it is all clean now we thread the hole using the tap from the kit taped to the 12pt 12mm deep socket the same way using the offset drill.(note: this sears offset drill has a boost power mode when you squeeze the trigger all the way. you will have to use it here because threading the hole requires more torque.)

 The instructions say to apply cutting oil supplied with the kit to the tap cutter threads.

Then we clean out  the threaded  hole the same way as before.

install the steel insert on the inserter tool. The instructions say to tighten the allen screw on top using the supplied allen wrench . then after it is installed you are supposed to reach down in the spark plug hole and loosen the allen screw.  I found it like impossible to do this since I can't see down in the hole with the allen wrench in the way. so I just left the allen screw loose.

insert the insertion tool into a 6" long spark plug socket (made by snap-on tools) and apply the #266 red lock tight supplied in the insertion kit.

Now thread in the insert just like you would install a spark plug. Be careful here that you only go clockwise until the insert is tight then using a ratchet tighten it down real good. After it is nice and tight now reverse the ratchet and back out the spark plug socket with the insertion tool. the steel insert should stay tight in the hole.

here is the insertion tool minus the steel insert.

here is a shot of the steel insert installed. you can see the red lock tight squeezed out around the sides. Now go in again with the brake cleaner-t shirt-baby bottle brush and clean it again you will see the red lock tight on the rag. Also use the other end of the brush, the nipple cleaner with a clean spot on the t-shirt and clean the inside threads of the insert make sure there is no grease, oil or medal shavings in the park plug threads. 

now the last step! use the insert driver tool to press out the locking pin and mushroom out the bottom part of the insert. this will lock the insert in the head forever. (I hope!)

I put a little grease on the threads so I can tell how deep it went into the insert. The set up for this tool is different because the shaft is smaller. It takes a 12pt 3/8" socket and the picture shows a new type 3/8" locking extension, when you turn the nurled nob clock wise 1/4 turn it pushes out the small ball and you cannot pull the tool apart until you turn it 1/4 turn counter clockwise. This is not really needed for this job but I thought I should explain the picture to avoid confusion. (I bought this tool from pep boys $50.00 for a set of 3 different sizes)

Also notice the black flag of electrical tape on the shaft. when you thread this into the insert it will thread easy for 1.5 turns then it will be hard to turn. the flag will help you keep track of how many turns you are into the insert.

After you are 1.5 turns into the insert you will have to install a ratchet and start tightening down in the insert driver when you get to 4 or 5 turns it feels like the driver tool has bottomed out on something, just ignore it and keep tightening, after about 7 turns it will start getting easier to turn. Go about 12 turns in then back out the tool. It never really gets so loose that you can screw it by hand

If you look at the picture above carefully you can see the grease missing on the thread where the it was threaded into the insert. It shows the insert driver thread went into the insert about 5/8" which should be plenty SINCE WE ONLY HAVE  4 THREADS IN THE INSERT.

that is it one hole done.

since this is such a pain to set up I am going to do all the spark plug holes right now so I don't have to take all this stuff apart again.

As I do this.. after the 3rd installed insert it gets a lot easier. I estimate about 30min per hole with the cleaning and vacuuming. If you are going to do them all, I recommend that you put something in the holes when they are done... I used 6" long 5/8" wooden dowels, It's easy to get confused and you end up drilling out a newly installed insert. This kind of mistake would ruin the whole job.

 the 3rd plug back on the driver side and the 3rd hole back on the passenger side were a problem fitting the off set drill due to some water lines so I used a ratchet, it takes longer to do, but it can be done.

here is a shot doing the 3rd hole back on the passenger side. here I had to use a offset ratchet where you could rotate the red handle to turn the reamer. it took more time but I got it done!

Now all the cylinders are done and I start installing the spark plugs. I am not going to use anti-seize compound on them. I want all the friction on those threads I can get.... I don't want them coming loose again.

don't forget to reinstall the fuel pump fuse !

Now I have steel inserts in all the spark plug holes so MAYBE this problem is solved !

Of course I will let you know on the f-150 site if there are any problems.

If anyone has any questions you can email me at donswr@hotmail.com

Good Luck to all !