Ford Triton (Modular V8 / V10)

Ford's Modular V8 and V10 as sold in the trucks — the Triton — in the F-150, Expedition, Excursion and the Lincoln Navigator.

⚑ Two faults define this family and both are about the cylinder head threads, which is unusual enough to be the reason to read this page:

• The two-valve and three-valve heads eject spark plugs. The plug threads are shallow — a few threads in aluminium — and a plug can blow out of the head under compression, taking the threads with it. The symptom is sudden, loud, and unmistakable, and the repair is a thread insert rather than a head.
• The three-valve 5.4 breaks spark plugs on removal. The plug is a two-piece design that seizes in the head, and the lower half stays behind. This is a known, documented procedure rather than a mistake — soaking, a specific tool, and patience — and attempting it dry is what turns a service into a cylinder-head job.

Both are the reason a Triton spark-plug change is quoted higher than the same job on anything else here, and knowing why is worth more than any amount of scanning.

Its other recurring item is the timing-chain phaser on the three-valve engines, giving a rattle on a cold start that should not be dismissed.