Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
RV Trip Planning Discussions

Go Back   iRV2 Forums > THE CHASSIS CLUB FORUMS > Ford Motorhome Chassis Forum
Click Here to Login
Join iRV2 Today

Mission Statement: Supporting thoughtful exchange of knowledge, values and experience among RV enthusiasts.
Reply
  This discussion is proudly sponsored by:
Please support our sponsors and let them know you heard about their products on iRV2
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 10-13-2020, 02:19 PM   #1
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2020
Posts: 14
Fords new 7.3L gas spark plug wires

My wife and I in June 2020 purchased a 2021 HR Vacationer 35K.
This is equipped with the new Ford 7.3 gas engine.
We purchased it in Florida, and drove it home to Illinois. 5 miles from the dealer the alternator went out. Delaying our return by 3 days.
We had a trip planned for 2 wks after we got home. A couple of days before we were to leave, I drove about 5 miles to fuel the coach. While driving there my check engine light started flashing, the motor ran rough and seemed to backfire slightly. I took it to my local Ford dealer. I was told it needed a spark module and spark plug wire. The parts were on back order, but we had them in 3 days (from another dealer). Before we were able to take our trip it happened again. And again 2 more times. After some searching there seems to be a design flaw causing the plug wires to get burned by the exhaust. Its October now, and we're still waiting for parts. A Florida lemon law case has been filed. Has anyone else had a problem with this engine?
Mikes2000 is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 RV Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

iRV2.com RV Community - Are you about to start a new improvement on your RV or need some help with some maintenance? Do you need advice on what products to buy? Or maybe you can give others some advice? No matter where you fit in you'll find that iRV2 is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with other RV owners, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create an RV blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 10-13-2020, 02:29 PM   #2
Senior Member
 
jacwjames's Avatar
 
Monaco Owners Club
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 14,456
This has been reported by numerous people. Use the search function at the top of the page to find other posts.
__________________
Jim J
2002 Monaco Windsor 38 PKD Cummins ISC 350 8.3L
2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee w/5.7 Hemi
jacwjames is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-13-2020, 07:09 PM   #3
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Posts: 380
In my younger days, we used to buy aftermarket spark plug wires at the local hot rod shop. These were high temperature shielded wires made for extreme conditions. Are these still available anywhere?
jpstakun is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-13-2020, 08:02 PM   #4
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2020
Posts: 8
We have the same problem, bought a Fleetwood Bounder 35K in August drove to North Carolina from Illinois and back with no problem, few days after we got home I started coach to level and put slides out and noticed the check engine light was on. Took to local ford dealer and they said it was a misfire on cylinder 3 caused by spark plug wire failure.
We have been waiting for parts for the last 30 days, finally today the 2 dealers I was working with got 8 plug wires each for me. There is a design flaw in the wires, apparently they are over insulated and get to hot and short out. Supposedly there is a redesign coming at some point but who knows when. This problem will continue to happen until the redesign is released.
MidLife35 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-13-2020, 08:29 PM   #5
NXR
Senior Member
 
NXR's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2019
Posts: 5,627
Quote:
Originally Posted by MidLife35 View Post
There is a design flaw in the wires, apparently they are over insulated and get to hot and short out.
It's supposed to be the opposite. The wires were not properly built by the vendor and are breaking down under the heat and that is causing arcing to the engine. If so, that may provide an opportunity to reposition the wires further from the engine or something as a temporary mitigation.

Ray
__________________
2020 Forest River Georgetown GT5 34H5
2020 Equinox Premier AWD 2.0L/9-speed
NXR is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 10-13-2020, 09:15 PM   #6
Senior Member
 
HarryStone's Avatar


 
Damon Owners Club
Join Date: Apr 2020
Location: Clovis NM
Posts: 4,389
Blog Entries: 4
I just took a moment to look at pictures of the new engine. It's an overhead valve design, so the plugs are in the normal location between the exhaust ports on the side of the head. From the pictures I saw, they have 'shorty headers' instead of an exhaust manifold, which means each plug wire (the coils are mounted on the valve cover above its plug) goes between 2 header pipes, except for the front and rear. You'd really have to extend the wires to get them away from the exhaust heat. Why didn't ford go with an overhead cam design? I know it's more complicated, but more control of cam timing and much easier plug/coil location.
__________________
2006 Damon Daybreak 3276 35'with 5 Star Tuner. 3 200 Amp Lithium batteries and 2000 watt PSW inverter/charger. 2013 Elantra on a Master Tow dolly.
Retired USAF
HarryStone is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-13-2020, 10:18 PM   #7
Senior Member
 
Arch Hoagland's Avatar
 
Monaco Owners Club
Workhorse Chassis Owner
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Clovis, CA, USA
Posts: 13,090
How was the new Ford engine for noise? And is it a high revving engine like the V10 was?

Overall how did you like it....minus the wire problems of course.
__________________
2004 Monaco La Palma 36DBD, W22, 8.1, 7.1 MPG
2000 LEXUS RX300 FWD 22MPG 4020 LBS
Criticism is easier than Craftsmanship
Arch Hoagland is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-13-2020, 11:15 PM   #8
Senior Member
 
akeagle's Avatar
 
Ford Super Duty Owner
Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: Anchorage, Alaska
Posts: 637
In the old days one could find a sheet of asbestos and fashion a sheath or something similar to prevent damage from nearby heat sources.

Of course now asbestos is taboo for obvious reasons, but surely there is something else available that would at least temporarily accomplish the same thing.

Any ideas out there?
akeagle is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-14-2020, 05:21 AM   #9
Senior Member
 
vettenuts's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 5,754
Quote:
Originally Posted by akeagle View Post
In the old days one could find a sheet of asbestos and fashion a sheath or something similar to prevent damage from nearby heat sources.

Of course now asbestos is taboo for obvious reasons, but surely there is something else available that would at least temporarily accomplish the same thing.

Any ideas out there?
I

They have KoolSox for spark plugs, but not sure what the issue is. Sounds like the vendor screwed them up, however I am sure they had a price target they had to meet as well.

https://www.koolmat.com/heat-resista...rk-plug-wires/
__________________
2015 Tiffin Phaeton 40QBH
2018 Chevrolet Colorado Toad
Roadmaster Tow Setup
vettenuts is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-14-2020, 07:27 AM   #10
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2020
Posts: 14
I ordered some wire shields but I'm waiting to get the coach back.
Mikes2000 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-14-2020, 07:31 AM   #11
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2020
Posts: 14
I found an article on a website that said Ford had a fix for these wires but only for the F 250. It did say they were still working on the repair for the f53 chassis
Mikes2000 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-14-2020, 07:36 AM   #12
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2020
Posts: 14
From what I read before buying mine. Ford wanted to go with the old school pushrod to get the maximum torque. I also read a review where one writer said he thought there would be issues with heat from the header. I guess you could say, I was warned.
Mikes2000 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-14-2020, 11:08 AM   #13
Senior Member
 
153stars's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Braidwood Il.
Posts: 8,300
Sorry for your troubles ,many were worried about new platform until teething pains were ironed out. Headers can be wrapped as well as wires, cast manifolds not so easy. Is the issue one or just rear wires. I guess the new Ford heads flow like the GM LS and or cathedral ports heads it's a good thing IMHO high torque and air charge velocity at low revs .
__________________
95 Monaco Crown Royale
M11 400hp, 4060 trans.
Aquahot, Generac Guardian7.5k
153stars is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-14-2020, 11:52 AM   #14
Senior Member
 
Rob_M's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2019
Location: Canyon Lake, Texas
Posts: 3,020
Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryStone View Post
Why didn't ford go with an overhead cam design? I know it's more complicated, but more control of cam timing and much easier plug/coil location.

A couple reasons... cost and packaging. Stack overhead cams on top of a tall deck 7.3 liter V-8 and it would be huge.
With the 10-speed trans it doesn’t need a lot of cam timing lobe separation variations because it’s easy to stay in a narrow rpm range sweet spot.
I’m really excited about this new engine. The Ford performance community is busy designing aftermarket upgrades as it should be good competition for Gm’s LS engines.
__________________
2002 American Tradition 40'
Cummins 8.3, Banks 431hp, 1260 tq
Canyon Lake, TX
Rob_M is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
ford, gas



Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
8.1L Chevy Engine - Burnt Spark Plug Wires Ann Stout MH-General Discussions & Problems 9 01-24-2007 05:34 PM
Vortec 8.1 Spark Plug Wires Pubtym Winnebago Industries Owner's Forum 11 12-09-2006 05:21 AM
Spark Plug Wires ?? tvp Workhorse and Chevrolet Chassis Motorhome Forum 3 02-25-2006 06:29 PM
Spark Plug Wires lhill Workhorse and Chevrolet Chassis Motorhome Forum 3 02-25-2005 03:00 PM

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 08:05 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.