steveo555

Hello Everyone,

For all the babying and taking of my car over the years I have neglected one thing. The spark plug change. Although, Ford does recommend 100k I wanted to have it done early on but never got around to it and it slipped my mind. Now my car is at 117k and I am the original owner. Lately, I have been wanting to clean it up a bit and bring it back to life to help keep longevity.

So for the ignition system I have purchased the following:
1. NGK G-Power Spark Plugs (I set the gap to 0.60)
2. Taylor Street 8mm wires
3. Screamin Demon distributor
4. PB Blaster for old plugs

I have never changed spark plugs before but after reading about it on the internet; I think I can handle it. Especially since these are not the 4.6L heads.

So I was wondering if anyone could help answer my below questions or offer any tips they have. Thanks!

1. Take the plugs out on a warm or cold engine?
2. Torque specs for taking out and putting in the plugs?
3. Socket size for plugs?
4. Anti-seize on threads of plugs, yes or no? If so, how much?

Choppertwo

1-cool engine
2-look at your manual 3-sorry don"t know and 4-I have never used anti seize on any plug, But maybe someone with the newer cars can chime in. Every thing you have mentioned is not hard, even if you have never done it,-- Have fun, you will feel better, after you're done, WHY?, Cause you did it yourself

66and06stangs

This is easy. Definitely cool engine. Would you like to stick your hands/tools down by the exhaust to take out a really hot spark plug? Heck no, ice cold baby. I've been changing my own plugs forever, never used anti-seize. Never had problems, oh well. Not sure about socket size, easy enough for you to check on your engine. My torque spec is to put them in snug enough they will not come out and keep compression, but not too tight that i'll have to put a helicoil or something in because I stripped out the threads on the head.
I second the "you did it yourself" notion Chopper!

JimC

The passenger side is the trickiest part. On the front plug you have to take off a mount (forget now what it is to) to get to the spark plug. The last one is angled back to the firewall and there isn't a lot of room, plus you have to work blind. So yes, you want the engine cool because you will be touching the exhaust.

When you put the new plugs in start them by hand DO NOT try to start them with a wrench. You want to do it by hand so you know if you have cross threaded into the aluminum heads. Once you have engaged several threads by hand you can use your wrench to finish.

And I always used anti-seize on my 2006. With the Xcharger I replaced the plugs every spring (and because I put about 30,000 miles a year on the car). I pulled the plugs to check them and they were good and could have been left in but the stock autolite or NGK TR6 are so cheap might as well put new ones in while inspecting.

tradosaurus

I changed plugs on a 2006 and 2008 V6 Mustang and I don't remember having to take a mount off. I did remove the air filter box and ducting for easier access.

I usually slightly warm the engine by running the engine for about a minute to "soften" the metal to metal contact between plug and engine.

Anti-seize is a good idea as well as putting the plugs in by hand to avoid cross-threading.

Personally I use Motorcraft plugs and wires since our cars are not used as racing vehicles.

CPTCO

I too did this with a warm engine and had zero problems. Not sure, but .60 seems like an awfully big gap. I'm just going off the top of my head here, so if that is spec, I apologize.

tradosaurus

The spark plug gap spec is 0.052-0.054"

It's a good idea to check the gaps on new spark plugs before installing.

steveo555

Ok, update.

So yesterday I went ahead and did the installs. It was actually a lot tougher than I imagined and thought about giving up half way through but I didn't.

First, I installed my new fog lights. A rock came off a truck a few months ago and hit one of the fog lights hard enough to shatter it. I got two factory replacements so you wouldn't be able to see the difference between a 7 year old lens and the new one. They look really good and actually make the car look newer.

Second, I did the screamin demon distributor. This was pretty easy since it was 4 bolts. When it came to the wires I just switched them over one at a time from the old unit to the new one to prevent me from mixing them up. I started the car after this to ensure everything worked. It started right up with no problems.

Third, I moved onto the spark plug change. I never realized that the spark plugs were actually pretty far down on the engine. Took the old boots off one at a time and sprayed PB Blaster around the plug to the best I could. It was tough getting the can down in there and it didn't help the can did not come with a spray straw. I then waited about 10 mins then started to take off the plug. I set my torque wrench to 15lbs. I also started from the driver's side and worked around to the passenger side. I was a little nervous at first but the plugs actually came out and didn't require that much work. Just a lot of ratcheting back and forth due to the small working space. One of the spark plugs the casing around it broke off while coming out.

At this point I am done with the third plug (closest to front bumper) on driver's side. Then I start moving on to the passenger side (starting from the closest to front bumper). These are a little tougher to remove and having even less room didn't help at all. By this point maybe 3 hours has gone by and I starting to get tired and a little agitated. I am now moving on to the last two which I believe are cylinders 1 & 2. I realized these are almost impossible to get to especially the one closest to the firewall. The battery seems to be blocking me from putting my torque wrench down there. As I said, I am getting really agitated. So I decided to stop and leave the last two as is.

Here is a picture of the four - BTW I checked the gaps on them coming out and they ranged from 0.70 to 0.85!! :





I decide to test the car out and see if everything works. So I put the original plug wires back on the plugs as they are still connected to the distributor in order. I wanted to save the new plug wires for last. I turn the car on and instantly get a popping sound. Sounded like major arching somewhere and within 20 second smoke started to come from the engine. I check all the connections and try again. Still same thing except for more smoke. The sound sounds like a stun gun buzz.

With the sun going down I realize I need to fix this fast as it is my daily driver. I decide to replace each plug wire with new ones. I go through each one carefully matching them up to the distributor. By the way, I think it was cylinder 2 on the passenger side, but original plug wire has a metal bracket over it. I actually had to put a little grease on the wire and pull it through the space between the metal bracket and engine for about 10 minutes to get it out.

Finally, new wires are all on. I start the car up and no more arching sounds!! Except still smoke coming out but at this point I figure it has to be the PB Blaster burning off the headers. I have no warning lights or check engine lights showing. I drove the car around and I guess it felt stronger. Maybe like how it was brand new.

However, I do have some additional comments/questions/concerns:

1. I gaped the plugs to 0.60 because the instructions from screamin demon state that I can gap them to 0.65.

2. In the time being, it shouldn't hurt the engine to have 4 new plugs and 2 old? I have not decided if I will give it a shot when we get another warm day or take it to a shop. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get access to them?

3. I did not put anti-size on them because I still have read conflicting information about the practice.

4. I did not put dielectric grease in the new plug boots - is this necessary?

5. Occasionally, the car kind of hick ups. Like a slight vibration for about a split second. It feels/sounds like when you are in park and pull up both the window switches it kind of feels like draining the car of power. Not sure if this is normal and its my mind playing tricks on me or something I should look into?

6. I torqued them back on at 16lbs...is this enough? Just by sticking my finger up against them it felt as if the bolt on the spark plug was not flush against the head. I guess it wouldn't be able to go any further since the portion below it is wider than the threaded part??

7. This morning the car started up fine and I had no issues getting to work. When I turned the heat on it kind of made the inside of the car smell like a go cart/lawnmower. Like an unburnt fuel smell. Again, I believe this is from the PB Blaster that is on the headers or any other engine part. 10 minutes into my commute and the smell is gone - at least to me it is.

tradosaurus

I would recommend replacing the last 2 plugs. Also the 0.060" gap recommendation is wrong.

I personally use a torque wrench to install the spark plugs to make sure each is seated at the same depth.

Derf00

+1 on the torque wrench.

The screaming demon coil lets out a bigger spark so that is why they would recommend a larger gap than OEM (0.065").

The pop or misfire the op is getting is because he's only replaced four of the six plugs, they are worn out.

The acorn style seat of the plugs won't allow them to sit 'flush' with the head. They will always have a slight gap between the hex and the head. If they were flush, over time, you wouldn't get a good seal between the two as the head would wear down a bit.