Just changed my plug with just over 26K miles. Thanks to all the folks who posted tips and tricks in THE spark plug thread I was able to do it pretty easily. It took a little over 2 hours but I wasn't in any hurry. I started on the passenger side and used a shot of Kroil on each plug after breaking them loose. Those came out soooo easy that I skipped the Kroil on the drivers side and they still spun right out. I can't really tell any difference in the way it runs, it kinda seems like it might idle smoother but that could also be my imagination. I realize this may or may not have been necessary at this point but $70 on parts is money well spent for my peace of mind. I'd rather do a little preventative maintenace every couple years and not have to worry about it. I plan to keep this truck for a very long time so it's worth it to me.

Here's what they looked like right out of the motor...



Here's one after I cleaned it up...



The new ones...

 

How much did 8 plugs cost? Just wondering?

Norm

 

Huh oh..... I hope you didn't put in those. Roush sent me PZT1F's which are one heat range colder and supposedly what goes in the trucks at current time of production. From what I have heard the 2F's were slightly hotter and there is a bulletin of those getting too hot and causing misfires when the end melts down. Just what I have heard so I may be wrong, but the autolite HTO's are the coldest ones you can get these days for high boosted motors and the HT1's (same as 1F's) are supposed to be stock plugs. Anyway I see yours had a lot of rust on them also, and I keep seeing that on other peoples plugs but I had no rust at all, only carbon staining on the end. Glad you got em out with success! Here's mine.....

 

I've got PZT2FEF4s in my truck with no signs of pinging or misfires. Power balance looks good under load. I think the cooler heat range would really matter most to you since your truck is blown, Matt, but I don't think it'd matter for a naturally aspirated stock or mostly stock truck. At least not enough to damage anything unless you're purposely out there beating the crap out of it with noticable detonation.

 

Isn't the recommended interval at about 100k miles? The reason I ask is, I went to buy some plugs about a week ago, checked out the service manual online and it said to check and replace at 100K. I'm at about 15K--so I thought that would be a bit overkill.

 

That'll get the naysayers to this thread bitching soon enough. The reason for the early change is because potentially, the insert portion of the plug can rust/carbon up and break off in the head when you go to remove them at higher miles. Ford's answer to this is using Kroil penetrating oil, allowing it to sit for 10 minutes on a semi warm engine in the plug well before removing the plugs. Rotunda's got a tool to remove the inserts if they do break, but I dunno how well it works; I've got one ordered for myself since I do this stuff day in and day out.

 

So there is no TSB on the 05's for spark plug problems and replacing them with these lower heat range plugs? Just what I have heard so like I said, that info is not very credible. Thanks quintin!

 

Congratulations. I am kind of worried about this myself. Hope all goes well for mte too.

 

Oh, there's a TSB out there about some trucks having the wrong plugs, but IME, I've seen more problems from bad injectors than from the wrong plugs in these trucks. For the average joe schmoe, I don't think having a slightly hotter plug than optimal matters.

 

Roughly $70 shipped.

 

So for you Q it was about precautionary measures for trouble down the road. I saw about 10 threads recently about broken plugs and what-not. It seems quite familiar to the regular ebb and tide of "what's wrong with my truck this week". If indeed there is a problem--which there very well may be--would it not be on Ford to correct the problem? Not to promote a lax attitude, but if it ain't broke don't fix. My $0.02.

 

If I was 100% sure Ford would take care of it then I wouldn't worry. But I'm not, hence the preventative maintenance. If I thought I would be getting rid of the truck by the 100K-125K range then I wouldn't worry either, but I may very well have it beyond that time. This was beat to death in the HUGE spark plug thread. I didn't post this with the intention of starting that debate again, just to let those interested know about a success story.

 

It's good info overall. Didn't mean to step on your toes if I did.

 

Do you think it would be good preventative maintenance for those of us with '06 trucks to coat the area south of the threads with antiseize or something? Or would that just burn off. (Looking to prevent the rust I see on all of these plugs).

 

i was wondering the same thing..... Would it be worth pulling the plugs, cleaning them, and using some type of antiseize on them? if so what kind???