2004 Ford F-150 spark plug and engine trouble

WAYNE2014

MEMBER
2004 FORD F-150
5.4L
V8
4WD
AUTOMATIC
130,000 MILES

I change all 8 coil packs and the motor still misfires and I was wondering if I could put a regular plug in it instead of the factory plugs because there so hard to get out and easy to ring off then on top of that I pulled the dip stick out and I had 3 water bubbles on it so I want to change the plugs and see if that works and didnt know if I could replcae the plugs with the regular plug or do I have to use the factory plugs thats easy to ring off in it and if that doesn't fix it it has a blow head gasket right with the water in the oil

3 Replies

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
109,779 POSTS

Small amounts of condensation are not uncommon. Often times, the PCV (positive crankcase ventilation) system may be plugged causing it.

As far as the misfire, the check engine light should be on indicating which cylinder is the problem. You need to remove that plug to see if there is a problem. NOTE: Often times I have seen the rubber boot that plugs onto the plug go bad and allow power to arc causing a misfire.

I'm not sure what kind of plug you want to use in the engine, but I don't recommend anything different that what it came with.

Start by checking codes so we know which cylinder is misfiring. Once you do that, remove that plug and inspect it. Also, check to make sure there are no markings on the rubber boot that would indicate arcing. If everything looks good, check to make sure that plug is getting spark. If it is, then do a compression test on that cylinder to determine if there could be a possible head gasket issue. Please keep in mind, getting coolant into the combustion chamber will result in a lot of white smoke from the exhaust. If that is an issue already, then we know it is a gasket. If there isn't white smoke, chances are it is an electrical issue.

Let me know what you find.