.. Just remember that they DO require maintenance, their terminal nuts tend to loosen up after awhile, and their gaps may change slightly over time.



After about a year and a half, they (terminal nut) were all loose and the gaps varied slightly on ALL 8 plugs

 

I never let my terminal nuts relax... keep em tight...

 

rofl

 

Just did the dreaded plug change on my 06 with 26,000 mi mostly used for short trips between home and work (carbon building kind). I had read in a post that you should run a tank of FI cleaner through before trying to remove. I added a large bottle of Techron with a little more than 3/4 tank which lasts me a couple of weeks of driving. The day before the removal I made a few full throttle passes to loosen things up a bit. The following morning I removed the plugs on a cold engine, following Fords TSB. I loosened them a quarter turn using a 3/8 drive beam type torque wrench, then soaked with PB blaster for an hour. Every plug except the # 1 plug on the passenger side came out by hand like butter. The carbon was fairly thick, but was soft enough where it could be wiped off with a rag. The #1 plug was still sticky and required a couple of shots of PB blaster and a easy touch with the beam torque wrench never exceeding 33 ft lbs. At 26,000 mi, I can't say for sure if the Techron and full speed passes did any good, but it sure didn't hurt. The new Autolite HT's supposedly can handle double the torque. I installed my HT0's with nickle anti seize, greased the boots with silicon torqued to 33 ft lbs, and hopefully I should have no worries for another 30,000-50,000 mi.

 

Good point but if you're NA, it's not as drastic.
Except for the nuts going nuts.

 

^^^^ It's common in 2005, and early build 2008's... Like mine. You can tell by the black boot on the spark plug. Brown boot is the new design.

 

A tip for the Lisle

DO NOT USE A BREAKER BAR

the tip can bust through the end of the plug, if a socket wrench can't tighten any further its good enough

for its use also if you don't already have it then a 24mm deep socket can be helpful (on the one I used the tool on I was stuck using an adjustable wrench for the last part)

btw though I did have trouble with the 5th one I was on due to a stupid mistake on my part even at 90,000 miles the carbon was very light on all of them

the one I had to use the tool on was likely my fault for getting over confident and not letting the RP penetrating oil soak long enough

so I do think that Shell gas with nitrogen helped lower the buildup

 

I hate reading threads like this... How much was the tool?

When I first bought my car in March of '08 the first thing I did was check the build date and plug type I had. Build date of August '07 and I have the two piece plug. I swapped them at 10K for the Champions and I have almost 40K on the car now.

I take out a plug or two at random every 6 months just to check for build-up. Can't say I have found any.

I tend to use Chevron or Unocal 76 (91 tune so 91 octane). When I get on the freeway, I GET ON the freeway. I normally hammer it all the way down the on ramp and then adjust my speed to merge safely on with the rest of the cars. Most of my driving is surface streets during the week so on the weekend I find reasons to take a freeway trip to blow the motor out.

Don't know if that's made a difference but it's fun doing it

 

The tool is $55
http://www.amazon.com/Lisle-LIS65600...=5336075430-20

Just buy the tool, plan for the worst hope for the best

 

Oh wow, just read about your troubles with the plugs Ford_Dude. Man I feel your pain!

That Lisle tool sure is a lifesaver though and saves $$$$ in the end. Thanks for the tip to add to the thread, I hope people read all the way through so they know what could possible happen and what to expect before attempting the plug removal.