Ford 3 valve 5.4l V8 tune up costs

[Ben Hatcher]

I just got my 100k tune up on my '05 Expedition and was shocked by the cost. $500 to start plus $50/plug that breaks while being removed, which they have a high tendency to do. The dealership broke 2 of the 8 on mine and they have plenty of practice. I figure changing them earlier could reduce the chance of them breaking but the plugs alone are $20 a pop so that pretty much wipes out any savings from changing them sooner.

Overall, the truck has been trouble free but $600 seems pretty steep for what is typically a pretty easy DIY job.

end rant.

[David Weaver]

They have had a problem with breaking plugs and blowouts with the 5.4 (and others?) for a long time, and to my knowledge, have denied it. The should in my opinion be fixing any plugs that break due to design problems on their own design, and not sticking it to loyal customers.

They (at least aftermarketers, do - lisle brand?) offer a special tool to remove the plugs, don't they, to try avoiding the breakout? As well as a kit to repair the damage from blown out plugs?

[Matt Meiser]

There's aftermarket tools to remove them once they break. There's also a TSB with a procedure to minimize the odds of breakage.

[Dave Lehnert]

http://www.wcpo.com/dpp/news/local_news/investigations/I-Team-2000-spark-plugs-what-some-call-design-flaw-Ford-calls-routine

[Ben Hatcher]

Well, from the looks of things, I got off easy with only 2 breaks and no parts falling into the engine.

[Steve Meliza]

That seems in the ballpark to me as I recently had the 100K and 120k mile maintenance performed simultaneously on my '06 6.0L V8 Diesel at the local Ford dealer and was charged $755. That included the required maintenance of engine oil and filter change, tranny fluid and filter change, coolant replacement, air filter, and new fuel filters. It would have been closer to $600 for all that, but someone had reamed out the fasteners on the tranny filter housing so they could only get to it by replacing the whole filter housing. It also would have been cheaper to do just the 100K or 120k services, but I bought it at 109k miles and figured it was safe to assume the previous owner didn't change the coolant right before trading it in.

Obviously I don't have spark plugs to deal with, but when the oil and fluid replacements are quantified in gallons instead of quarts you really pay for it. Depending on what else you're having done besides spark plugs it could be accurate for a dealer.

[Ben Hatcher]

I had the fluids, filters, and brakes done at the same time. They actually cut me a nice break on the plug change but I still ended up forking over $1700. Naturally, my washing machine died on the same day. I'd actually been praying for that to happen so I had an excuse to buy a front loader but wish the timing would have been a little better. So much for buying that spiral head jointer/planer this year:(