My buddy (that works at Federal-Mogul) asked me to post this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoSh9O3XOho it’s a video of the Autolite Plug vs. the Champion Spark Plug (stock # 7989) that fits the Ford 3-valve engines. The video is a bit long, but goes into detail, the first part is very informative for someone that doesn’t know a lot about the issue, the second half of the video puts the two plugs in a jig and illustrates the torque required, or lack thereof in the case of the Autolite.

 

That's a good video, but what troubles me is the amount of people who have experienced misfires with the Champion 7989 one piece plug!......

 

It's a safe bet that the majority of misfires are caused by the plugs not being properly gapped before their installed. I've had the Champion plugs in for about 3500 miles with no problems.

 

Had almost 10k on my Champs until the misfire started.

 

I'll add this though it seems there are some misfires going on with the champions but I really don't think there are that many different people having the misfire. It's people like me that keep posting it whenever someone mentions the champion plugs.

 

I'd rather take a chance on a plug that might misfire over one that breaks in the head.

 

^X2. Man isn't that the truth...