changed the #7 COP yesterday due to this OBD reader message,took me 3 hours..had to remove the egr,the power steering bracket,the fuel rail ,not to mention all the other stuff that is removed anyway.If there is a way to do this or change the plugs without removing the fuel rail I would like to know?Naturally to remove the fuel rail you have to bleed off the fuel pressure,and once it is removed the top injectors o rings tend to sometimes dislodge and remain in the rail. I had a long day at work and figured this would only take an hour ,one other thing I also bought spark plugs at Pep Boys along with the coil I asked for the ac delco rapid fire ,they are #8 in this brand however the salesperson gave me a box of R46SZ which have an 8 on the box for quantity go figure..thanx 1997 original owner 43k miles

 

I just changed all the COPS on my '01 5.4 about a month ago and did not have to go through all the trouble of removing the EGR valve and fuel rail. In my case, I found the #7 COP to be the biggest pain (even the #8 was easier). You just have to get a little creative with extensions and universal joints, and climb into the engine bay to actually see what you are doing. Changing all 8 COPS took me about 45 minutes (did it during my lunch break at work)
However, when you go to change the spark plugs, then it is necessary to remove the fuel rail. I did not bleed the pressure out of the system, nor did I remove the EGR valve. I just let the truck sit for about 12 hours and unbolt it and pop it off. Of course, I had some shop towels handy to wipe up the spilled fuel (only a couple of ounces actually spilled out). The technical section shows how to properly change plugs on a 5.4. It is very accurate. Changing my plugs took me about an hour and a half for plugs 1-7 and then another hour for #8 due to unexpected problems.

 

I have an 02 5.4 and i used a magnetic socket to do plugs and COP's and with a wobble extension it wasnt that bad i mean no 10 minute job but i didnt have to take off the fuel rail to do it. I laid over top the rad support and did one at a time. Hope it helped good luck guys.