GT John

Well, with all the sometimes horror stories I had read concerning spark plug replacement I decided not to wait for 100K to change the plugs.

My car is DD, 99% highway, approx. 250 miles per week. Mostly bumper to bumper in the mornings and evenings.

Bought a set of Brisk 3VR17YS plugs ($17 ea. one piece design). Out of the box the plugs are gapped at 30 thousandths. Checked plugs for resistance each plug checked between 5.5K ohms and 6.5 K ohms (a good thing). Re-gapped plugs to 45 thousandths.

Had my local Ford speed shop do the work. As luck would have it all of the OEM plugs were stuck solid in the heads. Followed the TSB, after about 3 hours of loosening and tightening we were able to get all the old plugs out. Installed the new plugs per the TSB.

I have been running 93 Octane Shell V Power gas for a couple of years and was really surprised to see all the carbon build up in the empty spark plug holes. I can only imagine what could have happened if I had been running 87 octane gas and had waited until 100K to change the plugs.

Evidently, the guys that are running F/I don't have this issue. Just us N/A guys.

Been thinking about adding SeaFoam to the gas tank once a month or so...........comments?

Thanks

Goldenpony

I'll be surprised if adding Seafoam makes any difference. The area where the carbon builds up is a dead space, no flow through that area. I use Shell V-Power along with a large bottle of Techron every 5K miles. At 38K miles, I pulled my OE plugs. 6 of 8 broke off. I installed one piece Champions with nickel anti-seize and now I sleep much better. Glad you got yours out in one piece.

stang5151

crap. I'm at 62K and haven't changed them yet.

Guess I'll buy the tool to remove them when they break off and plan on a long soak prior to trying. I printed the TSB on it - and will follow the directions. Looks like a good day after Christmas project.

samus720

I'm at 47K and I just changed mine yesterday. All 8 came out in one piece (WHEW!)
I drove the car to get it hot (around 30 min.) used some valvoline Heavy duty Throttle body and Carb spray to soak (and I mean soak) the plug wells. Then I waited 10 mins and soaked them again. Plenty of bubbling/boiling took place because of the heat. Then I turned each of them 1/4 turn and soaked them again (10min). Then I took them out one by one very slowly. Had all 8 come out relatively easily after a little (scary) cracking sound/feel for 1 turn or two.
When I pulled the plugs, I saw that the TB cleaner had worked its way all the way down to the electrode and had eaten up a lot of carbon on the way. Definitely hope everyone else's experience goes similar to mine.

mustangtestuser

One reason I'm not running more than a 75 shot of nitrous is to avoid this issue. Luckily, my '06 only has 11,500 miles on it. I may just have a shop change out the plugs when it comes time.

Spdfreak

A zillion threads and this continues to scare the crap out of me...

glamborn

I just did ours with just under 20,000 miles and did a little experiment to see what worked better for soaking them. Cool engine, loosened each plug 1/4 turn, sprayed some liquid wrench on four, carb cleaner on the other four, then let them soak about a half hour. The carb cleaner ones came out much more easily and had almost completely dissolved the carbon on the barrels. The liquid wrench ones came out in one piece but I felt like I had to be much more careful, repeatedly loosening 1/4 turn, then tightening 1/8 turn. The liquid wrench ones still had some solid undissolved carbon deposits once I got them out. YMMV but whenever I do this again I'm definitely using the carb cleaner. Installed the Champion plugs and so far they're working great.

samus720

+1 on the carb cleaner, I used it and it did exactly as you said. The carbon was virtually all dissolved when I did mine.

Riptide

So what tools do you need to get the plugs out? Socket? Extension? Torque wrench?

samus720

I used a 9/16 deep well socket, 6mm socket, breaker bar, socket wrench <-- not necessary but came in handy for removing the 6mm coil pack bolts. And a 5 inch extension. You're supposed to use a torque wrench, but I didn't. Come to think of it, I've never used a torque wrench in my life. They're not really necessary IMO.