New take on the old brown vs black cop boots
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New take on the old brown vs black cop boots
Long story short, I don't know what I've got under my hood.
2008 XLT 5.4 Flex 4wd
Started with a misfire on #3. #1 cop was previously replaced with a grey boot (4" like the black ones) but the rest are brown boots (4.5"). After swapping the cop and ohming the injector, I started on the plug. And...it's a high-thread! Truck build date is 10/07, and the valve cover sticker is MIA.
Anyone have insight, or better yet knowledge, of how the ignition systems went on in the factory? Is it more likely my truck was built with a pre-08 head/plugs and post-08 ignition; or was built with post-08 everything but later had a top-end change with pre-08 heads?
I bought it earlier this year with 83k on it and while I was looking for the engine build sticker noticed orange grease pencil marks on the driver side valve cover, but no sticker.
Add: Also, the plugs had been replaced by previous owner with E3 one-piece, which turned out to be my problem. The E3 plug come apart in three pieces, one in the old coil boot, one in the socket, and one in the chamber. No problem with the threads though. Anyway, at one point I thought whoever did the plugs might have changed the boots using brown instead of black, but the stamp on the coils is 8L3E. As for non-OEM plugs, there's a Motorcraft SP515 in number 3 now and the other seven are going in soon.
2008 XLT 5.4 Flex 4wd
Started with a misfire on #3. #1 cop was previously replaced with a grey boot (4" like the black ones) but the rest are brown boots (4.5"). After swapping the cop and ohming the injector, I started on the plug. And...it's a high-thread! Truck build date is 10/07, and the valve cover sticker is MIA.
Anyone have insight, or better yet knowledge, of how the ignition systems went on in the factory? Is it more likely my truck was built with a pre-08 head/plugs and post-08 ignition; or was built with post-08 everything but later had a top-end change with pre-08 heads?
I bought it earlier this year with 83k on it and while I was looking for the engine build sticker noticed orange grease pencil marks on the driver side valve cover, but no sticker.
Add: Also, the plugs had been replaced by previous owner with E3 one-piece, which turned out to be my problem. The E3 plug come apart in three pieces, one in the old coil boot, one in the socket, and one in the chamber. No problem with the threads though. Anyway, at one point I thought whoever did the plugs might have changed the boots using brown instead of black, but the stamp on the coils is 8L3E. As for non-OEM plugs, there's a Motorcraft SP515 in number 3 now and the other seven are going in soon.
Last edited by Shannon Smith; Nov 14, 2015 at 07:34 PM. Reason: Additional info
