fenrice

I went to the local shop that has a new General Manager. They always treated me right on oil changes/inspections/rotations. The new manager goes off and says the 2013 GT has issues with sparkplugs breaking off if you wait til it hits 100K for the Ford recommended service interval. Mine has 65K . He said that the ceramic got brittle or something (it's already brittle, maybe he meant got cracks). Anyway, I go online and look and find no TSBs about this at all, and do see some discussions about 2008ish mustangs having a similar problem, but sounds like they fixed that at some point in 2008. Anyone have any ideas about this, is the guy trying to bamboozle customers or is his advice legit? Also he wanted $350 which seemed a tad bit steep. Of course I turned him down and said I'd think about it and he seemed kind of "wellllllll okayyyyyyy thennnnn" . Anyway, I'm asking the experts now .

JimC

I haven't heard anything like that for the 5.0. Now for the 2005-2007 with the 4.6, yes there was a problem. I think that the GM may be mistaken and trying to apply the 4.6 issue to your 5.0

bstang14

Either not up on his 4.6 vs 5.0 or he's trying to intimidate you into a service for the wrong reason. His profit. Your 5.0 plugs are one piece and will come out with no issues if you practice common sense regarding aluminium heads. I took mine out cold as part of my blower upgrade. No issues although I didn't have 65k on the clock. I had a 3.2 mb with aluminum heads and I replaced the plugs at 120k. No issues and they still looked good! Just be careful to not cross thread and it will be cake. Use a torque wrench to final and you won't overtighen which would be bad. You could do plugs in an hour. I'd not worry about plugs now unless you have good reason to. Obviously if you are a diy person and you just want to, no reason not to.

fenrice

Thanks guys. This is my first mustang and just wanted to do it right. I watched a couple of videos on swapping out 2012 stang spark plugs and I didn't see anything I couldn't handle. I've changed plugs before, and I have all the tools the guys in the videos recommended. It certainly didn't look like a $250+$100 for plugs activity. I ordered the plugs from Rock Auto for like $50+shipping (went ahead and got some other stuff as well that I knew I would need like air filters). Which is a lot better than $350. It should be a good weekend activity some weekend in the near future.

Buck Sergeant

fenrice, bstang14 is on top of his game. The rules for aluminum heads , cool engine, a little anti-sieze, torque. Good to go. And by the way, the dealers are getting around $180.29 PLUS the cost of the plugs.

Derf00

I agree, 05-early 08 had the plug issue. Haven't heard a peep about any stangs beyond that.

I wouldn't wait for 100K on plugs regardless so at 65K you're good for looking to replace them.

Buck Sergeant

Derf00, I like your style. My pit crew knows that "preventive maintenance" rules, yes, I know it sounds like a waste of money, but it pays off in the long run, because efficiency tapers off as the plugs age, ie. bad gas mileage. My spark plugs are changed every 50,000 miles, 2014 GT, weather it needs it or not. I compete very hard and can't worry about poor performance because I didn't want to "waste some money." Bottom line, if a car is only used for "normal" daily driving, then I would change the plugs every 100,000 miles. If you push your ride, on the road and track, a shorter maintenance level should be mandatory.

Derf00

Buck, I'm a big time believer in preventative maintenance when it comes to fluids, filters, and plugs.

Auto Tranny Fluid is a big one! 100K between intervals?? Ughh.. I''m certain you're familiar with the rule that every 20F over 170-175F you halve the life of your tranny fluid. 170-175F is the optimal temp where you can expect 100K miles from tranny fluid. at 195F it's dropped to 50K, @215F it's 25K, etc. Most cars run 195F or higher running around town, especially during the summer. Every 30K with the sealed tranny's.

Most of the recommended intervals in car manuals these days are marketing gimmicks and can only be expected under ideal conditions which, let's face it, most of us don't drive in.

Buck Sergeant

Derf00, I don't know how old you are, but you sound, "Old School" like me.
Here are my schedules.
ATF: every 30,000
Air Filter: every 3 months
Plugs; every 50,000
Rear Differential: every 30,000
Cooling system flush: 30,000
Brake power flush: Every 30,000
I think you get the idea. Sounds drastic, but I will not hesitate to put the spurs to the ponies, and that means more diligent maintenance.

Derf00

This is mine:
ATF: every 30,000
ATF filter if serviceable: replaced when ATF Fluid is serviced.
Air Filter: every 12 months depending on weather. If we get dust storms during the summer it's 6 months. This year was very mild (one dust storm and I wasn't driving in it).
Plugs; every 60,000 to 70K (70K is unusual for me).
Rear Differential: every 60,000
Cooling system flush: 36,000/3 yrs whichever is first
Brake power flush: Every 36,000/3 yrs whichever is first - This also does depend on the fluid I'm using. The ATE SL.6 I use in the Mustang and wife's 2013 turbo beetle gets changed Every 2yr/24k miles. Our Escape uses ATE Type 200 which is the 3yr/36K.
Power steering flush (if it's a hydraulic system): Every 36,000/3 yrs whichever comes first.
Fuel filter if replaceable: 20,000/18 months

Only your Air filter interval had me tweak my head a little . What are your thoughts behind the 3 month interval on the air filter?

I've been told I'm old school the older I get, haha I worked in auto part stores and shops until after my college years in the mid 90's and also did some Heavy duty (Semi truck) type work. Maintenance there (like in racing) is key in maintaining people's livelihood! I even got some ASE certifications ("Back in the day") for automotive brakes, emissions systems, and heavy duty air brake systems that have long since expired.

These days I just work in my garage on our three cars and my daughter's boyfriend's family vehicles (three vehicles). They're good people and he treats her right so it's all good.