My 05 Expedition broke down on the way to work. It has 46k on it and I have the Ford Premium extended care warranty. I parked it and went back to it later and was able to get it started again, however it was running like total crap. I limped it to the dealer. THe call me the next day and tell me the following:

Hi this is Garnet Ford. This is what you need. Some is warranty, some is not. You need 2 new coil packs. One on cyl 5 and one on cyl 8 (i believe those were the cyls) . The coil packs I can do under warranty, but they may be going bad due to the spark plugs being too hot. See that truck calls for 2 different plugs, and one of them is too hot. Im not sure what ones you have so we want to replace all 8 plugs with the cooler ones. I also want to replace the rubber boots on the plugs on the remianing 6 cylinders. We replaced the 2 on which the coil packs were replaced. The boots could be leaking water if they are dryrotted. I can have your truck back to you today, and we have all the parts in stock. The cost will be 536.00 plus 100 dollars for your ford warranty deductable bringing you to 636.00


I told him I cant justify dropping 636.00 today. He said "well then we will replace your 2 coilpacks under warranty. Your total will be 106.00 with your deductable and tax.


I picked the truck up, it ran rough for an hour and then it began running fine. Its still running fine today. Were they trying to stick it to me? Is that an extreme price for plugs and rubber plug boots? He was trying to tell me that changing the plugs is a pain in the ***. I looked at it and they dont look that hard. Am I missing something here??

 

Make sure I've got this broken down properly

$500+ for a plug change, new coils, new boots...nothing more?


If so, yes. They are ripping you off for at least $250.


Is your motor a 3v or 2v 5.4. I'm not sure when the 5.4 3v became standard in the Expy.


If 2v, the plug change is a joke.


If 3v, you need to search this site and read the TSB's. The 3v has a huge issue with plugs sticking and breaking.

Since yours is slightly lower mileage, might not be a problem, but better safe than sorry IMO

 

Btw, if your motor is a 3v, the correct Spark Plug is a Motorcraft PZT1F

the 04/05 motors had a PZT2F which is a Heat Range hotter. Ford specifies the colder plug to help combat the Carbon issues

 

its a 5.4 3v. Do u still think they were trying to burn me?

are the pkugs hard to do on the 3v that I have?

what carbon issues?

 

sounds like they are charging you $250 for parts and about $250 for labor


I find it scary that they didn't discuss the possability of breakage. The 5.4 3v has a bad track record for plugs getting stuck in the head.


It starts at a $200-300 plug change...and can quickly escalate into a $4-5,000 mess.


The plugs themselves are relatively easy. You just never know if/when one will break.




I highly suggest you sit down and search this forum and fordtrucks.com. Alot of people have gone before you. There are special tools and procedures.




edit: btw, the carbon issue is this. In a nutshell, the there is about 1mm of clearance around the electrode and the cyclinder wall inside the head. since it is a recessed area, gas that isn't burned completely likes to collect in there. It builds up over time and essentially cements the electrode to the head.

 

I paid $800 to have new plugs installed at the dealership on my 03 XLT.. I don't know how people get it done for less at the dealership because I called around to a few different ones in my area and they all gave me about the same price.

 

I guess I don't understand extended warranty. If you PAY for a warranty why are you PAYING again??