Ford Trucks=horrible To Work On

jro909 · July 21, 2011

i was chatting with a co-worker after work tonight, he is a ford guy and i'm obviously a chevy man...and he showed me under his hood...my god its brain surgery just to change the spark plugs, it was i think a 2000 f-150 with the 5.4 and he was explaining to me he has to remove the fuel rail and a few other bits just to change the spark plugs...i was in shock...ford builds a good truck but damn they don't cut any slack to the average wrench head

ColeTrains03 · July 21, 2011

Nope they don't. I was out on a job with my cousin in NYC and his '02 F150 developed a misfire and i did the plugs for him. That coil on plug design is kinda dumb but i was able to get it done. Not as easy as GM's stuff though, that's for sure

mhenshaw · July 21, 2011

We use to own 3 Ford trucks 97-03 Body Style with the 5.4L. One of them kept blowing the coil packs like it was going out of style. It took over 3 hours to change the spark plugs since the body comes over the motor. One of the trucks had a 3" body lift so that helped change the plugs but it still took 2 hours.

Now the 04-09 Body style are worse and its a common problem that the spark plugs seize up. People break the spark plugs constantly and have to get the dealer to fix it. I think the dealer has a special tool to make it easier for them but I could be wrong.

tanked_darren · July 21, 2011

Im sure the guys over in the ford forums are sitting there criticizing GM's for thier engineering flaws, say, changing a transmission filter for example, you have to remove exhaust or a transmission mount bolt to jack the tranny up just to get the pan off.

Or how about the headlight bulbs? You need girl hands or your removing inner fenders and grill.

hrspwr · July 21, 2011

A friend of mine has a '00 F-150 and had to get a head changed due to a valve issue. They had to lift the cab off the frame just to change it.

rdnkcpa · July 21, 2011

I'm a GM guy, my Dad is a Ford guy. When I did the heads on my 5.3 Silverado, I was amazed how easy they were to remove and replace. Nothing out of of the ordinary had to be removed and all of the bolts were easy to get to upon reassembly. I made that remark to my Dad as we were working on it. He responded, it is much easier on his Ford because he has NEVER replaced his cylinder heads. Point to Dad.

I had an Astro van that I had to replace the intake gaskets on. That job SUCKED.

Badbird2000 · July 21, 2011

Yup, i have a 2002 F150 with the 4.6.. did plugs and coils, took me about 3 1/2 hours.. hell, it took me a good 20 minutes to FIND the plugs! Lol.. but it has 148,000 miles, still going strong.. i'll just drive it until it won't go..

ColeTrains03 · July 22, 2011

Im sure the guys over in the ford forums are sitting there criticizing GM's for thier engineering flaws, say, changing a transmission filter for example, you have to remove exhaust or a transmission mount bolt to jack the tranny up just to get the pan off.

Or how about the headlight bulbs? You need girl hands or your removing inner fenders and grill.

What's so hard about the headlights? mine is just taking out the 2 pins and swapping the bulbs. It's cake to do.

MikeNH · July 22, 2011

Im sure the guys over in the ford forums are sitting there criticizing GM's for thier engineering flaws, say, changing a transmission filter for example, you have to remove exhaust or a transmission mount bolt to jack the tranny up just to get the pan off.

Or how about the headlight bulbs? You need girl hands or your removing inner fenders and grill.

What's so hard about the headlights? mine is just taking out the 2 pins and swapping the bulbs. It's cake to do.

The 900s are not like that.

tanked_darren · July 22, 2011

A friend of mine has a '00 F-150 and had to get a head changed due to a valve issue. They had to lift the cab off the frame just to change it.

I have heard this feat is possible by removing the transmission. Still a pain.

truckofwinandawesome · July 23, 2011

At least the American Automakers TRY to be Mechanic Friendly with the Headlights, UNLIKE Honda or Volkswagen, where you have to DISMANTLE THE ENTIRE FRONT END Just to get the Headlight Housings out! (True Story, got a '98 Accord and a 2001-2004 Passat at School) THIS is why I love my Plymouth or a GMT800, they were STUPIDLY Simple to remove (my Plymouth has 2 Long T-30 Torx Bolts per headlight housing, and given the chance, I could have my ENTIRE front end Dismantled in 5 MINUTES!)