Hell yea....We'll open a sweat factor and make them all heliciol our heads.

 

oops!

 

Cometic Gasket 1-800-752-9850, BMW-MINI COOPER 78.5mm/.027" MLS HEAD GASKET Part #C4308-027 $83.95 (3/05)

 

I might be getting a customers head with bad threads on one of the plugs

ill be def sending it out for some polishing and bigger valves.

 

I appreciate everyone's comments on this issue. I have decided to replace the head, have it ported and polished and switch the stock cam to a schrick cam. I am still undecided as to which plugs to put in it. Seems there is a lot of controversy on the Densos. Any suggestions?

 

well, i run densos and havent had any issues... (they were installed by randy at webbmotorsports.com . if you choose to go with any new spark plugs just remember to have them torque down to 20lbs.. also, no need to re-gap..at least on the densos)

good luck.

 

Rawhyde -

Thanks for the tips! I've been using a torque wrench for sparkplugs for a long time, but didn't know about the temperature problem nor using anti-seize. Thanks!

 

Not that it matters but Ford has the same/worse problem with the 5.4.
It happens with even the OEM plugs installed at the factory. They won't pay a dime and it is a very common problem. Strange thing the new 3V 5.4 has more threads for the spark plug. The original had just 3 treads

 

I've been reading that over at the f150 forums. I have an F150 too and was cross searching the plugs when I was trying to troubleshoot some engine/lifter noise.

Luckily, had my '01 F150 5.4 since '02, and no blown plugs.

 

Glad to help!

Rawhyde

 

to get all the little bits of metal out before you helicoil a head on the car, stuff pantyhose into the cylinder. Every little bit of metal will get caught, and when you pull them out with some hemostats, no more shavings!

Matt

 

Good hint, Matt. But now the dilemma - risk metal shavings in your cylinder, or try to explain to your wife why you're taking her pantyhose out into the garage...

 

another tip for the helicoiling in place: turn the crank so both vavles are closed and the piston is just below TDC about 1". this will help prevent a chip from getting under a valve.

 

Take wife or SO out to a nice dinner. When she ******* that she just ruined a nother pair of hose with a run from a toenail, stash those in the toolbox....

Matt

 

Well this weekend I've finally removed the head en route to a helicoil in cylinder #2. I've decided to go with the stock head gasket and some Bosch Platinum 4's instead of the Denso's. Hopefully this will help with the spark plug issue but I'm going to torque them down every month for sure. This was a pain...

I also need to remove my 15% pulley to qualify for STX...

So...as promised...here are some pictures. It's been over a month since I've driven the car and I can't wait to get it all back together. It's unbelievable how much crap I had to remove from the car just to get the head off. All this to avoid metal chips in the motor....a lot of work but now at least I know more about the car.

Other mods I'm doing before autox season include front camber plates, Schroth harnesses, and I'm going to look for some Koni's possibly.

Anyone got any advice for putting it all back together? Everything looks pretty standard so it should go well. I'll post some more when its back together...

 

It appears that getting the right torque on the plugs is important and the damage associated with under-torquing is clear. What are the issues that an over-torqued plug will cause?

 

are you kidding me? now I have 2 cars with plug issues....great.

 

When I clicked on one of the pictures in post number 65, I got a blaster type virus. Heads up!

 

Yikes! Good heads up for those poor Windowz users.

 

Really?/! That's odd....nothing happened when I use them....and I brought all my pics to work and still nothing odd seemed to happen.

 

Well, I'm tempted to try it again but I'm not going to. I just know when I clicked on one of those pics, my computer instantly gave me a warning and highly recommended I shut down my internet connection.

Now back to rebuilding that engine. Good luck. I have a hard time finding the dipstick and reading the dang thing.

 

nothing happened to me

 

No problem here. Make sure you are up to date on windows updates and antivirus.

 

I could be wrong, but I think it would be updated anti-virus giving you the warning, while un-updated antivirus wouldn't catch anything.

 

Just thought it wise to revive this thread as I believe many might not be aware... Seeing this thread in the Performance Forum, had me thinking that this might be prudent:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=76773

Having had an aftermkt top mount IC blocking access to the spark plugs, I wasn't checking as often as would otherwise. I recently installed the DFIC top mount, and decided to check them as this unit doesn't cover the plugs, and 3 were loose!!! I had last checked 3 months ago, and torqued them to 21 ft-lbs, using anti-seize.

Just a friendly reminder...