How much did it cost at Ford to get those plugs replaced? My explorer has 110,000 and it's starting to run rough. I think it needs new plugs and wires and was curious what that would cost?

 

18k is pretty early to me.

 

Are the plugs Iridium? If so, I'm thinking no real worries on the wear thing. My motorcycle spins at about 4,000 RPM on the road, spins at 6k/7k very often, sees red line of 9k pretty often, and runs Iridium plugs. Another fellow on the cycle's board is running Iridium plugs, pulled them at 20k miles because he thought it was "time". He said they had been running fine, they looked great when he saw them, and only changed them cause he already had the replacements set in hand.

I think I'd pull the plugs when you feel good about, apply "anit-sieze" and reinstall. The only problem with that tactic is that is the washer "crush" type, and is it going to be as happy the second time around?

I installed the Iridiums on my bike, glad I did, glad I read what the fellow said, cause, I really don't want to do it often. I use torque wrenches religiously, but I'm always scared to death of stripping a plug hole.

 

The Expy doesn't have wires, just COPs and I didn't have them replace those. The plugs were relatively cheap and there was 2 hours or so of labor. Beware the stealership though--back when I had about 90k on it, another dealer quoted me over $1000 (no B.S.) because they said they HAD to replace all 8 COPs, and a ridiculous amt. of labor. This was without ever looking at the vehicle, just a straight-faced quote. For half the price of a rebuilt motor, I said "uh, no."

Back to Mustang talk now!

 

After I installed my tune I pulled a plug to see what color it was in order to get a condition reading. I had no problems removing it. You need to use a 9/16 deep socket and be sure to blow out any crud in there before you actually take it out. Any dirt will fall into the cylinder if you don't. Anti-seize is a good idea for re-install or new plugs. Use a torque wrench to tighten it up to factory specs. Off the top of my head I think it's 25 ft/lbs.

If you're going to use penitrating fluid be sure to blow out the plug well as good as you can. I would recommend Marvil Mystery Oil. It's a penitrating fluid and it won't harm anything if it gets into the combustion chamber. Heck some folks put it in thier fuel tanks to help lubricate the top end of a motor.

 

Does anybody make an Iridium plug for the 3V engine? I haven't seen any yet.

 

I put 116K on my 1997 F 150 4.6 V8 plugs. They came right out and from the looks of them they could have stayed in for another 75K. All you need to make sure is you have extension bars that "lock" the socket on. This ensures the socket doesn't come off and stay in the head/cam cover. The hardest part of changing the plugs on my truck was snipping all the plastic wire holders. They must of had 50 sets on them. Since the Mustang has no plug wires that headache has been eliminated.

 

Changed mine once to better performance spark plugs...

Had a hard time getting two of them out...it appeared as though the previous owner/dealer had a hard time getting them in and "forced" them.

But none broke coming in or out.

 

I believe the only reason to change them is to a colder plug if you are ruinning a SC or Turbo....

 

The 3 valves are known to seize the plugs in the head. Trust me it is worth your time to have them at least removed before or at the 20,000 mile mark. Kroil is the only known penetrant to work most of the time. Everything else is hit or miss. This issue is not as prevalent on the 4.6 and 6.8 as it is on the 5.4. Find an F150 forum or call a dealer and ask them about 3 valve plugs if you want to validate my story. I see people EVERY day pay for head removal at 37000 miles because they had a plug break off.......... Just a warning. BTW, I have a set of 8 of your PZT1FF4 plugs if anyone is interested. Make me a reasonable offer and the're yours, I think they go about $20 a piece from Ford...... I don't care what I get for em, just don't need em.