All,

I've been reading and searching the forums to educate myself on how to do the plug change for probably the last 10-12 months.

I finished up the job a little bit ago and figured I'd share some tips for the next first timer like myself. I have a 2003 FX-4, 5.4, 42,999 on the speedo. I didn't have any problems, just did it as a preventive measure and know what I have.

After doing the job, I thought it was fairly easy. I used Autolites AP103 Platinums. The old ones were Motorcraft AGSF 22WM Platinums. I'm guessing they were stockers?? Probably took me about 4.5 hours going very slow and methodical.

I used the following tools:

Extensions = 1/4 & 3/8's drive - 2", 4" 6" 10"
Swivels = 1/4" & 3/8"
Sockets = 2 - 5/8ths spark plug sockets. One with rubber insert, one without, 7mm, 8mm, 10mm.
Ratchets = 1/4 & 3/8ths
Reducers = 3/8ths to 1/4 AND 1/4 to 3/8ths
1/4 drive air wrench (slow speed)
Pencil magnet (important!!!!)
Needle nose pliers
Florescent droplight
Shopvac with clear 3/8ths tubing duct taped to the end to get down inside the plugs holes. (That was all I had to work with so I improvised)
Old sleeping bag to lay across the front grill and protect the truck and my gut.
Permatex antiseize
Dielectric silicon lube

I had all the plugs laid out, gapped, and antiseized. I prepped the COPs with silicon after I pulled each one out. I put antiseize on the 7mm bolts and the ones to the 5.4 logo fairing and power steering resevoir bolts.

To take the COP electrical connectors off, you have to squeeze the locking tab on the bottom of the connector. I was able to rotate the fuel injector electrical connecters slightly when they got in the way. This made it easy to do the COPs.

I only needed to disconnect 3 air hoses on the drivers side to provide access to the back plugs. I think one on the pax side. I removed the power steering reservior bolts and the attachment bracket bolts (6 total). You can move the reservoir out of the way while you work. I also took off the top cover with the 5.4 logo on it. I used a step ladder to help me lay horizontal across the front of the truck (using the sleeping bag as protection....that was all I had to work with). I read on here some guys remove the front wheels and lower the front end as another alternative. I'm 6'3" and that would have killed my back bending over like that. It was more comfortable for me to use the ladder/sleep bag method. Whichever way safely works for you, go that route. I used the shop vac to clean out the plug holes before removing the old plug and again before installing a new one.

IMO....the drivers side was easier to do than the pax side. I noticed the torque required to remove the #3 and #7 plugs seemed very low.....maybe 50inlbs and 60inlbs respectively. I'm speculating those were in the process of backing out??? You will see if you have the various extensions and swivels I mentioned above, you can build up different combo's to reach each plug rather easily.

The one thing I did not have (yet) is a torque wrench to put the new plugs back in. Depending who's thread you read on here, the torque should be anywhere between 13ftlbs to as high as 18ftlbs. I felt comfortable using my calibrated elbow to reinstall them back in. I was targeting what I felt was 15-16ftlbs. The best way is to use a torque wrench. I will have one next time I do this job.

The only problem I had the whole job was one of my 3/8 extensions snapped when I was torquing a plug. I don't know how that happened...maybe a cheap extension, broken from a previous job?? I had a sinking feeling for a few minutes until I could get the socket back out of the hole. It was the socket with rubber insert. This is where the needle nose pliers and pencil magnet saved my bacon.

I did the pax side first and started up the engine for a few seconds afterwards to verify no strange noises or leaks BEFORE moving to the drivers side. That way if I had problem, I could narrow it down to which head.

The new plugs made a noticeable improvement in the acceleration and eliminated some soft noises I didn't realize I had with the old plugs. I have a Flowmaster dual exhaust and it sounds very good up and down the throttle hill.

I guess the best advice I could give a first-timer is to take your time the first go-around. Allow plenty of time to do it. Don't rush!!! You'll see it's fairly easy.

My Disclaimer ......I only had 43K on my plugs, I can't vouch how hard it would be if you had say 60-70K on your plugs. I read on here some guys had problems with higher mileage plugs. Someone suggested changing plugs at 45K to avoid problems. That's another thing that prompted me to do mine (plus hunting season starts Saturday and I'm not going to work on trucks when I should be hunting )

Good luck.....John

 

Changing plugs on a 'Triton' engine is like jumping in a cold pool

 

The pool was real cold when I snapped off the extension and socket on the plug underneath the firewall. I think I invented a few cuss words!

 

Good job!

Thanks for the write up.

I gather you left the fuel rails in place?

Take pride in your accomplishment.

 

Recheck the torque on them after 10-15K miles. Anti seize on those plugs is a bad idea, IMO; you kinda want them to seize up in the cylinder head a little.

I don't use anti seize on any plugs except for 5.4 3Vs. FWIW, way back when, I changed the plugs in my '97 5.4. At around 30-40K miles later, #3 came out on me. Everything since then, I haven't used anti seize, and I haven't had a problem. YMMV, of course.

 

Good to know. I'm going to change plugs in a week or so and still debating whether to use anti seize or not.

 

I didn't have any problems with the fuel rails. I wiggled each COP and they came right off. The only hard COP bolt to reach was the drivers side, aft COP hold-down bolt(7mm). I used a 1/4 drive extensions with a swivel at the socket. The fuel rail pressure switch bracket that you will see rotates so that helps a little.

I was also wondering about the used of antiseize. I noticed some folks here said yes, some said no. Aside from it's obvious use, I opted to use antiseize to act as a lubricant to keep from galling the hole threads when doing plug changes. I'm thinking with only 3-4(?) hole threads, you better take care of them. My concern with not using it was next time trying to back out the plugs they lock up in the hole. I had a 1988 Nissan Stanza (alum head) that did that.

 

Is it still running ? Count the days ..With AP103's your motors not going to run right IMO and be pushing boundries of your PCM's set parameters. There just not the right application for this motor.

I can't believe you investigated that well. I gave the Autolites a shot - Bosch as well , I learned the hard way a few years back.

After writing Honeywell about the problems (Honeywell manufactures both Auto lite and Motorcraft plugs) and to put it short - "We produce Motorcraft plugs to exact Ford spec. The Autolites are NOT Ford spec."

Those Autolites in the pics went only 40 miles until they heated up and began to misfire. They even changed colors they got so hot..Your taking a chance running those .

Damn! A whole year? A GOOD thorough investigation would have concluded that - Motorcraft, Denso(Iridium's) and NGK's are the only plugs for these modular motors.

No offense dude - sounds like you did a good job with the install. But it says right under the hood on that sticker what plugs were designed for that motor. I know third party vender's love to push those Autolites on everyone.

The only time I would go with another label is if the motor was seriously modified, had hotter coils and warranted it. That's when you would make the jump to Iridium's or NGK .

The 5.4L/4.6L high tech COP ignition systems can be very picky when it comes to plugs. You might get lucky and be okay for another 50k , like I said , your taking a chance.

Good Luck.

 

JBrew,

I did check a while back knowing what the specified plug was but I failed to recheck when I went to get the plugs more recently and got these Autolites instead. As soon as I read your post, it started to come back to me. My bad.....

I used a reference chart when I got these. If it starts to act up, I know where to start looking.

BTW.....this 2003 doesn't list the plugs on the sticker in the engine compartment. You have to go to the owners manual to get the correct info. It says to only use the Motorcraft AGSF 22W (not 22WM) Platinums for this application. The owners maunal was pretty specific about the Motorcrafts.

I'm not understanding one part of your post too well. Are you saying to only use the Motorcrafts on stock engines and the Denso's and NGK's for mods?

Not that it matters at this point.....when I did a did a search on here the other day, someone had mention something about not using the Denso's. Do you know anything about that?

Also, do you use antiseize?

Thanks.....John

 

Hey John,

Yea , that's what I'm saying

IMO- Denso's and NGK's - I think Denso's are Denso's but NGK makes 5 different class plugs for these motors. I read Denso's are freakin on fire in the high performance category- there awesome there , but can get a little to hot in the stock applications. NGK's been around forever and I've never heard anything bad said about them.
I think it's better all around to stick with the OEM recommendations if your driving one that's pretty close to OEM factory specs . That plug was made for these motors .

Antiseize - I just recently stopped using that - Because Quintin doesn't use it . I used anti seize for almost 8 years on this truck , I noticed 3&4 were a little loose when I had the top end off to fix the hard line behind the water pump last winter. Quintin mentioned that in the past - I pulled them all and cleaned them up and haven't checked them since - I think there all there?

Word is , Don't use the stuff on the 97-03 models and use it on the 04 - present models..

BTW - I'm the one who takes the front tires off and lowers her down on a couple thick pieces of Microlam , I haven't heard of anyone doing that for some reason - only takes 5 minutes to do. I'm 6'4" and it really doesn't hurt my back either way , but it's more comfortable to work on when it's down like that .. I took the hood off once and it was a piece of cake to work on - it was great !!.. But man , it was such a PITA getting the hood lined up perfect after that - it wasn't worth it - I even marked the hinge on both sides , for some reason that was a mother to get just right..