'01 4.6L valve guide

[loneleader]

Just got my '01 Grand Marquis diagnosed. #5 plug shows heavy drafting. (intake valve guide) My mechanic says keep an eye on it (I have only had the car 6 weeks) so we don't know how long it took to build up. Car has 59K mi. My question is can the valve guide be replaced without pulling the head?

[kaboom10]

How many miles is on the vehicle? The head has to come off to replace this part and the valve and valve seat also need to be serviced due to the proper alignment after replacement. The valve seal could also just need replacement of which it can be serviced without removing the head.

[loneleader]

Kaboom10,
The car has just shy of 60,000 miles on it. From the looks of the spark plug build-up, the fouling is slight and comes from one side. One side is gray and clear, the other has a darker color and has the build-up. My mechanic , who does electrical, and tune-up, says they used to see a lot of this during the switch over from leaded to unleaded fuel and the valve problems that created. Do you know of any way to do this without having to mortage the farm????

[kaboom10]

One suggestion I will give you is get a bottle of oil treatment and gas treatment by zMax. I've used my truck mostly for city driving. I ran a couple of bottles of gas treatment and saw a remarkable difference. I just had the plugs replaced at 36k and the old ones look great just worn. The zMax is $20 a bottle unless they are still selling the promotional package still on their website zMAX micro-lubricant, fuel additive, oil additive and transmission additive They're $20 for the gas/oil conditioners and you also get a bottle of trans and small engine conditioner. The oil treatmen removes build up and gets the oil into places it doesn't normally go. The fuel conditioner cleans what ever it touches. Oh a good idea would be to get some MAF cleaner made by CRC and give it a shot but don't touch anything in there or you could be buying a replacement.