billyjo

I put in new plugs today and was probaly one of the most scary things ive done since i have read so much about the plugs breaking. a hint for every one is to let your car sit overnight and then take the plugs out when the car is cold. less chance of striping the head. the difference is insane though, my car has 70,000 and the plugs came out good, a little hard but no damage and they needed to be changed. if i could change i would of did them sooner.

cavediver

Glad they came out good for you. The key is to take your time and follow the TSB. Did you put the Champions back in? I put the Champion 7989's in mine and am quite happy with the performance now.

Rubrignitz

I swapped mine out at 20k with Champ 7989's and the car does run noticably smoother now. I'm confused why Ford would build a plug that completely shrouds the electrode. Just doesn't seem like the best design.

I let mine soak with PB Blaster for only about 10 mins per bank though and had NO problem getting them out.

1morepart

WHAT has everyone changed to, spark plug wise?

champ,etc.

2L8IWIN

Champion 7989.....I suspect that is what 99% of the people on here have changed to given the one piece design.

Blacksmoke

What exactly does this help with?

Goldenpony

I put in the new Champions and the performance is great. I notice better throttle response, smoother idle, the gas mileage is as good or better than with the junk Motorcrafts. My comparaison is not to a set of worn out factory plugs, but a brand new set of Motorcraft plugs installed by my dealer (had 2500 miles on them). I gapped mine at .044" and put a light coat of nickel anti-seize on just the ground electrode shield (not the threads).

rojizostang

one of the other forums i frequent dis the champions pretty badly. If you can get your plugs out without issue, there's no reason not to install the orignal style plug if you use the nickel based anti seize according to the tsb. there shouldn't be any issues removing the plugs afterwards.

i used autolite ht1s, but i personally don't have an opinion on whether or not they're better than the champions.

make sure you use nickel anti seize, as it's good up to 2400 degrees, where the copper is only good to about 1600

alloutt

i have never changed the gap on mine any tips?

billyjo

yes there is a tool by mmr that you can get to gap the plugs i gapped mine at .40 and when i did each plug was from .48 to .55 out of the box so a big difference between each one I used the autolite h1 plugs but my next set will be the brisk. heard good things but i got these at a good deal at 35 for eight plugs witch was a great deal that i couldnt pass up.