I swapped out my driver's side plugs today.. 40,000 miles and they look terrible... Pictures really don't do them justice.







They look a little "wet" because of the penetrating oil. They're dry now.

I'll tackle the rest maybe tommorow. Maybe. The far back passengers side plugs SUCKS to get to.

 

Take the PCM and PCM bracket off to get to the back plugs.
How long did you let them soak before removing them?

 

I let them soak for about 45 mins. I sprayed all the plug holes with PB Blaster.. only changed the driver's side though. Took it around the block and get it warmed up.. not hot, but warm, and removed them.

I removed all 8 plugs and cleaned them at about 35k miles... about 9 months ago. The 3rd plug back from the front (thrid in pic) gave up a pretty hard fight... kinda worried me.

 

Just started and finished the last 4 after that last post. 1 hour to do the passengers' side. What a relief!

 

Oh quit your whining and slap them baby's back in for another 60k miles. They'll be aight.

 

That's weird, I'm not too familiar with the 3 valve 5.4s.

I guess you can't adjust the gap on those new multi ground plugs for that motor? Not a whole lot of room for modifications (ie; nitrous/FI) with this new plug design?

 

The plugs are fine.. they work perfect.. my worry is being able to get them out in another 60k miles.. lol

 

There is a tool that can change the gap on these somewhere out there.....I have heard of it. They are gapped at .045" stock. The only other option as of right now are to throw a set of Autolite HT0's which are a heat range colder.

 

would a colder heat range plug hurt my N/A truck

 

Kentucky huh? How many people from warm weather climates have had snapped plugs? I'm in NE OH with alot of snow and salted roads, mine had 3 of 8 snap at the dealer. They told me they had another one with the same problem. This may be related to the broken plugs issue. Or which plant the truck was assembled at.

 

No, but there is no need for it. It's only really needed with a boosted or nitrous application where cylinder temps and pressures are higher. Colder heat range plugs prevent the end of the plug from getting too hot and causing detonation (bad).

 

I have read of guys in Texas and Florida snapping plugs... I honestly don't know where my truck was made.

Kentucky runs the gammit on temps. during the winter it *can* get below zero but usually sticks in the teens... summer can get to 100-105... with NASTY humidity.

It's just a bad design.

 

I'm just trying to figure this out. Some guys come out OK, and others have problems, there's got to be a link between them. I mean, how can almost 1/2 of my plugs break off, and yours and others not a one?

 

Months back I took them out and cleaned them..

about 3-4 days prior, I sprayed P B'Laster into each hole.. a decant amount. Good Stuff by the way..

When I went to remove the plugs, I got the engine warm.. NOT HOT, and started slowly removing them. The faught back and creaked and moaned.. but came out.

My only tips:

Plenty of Lube.
Slow, deliberate, constant preassure on ratchet to remove.

Personally, I wouldn't trust any Ford Dealers around here to do it. They'd most likely have broken all of mine. Some were TOUGH!

 

I took 2 of em out the other day and I found that unscewing them til there was a good bit of resistance and then running them back in for another go made a lot of difference. After about 2 out and back in, they came out a lot easier. I guess it breaks the carbon up that's below the seat a little better or something.