jaxbelleil

What are the best spark plugs for a stock or ligh moded car? When should I change them. and How do I change them? if anyone has a tutorial that I would be every thankful

laserred02

they are designed to last 100,000 miles. you shouldn't need to change them for quite awhile

pascal

When you supercharge the car! Lol.

Laserred02's right. 100.000 miles is what Ford says.

GidyupGo

Depends on how long you will keep your car. 100K is right, but 40ish is more likely since if you wait till 100K, you will probably needblasting powderto get them out.

laserred02

that is not necessarily true, I've changed the plugs on a ford focus with 106k miles, a mercury mountaineer with 97k miles, and a ford escort with 110k miles, all were original plugs, and none were difficult to get out. my mom, brother, and sister needed tune-ups over the last two months. can you tell that we are a Ford family

GidyupGo

Yes I can and good for you. I too like Fords. I just got my son a Ranger for his first ride. I changed plugs in a Buick once at 74,000 miles and brought the threads out with me on one cylinder. This wasn't a good thing to do, but lack of money to fix it and the mileage on the car caused me to JB Weld the plug back in there and trade it in. It could still be running to this day. I have used JB Weld in the Alaskan bush on a water pump that was being eaten alive from the inside out by electrolisis and it held up better than the original material in that John Deere generator.

hogpowr

There are issues with the 3 valve head, that ford won't acknoledge. These heads were introduced on the 04 F-150 5.4 liter v-8. If you search on this forum, you will find threads, with stories of head removal nightmares with no warranty coverage.(high milege)

It has something to do with carbon build up because the plugs protrude further into the combustion chamber than most.

I am changing every 15,000 miles as cheap insurance.

ohnoesaz

Yeah lets point out for anyone not informed.... The S197's need their spark plugs removed, not necessarily replaced, asap, more like 15K miles, not 40K or 100K. The problem is these spark heads are welding themselves inside the chamber, due to things like carbon buildup, and are breaking when people try to remove them.

Im at 17K miles and I soon plan to attempt to remove them and reinstall them with spark plug anti-seize.I'll try after soaking them in PB Blast or something like that. If they still resist then I'll be stopping and, unfortunately, taking the car to a mechanic.

laserred02

one thing to make sure is that the head is completely cool when you take the plugs out, do NOT attempt to remove them if the car is even slightly warm, that is part of the problem people are having. the other part if Ford. Make sure the car is cool and don't get on the plug with a big extension, be patient and wait for it to break loose.

i went by the factory service intervals that Ford states for 100k, I did not know of this other problem, so maybe some of you would be well advised to remove them once and anti-seize the frick out of them, and put them back in until 80-100k.

GidyupGo

.................or, maybe crack them loose a turn or two and re-torque is all it would take.??? As long as you did them every 3rd oil change or so.