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Old 10-13-2020, 02:19 PM   #1
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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?
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Old 10-13-2020, 02:29 PM   #2
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This has been reported by numerous people. Use the search function at the top of the page to find other posts.
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Old 10-13-2020, 07:09 PM   #3
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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?
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Old 10-13-2020, 08:02 PM   #4
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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.
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Old 10-13-2020, 08:29 PM   #5
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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.

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Old 10-13-2020, 09:15 PM   #6
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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.
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Old 10-13-2020, 10:18 PM   #7
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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.
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Old 10-13-2020, 11:15 PM   #8
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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?
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Old 10-14-2020, 05:21 AM   #9
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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/
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Old 10-14-2020, 07:27 AM   #10
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I ordered some wire shields but I'm waiting to get the coach back.
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Old 10-14-2020, 07:31 AM   #11
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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
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Old 10-14-2020, 07:36 AM   #12
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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.
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Old 10-14-2020, 11:08 AM   #13
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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 .
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Old 10-14-2020, 11:52 AM   #14
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Quote:
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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.
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