Solved!! Best tool I have is a long *** flathead screwdriver. I checked everything. Changed my oil. I looked all over the net. I was really starting to think it was a bad cam follower. Nope. I used the long flathead and stethascoped the cylinders and the one on the driver side front was by far the loudest. So I pulled the plug and noticed it was REALLY loose. Oops. That's right! Loose plug. I feel like a dummy BUT if this helps at least one person it was worth it. Thanks for the help peoples!

 

Love those old 'hands on' tricks. Vs today's "where's my SCT/iPhone/tablet..."

 

I never would have guessed spark plug. Nice work!

 

I remember reading about it as somewhat common on the 2V (Mustang & F150), but not very often on the 3V...

 

awesome! but now I got a couple questions:
1) 08 was the year they revised the heads mid year- does yours have the extended tip or newer 'normal' plugs?
2) were the plugs ever changed?

glad you found it- more glad that you checked/found before the threads blew - hopefully this isnt a common failure mode- but with the issues Ford had with the blow-out 5.4 truck plugs and then the break-off early 3V plugs, it wouldnt surprise me

 

The new heads rolled out Dec 2007. Brown plug boots.

 

My car is an 08 but it's an early build so I have the old head design. I have changed the plugs 3 times. I believe this happend because about 4 months ago I removed the plugs to clean and check them. I do ever want to CRANK them down tight I'm afraid they will snap off in the head. So this was my dumb mistake. Just needed a couple more ft pounds on that bad boy. They sell a "new" style plug that is less likely to snap off buy they cost a little more than the standard plugs and I didn't feel like spending the cash on them. I have this car apart so much it wasn't worth the money to me.