zanemoseley

My wife's GT has about 123K on it and needs a new throttle body which I've ordered, got a Ford Racing stock replacement from American Muscle for $200. I'm gonna be honest aside from fluid top ups, oil changes and air filters I haven't done much to the vehicle. I'm pretty sure I had a belt put on by my mechanic several years back when he was doing brakes but I'll check it for wear. I figured while I'm at it I'll do some much needed maintenance including plugs and wires at the minimum. What else should I replace while I'm in there?

bl817

have the plugs ever been done before? if not, get the Lisle 65600 (some parts stores have it for rent) tool just in case a few break on ya. run a can or 2 of B12 chemtool thru the fuel system to get rid of some carbon build up to hopefully make plug removal easier. there are a lot of threads about the plug removal so read up and don't get to worried. I would recommend the OEM Motorcraft sp-514 plugs with nickel anti-seize on the snouts. fuel filter would be a good idea. 5 speed or auto? either has options to replace fluid and both take the same fluid. I stepped up to Mobil 1 synthetic trans fluid. stay away from RP, it eats the synchros. flush the cooling system. flush brake system. rear end gear oil with a 4oz. bottle of friction modifier wouldn't be a bad idea either. if your feeling ambitious, you can replace all the sway bar bushings with poly or at least new rubber to keep the handling tight and clunks to a minimum. that's about all I can think of at the moment, should be enough to keep you busy for the weekend haha. I'm sure others will add to this. good luck

zanemoseley

Its a 5 speed. Oh and broken spark plugs sound like a blast lol.

bl817

not to bad if you have the tool handy for insurance. mine all came out with no issues but that was at 35k miles. I pull em out about every 6 months or so and reapply the anti-seize. 3.2 quarts of fluid for the trans. fill it till it comes out the fill hole, make sure car is level. make sure you can get the filler plug out before you drain it. be prepared to, the fluid is very thin and it smells awful. I used a pump that screwed on to the top of the bottle to refill. good luck

zanemoseley

I actually had to replace the rear pinion seal at about 50k due to a slow leak so the rear case oil is not too terribly old.

Derf00

Actually, If you want to avoid dealing with broken spark plugs at all, OTC has a newer spark plug socket that makes it easier to removee the plugs without letting them break. It clamps onto the porcelain and the metal hex so that they twist together instead of just the hex.

https://www.otctools.com/products/fo...it-triton-3v-0

The link has a video portion that shows how it works. It works for both the 5.4 and 4.6L spark plugs.

I never worried about this myself since I changed the plugs over to Champion 1-piece at 10K miles. Recently replaced them (77K) with another set of 1-piece Champion plugs. Work like a champ! I guarantee I most likely would've had a broken plug or two this last time if I had two piecers because when I was backing out the plugs they were squeaking a lot in two instances and had some resistance.

zanemoseley

Well the reviews on the Lisle extraction kit are much better than the reviews on the OTC tool. With 125k on these plugs sounds like I should just go the extractor route. I also read that the OTC tool works poorly as an extractor.

Goldenpony

I would run some Chevron Techron through a couple of tanks of premium gas (large bottle). Cleaning the throttle body and MAF sensor, change air and fuel filters. Along with plugs, that's about it.

bl817

I went thru the 1 piece scenario with my 05'. I tried the autolite HT1 plugs, the E3, plugs and both gave me misfire codes and went to limp home mode. went back to the SP-514 and haven't had issues. yes you can try the champions if youd like but make sure they are gapped properly. .054 is what you need, the HT1 and E3 were gapped at .044 out of the box. its not the porcelain that gets stuck in the head, its the bottom snout with U shaped ground piece. it gets built up with carbon and basically gets locked to the head. youll know the second you turn the plug if its stuck or not. if it snaps, best to just remove what you can and grab the Lisle 65600 tool. good luck

Goldenpony

I have over 100K miles on 2 sets of 1 piece Champion plugs with no complaints.