I'll try to help:-

I thought you were referring to Champions, - since that is this threads title.

With Autolites, it will run right (maybe) for a short time, - then start to go south quickly. Their not the correct spec heat range for the 97-03 two valve modular, - that you should know, - right? After the install, they start right off over heating, they aren't specced to displace the modulars heat , -correctly. Double platinum or not, it won't be to long before performance and economy begin to suffer. That bad choice could have been prevented, -pretty easily.

It's all here, but you have to know how to operate the search bar. Yea, -that's a tuffy.

 

Brew, how about reposting your Autolite pics?

Both Autolite and Motorcraft are made by Honeywell. However, the Autolites are not made to Ford specs. Some people have no problems, others do.

 

Alright, I'll post these, I haven't done that in awhile. The 103's in this pic were installed, -then removed 40 miles later. One stopped firing after 20 miles, - two cylinders were missing after 40 miles. They over heated, the 98 5.4L is picky then most when it comes to plugs, but the modular engines that do run on all eight with these, -don't run right.



If you look close, you can see the discoloration. A plugs worth is it's ability to displace heat - ie heat range. These aren't up to the task by design.

It took me a year of writing honeywell, sending documentation and whatnot to get a refund. In the end, they basically told me it was my dumbass fault for purchasing a plug that wasn't speced for that manufacturer. We produce the Motorcraft plugs for Ford.

 

 

Hey guys I used the champions Good thing I order 9 one was bad I saw the you tube video over all besides that they run pretty good . I know alot of guy's will bash them but yet why so many problems with the motorcraft plugs You know what I mean so im not going to knock one or the other . I think what ford did with the plugs is pretty ! You know ,and then not to man up and fix the problem is messed up so what do they do scare the crap out of people so they take it to the shop and slam them with a bill . I am lucky I had 85000 and not one broke pulling them out . I pretty much dont care what plug anyone uses its your choice but they should of fix the problem I mean come on lol I think next go around doing NGKs

 

YOUR issue is totally different - you have the 3V engine. NGK doesn't make plugs for it yet - just Motorcraft, Autolite, Champion, and Brisk. The Champion plugs for your engine are a lot better than the ones for the 2V's. The Champs and Brisk are 1 piece - the Motorcrafts and Autolites are 2 piece.

 

Well they used kinder words, I just summarized.

They didn't really say they produce Motorcraft, - they phrazed it this way, -

"We have Motorcraft spark plugs for said manufacturer"

The Focus of my argument was that they cross reference part numbers. Autolite is directly cross referenced with Motorcraft for the 97-03 Ford Modulars. This is wrong and STILL currently uncorrected. So that means the 3rd party parts suppliers are going to recommend Autolites for these applications, that's the problem today.

This has nothing to do with 3 valve applications.

The question ? Why can some modulars run the Autolites when others can't ?

Another problem, - Some of the modulars that do run on all eight, over-heat the plugs over and over again, eventually cooking the platinum. There is No known data of the Autolite falling apart like the Bosch plugs do, but I've seen some pretty scary pictures, - they come close to it lol.

This is an x-ray of a Bosch melt down in action lol -



The proven plugs for Modulars -

Denso Iridium's - IMO, the best.

NGK Iridium's - Good plugs, but users have preferred Denso's over the NGK's in the past.

MOTORCRAFT - The Modular "Fail Safe" plugs. This is all you need for proper OEM operation.

 

i havent had any issues with autolites in any of the modular engines yet, but thats not saying that i wont. i have had good luck with them so far. champions, i wouldnt even consider them in my lawnmower, and bosch, well i dont even need to get started with them. just stick with motorcraft plugs and torque them to 28ftlbs dry and you know that you will be good.

 

Do you recall the plug numbers by chance Matt ? 103's or 104's maybe ? I've heard that some run 104's without noticeable issues, -personally , I wouldn't chance it.
Also Autolite has a Copper core plug (I thought they all were at one time), - I think their the cheapest in price on the market lol. Anyway, I've heard those work as well.

Iduno, I wouldn't screw around with them, why take chances ?

 

i honestly dont know, my dad handles all that stuff, i just do as i'm told
i do know that we normally get the single platinums though.

 

Yea, the only way I recall is if I take pictures lol. That's why I started doing it, because I get forgetful after a few years. I don't know how many times I go to the gallery's I have now, but I do quite a bit when working on her.

BTW- Here's a GREAT picture thread from torkum, it's a Bosch thread -

https://www.f150online.com/forums/v8...gs-can-do.html

 

Autolites are garbage. If i didnt throw them away instantly, i could show you a picture of what they look like after 15,000 miles. Lets just start with thick colors of white and black, and lets end with the overall rating of 0. They are by far the fastest eroding, corroding POS ive ever seen and will never go back. Hey guy, don't just buy them because each package comes with a $1 mail in rebate...

 

It would be interesting to find out what independent shops use for replacement plugs. If they want to keep customers they'll want to use something that doesn't degrade mileage and isn't a problem. Also whether a vehicle is flexfuel or not and whether that makes a difference.

Just some thoughts.

 

Independent shops vary by experience and integrity. I had an independent shop ask me if I wanted to go with Autolites when I replaced mine and told him I wanted to stick with MC. They said, "Ok, a lot of people like the autolites though". As I found out, a lot of shops don't know the dirty details of each brand of truck/motor because they work on all of them (and this place specializes in 4x4's... not to mention any names!). And is it in their best interest to suggest top of the line parts that will prevent you from coming back for more service in the near future? NO!

That indy shop replaced my plugs with Motorcrafts (after I told them ixnay on the Autolites) and within a month I had misfire problems and chased the problem for weeks all the while doing hours of research on here reading posts and decided since I did just about everything BUT replace the plugs (including the COPs), I should just put some iridiums in there. When I took out those 2-month old plugs with less than 5k miles on them... they looked like they were 5 years old. IF they did actually replace them, they did a **** poor job. One was loose (about finger tight) and if I had an '97 - '02 model, would have probably shot out and they would have been looking at the shop to rectify. AND they lost me as a customer for anything other than buying parts.

I don't mean to imply all independent shops are lousy, just do your homework before you have one of them tear into your truck for anything other than fluid changes. Talking a few minutes with the mechanic will probably give you the answer. I've had several bad (fortunately not terrible) experiences which have led me to learn to do as much maintenance and repair as I can... and makes me very thankful for this site and the knowledgable contributors!

 

Good post! AZ - Are you sure your 03 has upgraded heads ? Most don't, I've read about "late" model 03's w/4 thread heads. They say only some came with the upgraded 9 thread heads, -I haven't heard of any, yet.

BTW- Which cylinder did you find the loose plug ? Where the Motorcrafts like a dirty white color ? Some more white than brown?