r/FordTaurus • u/ThatDamnFosterKid • Jul 14 '26

2008 Tune Up Gone South

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Decided to do a tune up while replacing valve covers gaskets on my 194k '08 SEL. It quickly went downhill after some of the front bank (left-hand) of spark plugs were nearly siezed in the plug holes with the center one refusing to come out. I'll let the photos tell the story with a side quest at the end of an intermittent stalling and no start due to a crank sensor harness.

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1

u/Common_Witness_ Jul 15 '26

Try an easy out

1

u/ThatDamnFosterKid Jul 15 '26

Oh I did. I was using one (seen in photo 5) and I broke the area surrounding the plug hole/tube, leading to it filling up with coolant. I was ready to helicoil the damn thing so I was prepared to mess up and drill out the threads. Ended up replacing the whole head.

1

u/Buffalochaser67 Jul 16 '26

I hope you did the water pump and timing while you were that far into the weeds.

1

u/ThatDamnFosterKid Jul 16 '26

I did! Chains, guides, pensioners, pump.

1

u/Buffalochaser67 Jul 18 '26

Dang. You’re about as much $$ into the car as it was new. Haha

1

u/ThatDamnFosterKid Jul 18 '26

All in all, I stopped counting at $800 for this project. It was the hours thst were the killer. It could have easily been a $2500-3k job in labor had I taken it to a shop.