for those who have changed spark plugs on 5.4L engines - what school do you belong to...

change plugs with warm or cold engine

 

Cold!

 

Ford recommends room temperature. That could be any temp. Id go with a cold engine and soak the crap out of the plugs over night.

 

One of the TSBs called for a warm engine. The latest TSB says soak with Kroil and the engine is to be cold. Considering the materials involved, I'd go with a cold engine.

 

X2

soak the hell out of it. If you really want it warm, reconnect the COPS and warm it up.

 

Three valve engines are done warm with soak. Two and four valve engines I do cold and dry.

Regards

Jean Marc Chartier

 

The most recent 3 valve 5.4 Ford tsb states have the engine cold and use Ford carb cleaner to soak.

 

Can I get a link to these TSB's for changing plugs?

 

TSB 08-1-9
http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache...ient=firefox-a

 

Well I guess we will change that to room temp then. So do we warm it ip a little if the outside temp is -20?

Regards

Jean Marc Charier

 

I guess it would mean that we pull the engine out, bring it in the house and let it get to room temp...then do the plugs

 

I've done them cold, hot, or in between, on 2V, 3V and 4V engines. Sometimes I don't have the luxury of waiting for the engine to reach the "proper" temp, so take that for what it's worth. Ford states to remove 3V plugs with the engine at room temp, I feel they come out easier with a little heat in the engine.

 

Cold. If the engine is warm you run a much greater risk of stripping the threads. The heads are made out of aluminum, so it doesnt take much to strip the threads.
You want the engine to sit overnight, or for at least 8 hours.

 

What's the normal room temp down east by you ? Do I need to bring mine inside to get the temp down [bring it into the AC] because the morning temp is in the low 70's ?

 

Morning temp here is around 5 to 10 deg lately