Bizarre Intermittent Misfire Trips Me Up | Ford 5.4 3 Valve

This 2006 F-150 has a slight miss. We take the long way around barn to get it fixed...
Ivan's video: • Ford 5.4 V8 Misfire Ca...
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[@BlindBatG34]

I honestly don’t know how anyone can do grad school and raise a kid at the same time. That’s superhero levels of focus and energy. Kudos to Mrs. Wes.

[@mrswes]

One class at a time, two other firends taking class at the same time, a husband willing to adjust his schedule and a village of other helpers! Thank you.

[@WatchWesWork]

It's been a 5 year adventure.

[@tekvax01]

@@mrswes Goooo! Team Hufflepuff!

[@mrswes]

@Christian B average is great with everything you had going on!! It’s hard work and the grades don’t mean everything.

[@willb3018]

@@WatchWesWork Absolutely kudos to Mrs Wes. I know what it is like to have to work through my whole 4 years of undergrad. Have no idea how to do that while raising a child.

[@eddiepatterson5025]

When you were holding the spark plug I was waiting on you to say “Well Here’s your problem lady”

[@LeMecanoDuDimanche]

In IT expert support we have 3 rules you must apply in order: 1 don't trust the customer. 2 don't trust your colleagues. 3 don't trust yourself. And if the issue is not found, loop. I assure you this method works in real life support. Thanks for this cool video

[@tonymiller3788]

I get your point, and this is why I work on my own things. I won't take a vehicle to a mechanic because they won't listen, and usually I've found I've done a better job diagnosing the problem then they will. So I do not think it is good practice to automatically dismiss what the customer says. They have the most direct experience with the problem. Maybe rather than distrust and dismiss them, ask questions and try to understand them. I would reverse your three things and put distrust self first, and distrust customer last.

[@ThisTimeTheWorld]

A small water bottle will show a shake on misfire

[@duanek9892]

Max was sad because the truck didn't come with a mouse....

[@jonathanfenne4948]

The plug relies on the cylinder head for cooling. With loose contact, thermal transfer would be lower, leading to a hot plug, detonation, destruction. That's my theory and I'm sticking with it, Wes!

[@WatchWesWork]

That's a good theory!

[@dancurrier6421]

when did you get the Army truck

[@SkypowerwithKarl]

True

[@tbthedozer]

I wonder if it was arcing to the piston or the head? Maybe it’s a prototype for that ignition system to make the toroidal flame front? lol

[@doolittlegeorge]

These are great engines and in the XLT version even better powertrains. Original 1st Gen Raptors still rule all but yeah, absolutely the ignition coils should always be replaced and the bore and plugs always checked (scoped and gapped.) The one major upgrade is to have the exhaust manifolds and bolts replaced if not headers put on. Everything else is suspension related because of the sheer mass of the product. Should really only be used as an interstate truck or daily driver for obvious reasons. So many made tho a lot of fun to work on and play around with absolutely. Great fuel mapping software on these machines. The new stuff is like a SpaceX rocket so its really funny to drive that as a comparison. Still moving the metal no doubt for all of them! The 1990s really kicked off some amazing product my favorite being the 1993 Ford Lightning. Picked up a used later 90s variant for almost nothing now as not nearly as good as the early 90s version but at the time called "the greatest sportscar in the World is a truck!" and a headline i happen to agree with. GM made some awesome product then too. Avoided the Dodge disasters of then...the whole lot. Toyotas, Nissans, Honda Ridgeline...all totally solid and far better on the weight issue.

[@htownblue11]

Happens to the best of ‘em Wes. Give that dog a treat man....he looked sad.

[@thomasburke7850]

Your son is getting big and full of energy and you have a great wife very lucky man

[@floridaflyfishing3457]

Everything is great except you don’t live in Florida which is obviously the best state in the country

[@jimmac1185]

@@floridaflyfishing3457 Yeah, if you want to sweat your ass of everyday and screen in your backyard!

[@markellsworth2814]

@@floridaflyfishing3457 enjoy your hurricanes

[@AntiqueEarthMover12]

Another primary rule is: check the easiest/most simple things first!

[@mattthescrapwhisperer]

My dad used to say: "Never let a minor problem turn into a major overhaul". Boy was he right. And Mrs Wes, you have two kids. Wes is the oldest.....Thanks for another great video.

[@-DC-]

And this is why I work on my own vehicle's you can't trust anyone.

[@mph5896]

Ah, it went to a high school auto shop. Cant really expect pro work. Instructor can't supervise every second of the day and you have kids learning something new.

[@HUBBABUBBADOOPYDOOP]

*DAMN SKIPPY*

[@zsolthajdu5007]

I can’t even trust myself.

[@Tnenamrep2]

Yeah totally. It's sad to say, but yeah... I won't let anyone touch my stuff but me. I'd rather take responsibility for it myself, I'd rather know the real condition of what I'm driving... plus it's cheaper too.

[@deezelfairy]

Not so much these days but a few years ago most of my work was completing the diagnosis work other engineers couldn't. Learnt quickly to completely disregard anything the guy before me had done - not even interested. All I ask for is the machine is completely reassembled like they were never there and as my old mentor used to say 'if your methodical, never skip a step and start from the beginning you'll find it every time'. Too many times I've walked in on an electric forklift with motor controllers, logic boards, motor/reduction units lying all over the place just to find its a dud battery cell, bad cell link or canbus plug not clipped in all the way.

[@HamiltonvilleFarm]

F. A. C. S. The ole spark plug! Good job finding the issue!

[@WatchWesWork]

Thanks! We got there eventually.

[@Aengus42]

As soon as you said "causing the cylinder to run rich" from an intake cam follower problem I thought "Check the colour of the spark plug!". A rich cylinder will have a dark, sooty plug maybe smelling of petrol. That would've saved you a lot of time accidentally. You'd've checked the right thing for the wrong reason. What I love about the internet & KZbin in particular is the amplification of learning. That "Oh bugger, if only..." moment will be seen by thousands of people. Not just the one person who learned from that mistake. Or one person & his apprentice. We're all apprentices now! Thanks for showing your path to the problem, warts & all. The opportunities for learning shrink rapidly when the creator edits to make himself look good. You don't do that and so we all learn together. Nice one Wes! 😃

[@jdmccorful]

A fix is a fix, don't sweat it. Thanks for the look.

[@VashthStampeede]

An old mechanic said to me when I opened my own shop, "Never trust another mechanic's work." I always first looked at what was done last. Many times, that's what caused the current problem. Good video Wes.

[@russorpcom]

My favorite: Always check easy stuff first

[@jamesbaylis9438]

As much as it helps, when the customer gives you information. Sometimes it can be misleading, which starts you down the rabbit hole of looking for something that's no there. Love the channel and keep up the great content. 👍

[@WatchWesWork]

Right. If they knew what was wrong they'd just fix it themselves!

[@elkvis]

You have a military truck in your driveway. Can't wait to see the video on that

[@erikparent8176]

Ya that was a teaser! He made like he was only taking video of the doggie but then turned it toward the military truck. You know most everyone thought, "oh Ya, let's see that truck!"

[@Deviant365]

Amazed the customer didn't ask for a door chime delete.

[@WatchWesWork]

Ice pick!

[@LawF250]

If someone told me that was the last thing that was done, that would be the first thing I check.🤣

[@bills6093]

That's one of the basic rules. Something wrong with your car? What was the last thing that was done to it?

[@tonymiller3788]

Especially if the problem started at the same time or shortly thereafter.

[@jarrodbinthenc6810]

Wes that laugh holding the spark plug. Priceless 👍🇺🇸

[@grosseileracingteam]

I had auto shop in the early 80's. We NEVER used glaucoma "medicine" at lunchtime before we worked on cars. Thank you Mrs. Wes. You are awesome!

[@shanepowers7566]

Yeah,,,,,,,,,,,,

[@throttletherapy9998]

Yep, ran into the almost exact same thing on an expedition. Thought for sure it was a cam follower on its way out on bank 1, pulled the valve cover and everything looked good! I put the valve cover back on, started the truck, took my stethoscope and heard air coming from the coil boot on number 4 sure enough the spark plug was loose, luckily the plug was ok, the boot was a little scorched. No codes and no misfires just noise! Another shop charged him $1,400 for camshaft replacement that was never Done! Thank God they gave him his money back!

[@joe2mercs]

I thought the cardinal rule was always do the simple things first and checking plugs is about as simple as it gets. Sometimes knowledge and experiences works against you but Wes you impress me with an indefatigable and tenacious work ethic.

[@GNX157]

That was my thought when he went for the valve cover so quick. I was thinking “why not pull the plugs first”.

[@joeblow123]

checking plugs on 3 valve 5.4 is not a simple job

[@ryanworkman5229]

Plenty of people have said it Wes, but when the customer says they or someone did all the work in the world on their vehicle, I always take that as the starting point for the diagnosis. Because we've all learnt the hard way, nobody else knows how to fix things, heck I've got so suspicious of the guy who worked on it before me, I don't even trust him when he is me. "you replaced the sparkplugs last week" "we'll see about that now won't we"

[@Leon-qc7fe]

I was an Electronic Technician, in my younger days, and I would help other techs with their problem repairs. After getting burned many times I stopped asking "what have you checked" and started from scratch to solve problems. Everybody does it and I feel for you but laugh about it and go on like the rest of us. We are only human.

[@logicalguy488]

Kid in the shop class might have dropped the plug and never noticed the ground electrode broke off.

[@donniebrown2896]

That's what I thought also,

[@stevanrose7439]

A friend came to me with a ruff running ford and said they had it tuned up by someone else. So I started with the plugs and found them to be looking just like the one Wes Was holding. I still don’t know how that motor was running but it was. I changed them all and sent the person along with a much better running car. Just keep it simple.

[@mickreid7153]

Everydays a learning day!

[@jrevillug]

I had this exact thing. Engine started making noise, found a loose plug which had lost its earth strap. Like this truck it was still firing pretty well. The metal on that plug was blue, had clearly overheated, presumably due to not being in tight contact with the head. New plug and it was much better. Never did find the missing metal.

[@WatchWesWork]

Crazy. I can't see where the strap did any harm. Lucky and unlucky at the same time I guess!

[@Ronl53]

Before there was electronic equipment we have today for diagnosis, the first thing we would do is pull the plug and read it. However as you said, you were told that the plugs had been changed so that is what you went on. Great video!

[@josephreisinger33]

Oh, a Ford problem?? Sounds like my friend getting towed of the parkway with a bad EGR on his power stroke. He was pulling a trailer. BIG TOW BILL. Great video Wes. Take care.

[@Martin.Wilson]

Always pull the plug. Back yard tune-ups sometimes skip changing plugs that are difficult to access, and 8 look like it fits the bill.

[@baseball4697]

Mr. Wes, what I love about your channel is the wide variety of problems you address and that you are so open and honest about trying to diagnose these problems. If I were that tech teacher, I would require my students to watch a channel like yours and write a précis of the episodes. So much can be learned from what you and others in your field put out there on KZbin. And as a student, the challenge is how to gain that knowledge and wisdom as quickly as possible from masters like you with your years of experience. Kudos to Ms. Wes. I applaud her for being a teacher and for continuing her education. No one knows the challenges of this profession plus going to school yourself plus raising children plus having a husband with a KZbin channel! I admire both of you and greatly enjoy this journey you’re sharing with us voyeurs.

[@garybrugone433]

I definitely have never seen a spark plug in that condition, let alone it worked. Great Video.

[@midgoog2]

Kudos Mrs Wes. Grad school, own channel, mail order coordinator, hyper 4Yr old, and I presume home duties as well. You are super woman incarnate. Wes when I worked in a auto engine plant many years ago one of my jobs was correcting faulty engines from the assy line. I had one come from the test bed operator telling of a misfire that eventually cleared after some judicious "throttle work" but he was worried about it anyway. These are the jobs you just love coz you can spend ages looking for the cause and appear to be busy to the boss. First check was lifters, second was plugs, then I went into foreign body mode. Left head off revealed pock marks all over 1,2 and 3 pistons, and head chambers. That one was a 3 piston , 2 inlet valve 1 exhaust valve replacement with some creative die grinder work on the chambers and 1 + 2 inlet ports coz someone left a spare valve collet in the #1 inlet at assy. I assume the collet was round when it hit #3 inlet port. Look after that Lady mate she is special. Cheers Eric

[@timswansson1955]

I got my Watch Wes Work t-shirt today...thank you Wes and Mrs. Wes!

[@JOHNSUE28]

Wes, With the KV involved. Loose plug , The Plug was simply using the cylinder head as a Ground. Two turns up into the Head would accomplish that. Good Fix! I would of gone there first. I'm from Iowa. Not the Peoples Republic of Illinois. lol.

[@marcryvon]

I'm no mechanic but a guy from his young age, had to make do with my old presumably shut cars. Student cars. But any time I had a misfiring engine, the very first thing I checked were the plugs, the wires and the points gap and condition... Worked almost every time. If not, bad coil. Then, valves lash. With no fancy modern electronic gizmos. Yes, I'm an old 69 y.o. geezer. Yes, I would have liked OBD1 or 2 code readers but at the time, early 70s, they did'nt exist ! Keep on wrenching Wes, I learn something new from each of your vids !

[@edwardgarea7650]

This is what I love about your channel - your honesty. I see some other sites and they act like it’s all easy peasy. “I saw right away that the thingamajig was running slow and the connection to the whatchamacallit was loose. So I tightened the whatzit and realigned the doohickey to the reostat master-blaster and polished the chrome.” Not you. You realize the basic problem was you in taking their word for it. The fact he said his truck was repaired by a high school auto shop would have set of bells in my head. I remember the guys who took auto shop. I wouldn’t trust them to put a nickel in a gum ball machine. Also nice to see the gorgeous Mrs. Wes. She has it all - beauty and brains. You are one lucky man. And yes, we all knew that was your sister and she’s very pretty, but she can’t hold a candle to you. Sorry, but that’s the truth.

[@ianburit3705]

Live and learn Wes, I`m 73 and still learning..BUT you found the cause by elimination in the end so joib done - thanks for the video - Ian -UK.

[@99andrianmonk]

Another great video Wes. We're all human and make miscues. Best part it that you recovered from it without creating a lot of unnecessary work. It's real life which makes your videos so valuable.

[@kenneychappuis1853]

I got 350k on my 5.4 in a E350 the best service truck I’ve ever owned. I did have one problem that took Ford awhile to find , it was the fuel pump.

[@mph5896]

What year? The E series van came mostly with the 5.4l sohc. Do you have a 3v 5.4 in yours?

[@kenneychappuis1853]

@@mph5896 Honestly I don’t not know I only do general maintenance myself. It went to Ford when I had engine problems.

[@mph5896]

@@kenneychappuis1853 Copy. Its prob the 5.4l 2v, which along with the 4.6l 2v is prob one of the greatest engines Ford ever made. Not a lot of power, but super reliable. Not to be confused with the 5.4l 3v.

[@raoulcruz4404]

Years ago, a classmate and I were kind of the local "go to" guys for automotive problems (maybe not so much from knowledge but, cheap. :) ). Some kid had a '68 Charger. He kept coming to us with this and that problem. Each time it was the result of letting his high school shop class work on his Charger. Last time I spoke with that kid, he was pulling out of the shop class and nailed the accelerator. The driveshaft came loose from the differential. Yep, shop class had just 'reinstalled' it.

[@ksokie63]

Well Wes at least it still was a easy fix in the long run. Have a great weekend 😀

[@WatchWesWork]

You got that right!

[@ckm-mkc]

It happens to everyone - cars are complicated and it's easy to go down the rabbit hole of experience guided guesswork. Not having all the fancy tools, I always pull the plug so I can take a look at the burn or other marks when there is a misfire. The color, smell & residue can tell you a lot and it's pretty easy unless the spark impossible to get to....

[@psavel274]

Don't trust it and check it for yourself is definitely good advice and a good rule to follow. So many people know someone or their uncles friend 'knows how to fix things' and taking their word for it that it was done correctly or even done at all isn't worth it. Get in there and look for yourself instead of digging deeper. I've also fell victim to this before, but never have seen the electrode snapped clean off a plug, and especially never seen one still spark that way. It had to be arching out on the head somehow. Youd expect the cook boot to be melted at least with the plug being that loose, and usually the debris from it would be sitting on top of the piston or gouging up the cylinder walls. Must've went out the exhaust valve somehow is the only explanation. Crazy man. You cant make stuff like this up! Thank you for sharing this one Wes! What a weird scenario, period.

[@greggb1416]

Wes, you are a young man, wisend (is that even a word), and experienced... In this case you just kinda jumped right to what you know from your typical experience(s)... I like, and have liked your videos from the very beginning of me finding you... You are methodical, in step by step diagnosis... Keep/maintain that process... Keep the great videos coming... Thank you sir.

[@adamm2634]

Those particular spark plug sockets are a godsend for the Triton.

[@quantumleap359]

Second cardinal rule of automotive troubleshooting: Check the easy stuff first. Great video!

[@erickieffer8440]

I found this problem in a car recently. It was amazing to see how much of the spark plug ‘evaporated’ in the half hour between failure and being brought to my attention.

[@arthurbiringer5676]

As always great job. I hope you show the video to the customer.

[@johng8473]

Check all the simple things first . Every good mechanic knows to check plugs first thing on Ford trucks. I respect your honesty in showing that you messed up. We all forget that sometimes. It's a lesson relearned time and again. Another is, the customer brought it in because he has no idea what is wrong, FORGET everything they tell you and start with the basic operation diagnostics. After all, YOU are the Pro. Good learning video.

[@kristiankristiansen133]

Tried almost the same. It was the center electrode that completely came out of the plug. That thing is longer that you would think. Amazing that it will pass the exhaust valve without making any damage. Spark plug was loose. Imagine the vibration will do it. It was in a Volvo S80 2.5 NA. Strong stuff.

[@WatchWesWork]

Wow. I've never seen that!

[@stevenarnette3926]

THANKS FOR THIS. I HAVE 2006 F150 ALSO SAME SOUND CARRIED IT TO SHOP SPARK PUG LOOSE. JUST HAD SPARK PLUGS TWO MONTHS EARLIER. WOW SAME THING.THANKS YOU HELP ME ALOT. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.

[@davidstreeter9426]

Never question an accidental solution to an issue. They are gifts from the mechanical gods.

[@poolmotorrepairguyFL]

The Florida pool pump motor repair guy approved ! that was good info Wes

[@Turbo496Vette]

Those new groundless spark plugs are all the rage 🤣

[@giggiddy]

That high school boy got a tic-toc alert on his phone from the local high-school skank and he dropped that spark plug and ran out the door. Then came back and half-assed installed the damaged plug to fail later. Man after my own heart!

[@tractordoctor7505]

Have a 2009 f150 5.4 with 290000km still going strong 💪... watch it blow up next week after saying this..

[@mph5896]

09+ 3v had different plugs. Much better design.

[@WatchWesWork]

Knock on wood!

[@stlfomoco]

This seems to be a common problem with the Motorcraft sp546 plugs. I had it happen to my son's truck and to mine. The 11th gen forum on Facebook is full of this exact story and there are plenty of pictures of plugs that match yours. The electrode strap comes off the plug and you get misfires. The answer for my son and myself was a set of champion plugs. Neither of us had problems until we put new Motorcraft Sp546 in our trucks and then we started getting this exact problem about once a month or so. We're both over 2 years and who knows how many miles on the Champions without a problem.

[@DaFrostyG]

On 3vs I’ve seen numerous times that the spark plug backs out, if you don’t give her a little more snuggage at the end.

[@WatchWesWork]

Never seen it.

[@alexlail7481]

I guess the coil on plug set up has pretty much ended shooting the plug through the hood or out the fender once it backs to far out. ... I have seen that a couple times on older cars and experienced once on a small engine

[@JHruby]

That little more snuggage at the end has messed up more heads than all the backed out spark plugs in the world.

[@DaFrostyG]

@@JHruby I’ve seen them comeback with exhaust smell, ticking noise, misfire when they aren’t torqued properly. 3vs are just a pain the ass all the way around.

[@DaFrostyG]

@@WatchWesWork we get a lot of independent work on 3vs with all sorts of problems. i figured they would start to be extinct but that’s not the case. People around my area would rather spend 5k in engine work than buy a new truck. I don’t blame them one bit.

[@ramongonzalez2909]

My 5.4 3v gave me a lot of headaches. I’m glad I got rid of it

[@patriel1]

This one made me laugh out loud hahahaha. Max is enjoying his sun bathing! Considering it was worked on by students, they may have just had such a tough time with it, they may have broken it.

[@davidporter2374]

Years ago in 74 we had a NYC car (we were 200 miles north) 69 Olds 350 come in running foul. The car was hooked to the Sun 947 scope. The pattern received showed high resistance in the points definatly. Showed the pattern to customer, along with the Sun pattern descriptions, he didn't belive it said he just had them put in for $30 and wasn't going to pay it again. he wanted the cap, rotor and plug wires changed. the shop had a relaxed stance on costomers for the shop so he stood over me like a true "fender lizzard". almost done he left to go downtown to get the news paper. the new parts made no difference. Seeing our chance we installed a new set of aftermarket points. the car ran fantastic. the shop was Chevy-Olds dealer so cap rotor and wires were AC Delco "enough markup" to cover the aftermarket points never billed ,the customer left satisfied and never to be seen again.

[@WatchWesWork]

Yep, you can lead a horse to water but...

[@braddavis2834]

Experienced the same, misfire on tip in and ugly back shift.... Blamed tranny, converter pulling engine down. Eventually got a misfire code and did the usual plug and coil fix. My plug was same... tip gone.. still drove good all day, just back shift problems.. lol anyway changing them one at a time.. good vid.

[@FlatThunder]

I concur..... Do all of your own service work. You never know what you're going to get. Good diagnostics 👍

[@macgvrs]

I have never, ever seen that happen. I have twice seen spark plugs loosen up and come completely out of the head. Both times I was able to put the plugs back in and they worked fine. Great lesson about not trusting what you are told. I used to work on computers and you definitely took what you were told with some skepticism.

[@jake2213b]

I just hate coming after someone else to fix what they missed. I would work on it as no one worked on it because when it goes out the door my name is on it. I take pride in that I do the best job that I could do on it.

[@JohnSmith-tv5ep]

Well Jake,...(please read to the end)...you can rest a little easier now cause in this new Era of life, our standards have dropped. NBC (No Body Cares) is the new norm! At 66years old, I have become a Grumpy ole man to others.Everyone thinks I'm just too hard to on people! IF. yea IF I can find a person with a good work ethic who does good work, and pays attention to detail, they get compensated VERY well. Needless to say,....I save alot of aggravation and money! Lol Kudos to you! You'll always have a job! (I got this hanging in my shop) QUALITY: it's like buying oats. If you prefer clean, fresh oats, you must pay a FAIR PRICE. However, if you can be satisfied with oats that already been through the horse... THAT COMES A LITTLE CHEAPER.

[@jake2213b]

@@JohnSmith-tv5ep I worked for a very big company and our job was to repair, build maintain our company equipment. So anything we did our name is on it so that if something is wrong they would come after you. Not everyone who works for the company makes sure that they do a good job. For some reason I had to make it right but I would find where they short cut and it could be a problem. It could be a million dollar problem and I was not going to be the one on a chopping block.

[@JohnSmith-tv5ep]

@@jake2213b Ditto that!! Seems like YOUR the 'go to guy'. Similar situation in my field, CATV tech. Some would just put a bandaid on it, (quick fix) then when it really went in the toilet, seemed like you were the tech out in the snow/rain weather fixing the main problem makin it work !

[@BeenThrDunThat]

You are a great detective on these problems. Whether you feel like you could have found it faster, you will always figure it out. Not everyone can say that!

[@joshjablonicky171]

You got it wess trust no one and always trust your gut.

[@18robsmith]

It takes a big man to own up to a mistake - good on you Wes

[@n4zou]

I remember when you changed the points, condenser, spark plugs, and check and adjust valve lash every 10,000 miles. I would keep a complete set of good used spark plugs, new points, and condenser in a box just in case, which saved me more than once on the side of the road in the middle of Nowheresville.

[@ThisTimeTheWorld]

That's every 3 months for a car in Texas

[@jaybrown3953]

Thanks Wes. We don't need to see them side by side to know they are sisters🤣🤣

[@bryantblake1877]

Wes, I wonder if it would not be better in the long run to never ask what HAD been done, to repair rather than ask the symptoms and let YOU diagnose the problem! My daughter and SIL were big Ford Explorer fans until the learned about cam phasers the hard way. They are now Toyota fans!

[@markbowen3638]

Don't beat yourself up over that one Wes You got it in the end. Sometimes we look too hard for a solution. Components like sparkplugs don't fail like that very often so unlikely to be top of the list of probable cause. The fact that your such a competent mechanic led you to the solution anyway. Well done and a very interesting problem. Best wishes from the uk!

[@TheMetalButcher]

I had one back off shortly after changing plugs in my beemer. Probably I forgot to torque it. It started making a different noise. Still firing all 6, but had a chuffing sound like air was going where it shouldn't have been. I called up the trusty old Dad and he was able to diagnose it over the phone like 1st suggestion. Snugged er up and that was a 10 minute job. :) Gotta love dads.

[@iamrichrocker]

the legend of Wes grows...

[@geraldnoe649]

Always check the plug. I’ve had a new Denso platinum plug fail within 10,000 miles causing a miss fire. And it was installed properly.

[@CCWP0251]

I figured out the problem without a scan tool... It’s a 3v. All I had to see was the title. Such a common issue with these motors. The 2v was a tank, then they came out with this BS. Good thing there is a damn good mechanic working on it! Another great job, great video. 👍

[@WatchWesWork]

I dunno about that, the mechanic I mean!

[@HODGEPODGEDODGEGARAGE]

Wait just a second Wes...you're saying a *Ford* has a mysterious problem!? 🤔 Surely not! 🤣🤭 Great video my friend. I'm glad it wasn't something major. The kid that put the plugs in deserves a "C-" at best! 🤣

[@markae0]

8:55 "...that's crazy!!" No losing a chunk of metal in the cylinder and it disappearing is crazy!

[@farmerbill6855]

Did I miss something? What's up with the Army truck? Man, I love those things.

[@bmacd2112]

I saw that as well. I'd love to see a video on it.

[@WatchWesWork]

Maybe coming soon.

[@farmerbill6855]

@@WatchWesWork I hope so, I especially like the vintage ones. That dude's got a few years on him.

[@craigsudman4556]

Ticking? Runs like a Swiss watch. I'm amazed that the electrode was able to pass through with out causing damage. I suppose it's stuck in the catalytic converter. Great video Wes, thumbs up.

[@WatchWesWork]

I can't see any damage. Amazing.

[@glennchartrand5411]

Air is an insulator. The more air you pull into the cylinder the higher the coil voltage has to climb to push a spark through the air. So when the engine is barely pulling air into the cylinder , it's really easy to get a spark through the thin air. But when you flip open the throttle at low RPM and pull in a full slug of air ....thats when weak ignition coils, dirty distributors , and bad spark plugs make their presence known.

[@shackman9566]

Thanks again Wess. I don't have much of the new fangled test equipment so all I can do is go after the basic stuff. I can see, you do enjoy trouble shooting with your scopes. Nothing wrong with that and most of the time it's necessary on today's cars. All I have is old school intuition and that's just not enough these days. Have a wonderful day Wess and family.

[@BangBangBang.]

The part at the end was hilarious with the wife tuning out the 4 year old being a 4 year old. My nephew's thing at that age was beating on his Black and Decker workbench with the play hammer for hours. I'd just go down the hallway, look at her, she'd be studying and I was like oooookay. She eventually told me the trick was if he stopped making noise was to start investigating.

[@bostedtap8399]

So the school supervisor was an "Ex Ford master Tech", the "Ex-" could be significant!!!!!!. Great job Wes, thanks for sharing.

[@PaulRansonArt]

'Trust no one ...' Reminds me of the day when a customer repeatedly returned his VW camper for rough running problems with a single new spark plug for me to try in each cylinder until I found the misfire. Happy days!

[@onlyactingup]

Also reading a sparkplug condition tells a lot about what's happening in the combustion chamber. I prefer to pull plugs first to see what's going on. I know it's old school pre pc diag, but that's how I taught myself diag and it works. Keep up the quality work. The earth strap would have broken due to the harsh environment it lives in and rattling around also agree with the other bloke about the heat issue. He was lucky not to damage a valve. My latest misfire was due to someone using too much anti-seize on number 8 sparkplug thread. doh

[@WatchWesWork]

These 3 valve plugs are horrible. I don't even like to think about removing them.

[@bmacd2112]

I've seen some strange things before but I've never seen a plug like that! I think your dog is just disappointed that the last few vehicles you've had in the garage didn't have any mice to be sniffed out.

[@WatchWesWork]

It's true. He has nothing to do.

[@Ruby-px4ug]

Sending the upmost support Mrs.Wes ! Good luck in your studies ! i’m currently in school right now too for automotive tech but luckily i only have 7 months left !

[@fanplant]

My shirt looks great and came with a thank you note!

[@mrswes]

😎

[@richardwalters1803]

Great job sticking with it

[@billkurek5576]

I read that comments help your video status. I enjoy all your content. Thanks

[@TheDaf95xf]

Absolutely fantastic Wes 👍🏻🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[@rogercpate4386]

Like your honesty, awesome trouble shooting skills. Enjoy your videos.

[@johnoconnor2594]

Max is sad cause you are not taking him for a ride in the BIG GREEN MACHINE he is laying next to. Awesome job Mrs wess. The two boys are alive for another day.

[@andrewschuyler2271]

At first when you started it up I thought it was the exhaust manifold. On the video it sounds exactly like mine sounds like. oh the joys of the 5.4

[@WatchWesWork]

Well it has manifold leaks too.

[@GDWS81]

Seen the exact same problem on a 2007 Expedition. Thankfully it didn't take me long to find since it felt secondary ignition. I swaped coil and boot-- saw no change, so I went for the spark plug-- it came out looking just like that one.