2000 F150 2 wheel drive
V8 4.6
135,000 miles

Hi all. I'm a new member but have gotten a lot of help from reading this forum int he past. I've been having the shudder and hesitation problem and since the truck has 135K miles replacing the plugs is in order. Since I've read the horror stories about accessing the plugs on this model (not to mention the possibility of really messing the job up) I'm having the dealer do it. They actually have a good price.

Now, my question. I should change the COPs too, I'm sure, but I don't want to pay the dealer's price. I've followed the advice that's been offered a lot in this forum and found a great deal online for 8 COPS and boots. So does it make sense to have the dealer do the plugs then bring it home and do the COPs myself? How hard is replacing just the COPs? Or should I bite the bullet and have the whole thing done at the dealer?

 

They have to take the COPs off to replace the plugs. Not a big deal, but they charge extra for something they have to do in the first place. Also, they are gonna mark up the COPs...If you are uncomfortable with the plugs, let them do it. The COPs are easy, do that yourself and save some money. Make sure that you buy some (dielectric grease or antiseize?) One thing to watch out for...On my 00 F150, one of the COPs bolts that attach it to the engine broke. There was not way for me to fix it, so I used safety wire. Used a little yankee ingenuity and eventually traded the truck in.

BTW...I am assuming the COPs are the coil boots. Am I right or wrong?

 

Of course they are going to mark up the parts, it is a business after all. Do you think any other place you buy them from won't.

No the COP's are not the boots, but they are attatched to them and are available separately.



To karathena, Just do it all yourself, unless you know a good technician. I wouldn't take it to the dealer for service, they don't know any more than any other trained techs out there. Just take your time and carefully remove the coil screws and spark plugs so they don't break, do not remove the fuel rail, not necessary. The right thing to do is find which cylinder or cylinders that are misfiring and replace all the plugs and just that coil or coils and the rest of the boots on the other coils, but do what you have to. Oh, and P.S. get Motorcraft plugs and coils or you'll have problems down the road, some of the guys on here swear by egay, but I do not, I see them fail all the time.

 

Correct me if I am wrong, but the 4.6's don't have COP's. They have two power packs with wires. So if anything you would be replacing the cables and the plugs.

 

Not entirely sure, but I thought after '99 they all had COP's?

 

Thanks for the clarification

My advice would be if ones bad...change them all. She could change one drive down the road five miles, and another go bad. Fix that one, and then another go bad. Happened to me before I just changed them all. My 2 cents.

 

Seems you are right, 2000+ had COP's (4.6 & 5.4).

IF you are changing the plugs it only makes sense to change the COP's since they might be the source of the hesitation in the first place

 

Don't know much...but an old fuel filter will make ya think your transmission is going out...kinda like the COPs...

 

Never had that happen (yet), But, when we diagnose a miss, we scope all of them so it won't happen (hopefully). Anyway, I say if you feel better changing all of them, then make it so.

 

Clogged converters will also.

 

Some 2000 4.6L's had Coil Pack Ignitions - Some had COP's. When they switched ignitions (mid year) , they also illuminated the ECT Sensor @ the same time and donated it's responsibilities to the CHT sensor- to figure it all out.

They probably just ran short on coil packs lol. Since they planned for the 2001 4six to have PI/COP system upgrades anyway, it was most likely cheaper for the manufacturer to set that part up earlier than planned. - Could be...

 

Well, after replacing the DPFE, flushing the tranny, replacing the EGR and trying Dr. Tranny shudder fix, Lil Red was still shuddering so I made the appointment with the dealer to get the plugs changed. Then on my way home from work last night my truck started running really rough, gave off a sudden sulfur smell, a bit of a chug, and the MIL light came on. (YEA!) So I pulled into Autozone and the scan showed misfire on #4. Yea again. The more info I have going into the dealer the better. So I got the plugs changed today and even without replacing any COPs it's a lot better. But get this. The dealer refused to clear my MIL code. They said they'd have to charge me to hook it up to the computer. Unreal. I told them I'd take it back to Autozone and they'll do it in 3 or 4 minutes, no charge. That's what I call customer service. So do you think I'll be going back to the dealer? Yeah, right.....

Thanks for all your input. I've learned a lot from this forum!

 

Putting a Flame Suit on...

Whats a converter? Catalytic? They get clogged?

 

Yes, Catalytic Converter. Sorry about that I should have just clarified that in the first place.

Yes, they can become clogged from many things, but the cause is usually a misfire thats not repaired right away, that is why the Service Engine Soon light flashes for "catalyst damaging" misfires.

 

Lake In The Hills huh? Only two things come out of there, Steers & queers.

I'm just kidding, I had a friend that lived in Crystal Lake a few years back.