AV8ForFun

I know there are those that thinkthere is no issue with plugs and those and think there is. I don't know, but was worried, since I plan to keep this car for a long time. That said, I had the dealership change mine yesterday. Of course they put back the stock motorcraft plugs and didn't have any problems with them...I'm assuming,,,, as I asked for the plugs, and they gave me 8 unbroken usedplugs. I paid to have them do it because it was still under warranty and the service manager said that if they broke one off it would be covered by warranty.

My question is this. Should I just buy some anti-sieze, and start removing and "lubing" the plugs every few months? Or is it best you spend another $100 and install 1 piece plugs? Are there performance issues with the Brisks or Champions? Is anyone else making replacement 1 piece plugs? Has anyone dynoed before and after to see if there is a diff?

Help please....I don't want to wait too long to make a decision.

Goldenpony

Well, that's a good question. I had a horrific problem @ 38,000 miles. I decided to pull the plugs and replace them with fresh Autolites. The second plug snapped off. I followed the TSB to the letter.This was before the tool from Rotunda became available. I had the car trucked to the dealer. Their technician snapped off 5 more plugs. They got all the broken pieces out and put in a new set of Motorcrafts - cost me $650. I eventually screamed and bitched enough I got a complete refund. When the Champion one piece plugs became available, I jerked out those junk Motorcrafts and put in the Champions.
Now I have had fantastic luck with the Champions. My car runs better than it did with the original plugs. I have read a couple of posts where they did have problems. I suspect faulty installation.
I looked at the Brisk plugs before buying the Champions, but they are designed as a racing plug, they're not platinum and will therefore have a somewhat short life because of that. The Champions are double platinum.
If you elect to do the pull, clean & relube routine, just be sure not to get the anti-seize on the firing end or the threads, it only goes on the ground electrode shield, the smooth barrel part of the plug.
I was so pissed when that plug snapped off. I will never again have a 2 piece plug in my engine. If Mororcraft ever designs a 1 piece plug, I might consider using them, but not until. Best of luck. Smart move having the dealer do the plug change while still in warranty.

thewarmachine

From what I've heard, the stock plugs are supposed to last for 100k miles. Maybe if they actually stay in the car that long, the two piece design sort of fuses together and causes no problems. I have a hard time believing that Ford didn't think about this one.

Z06 Killer

How would they know? It is a brand new design that when tested showed that it was a great performing plug. And since they are supposed to tbe good for 100k there are just now some higher mileage cars getting them swapped. Ford has noticed the problem and is taking steps to fix it. Now they know that it needs to be a 1 piece design

thewarmachine

Oh, I figured the two-piece was an old thing.

Derf00

The two piece designis used in the 2003 and up 5.4L pickups/trucks, two years before it was in the "new" 3v 4.6L that uses the identical plug. Ford knew about the problem but ignored it. They only recently (2008 +) redesigned the plug and threads in the 4.6L (not sure of the 5.4) to take a new one piece plug from motorcraft. Hence there are two head types in the 2008 Mustang. Some Late 07's that are called 08's have the two piece design still. Those built as of 1-08 have the one piece design.

Z06 Killer

I never said that the plug was exclusive to the Mustang, I said it was a new design. I guess I should have stated that they were in the trucks as early as 2003. But like I said. Ford did not know there was a big problem until after a high number of complaints roll in. Do the math 2003 model year to 2008 model yearis 5 years. The average drive does around 20k miles a year and 20k times 5 = 100,000 Miles. Since that is when the plugs are due to be changed and the majority of the trucks and 05 stangs are just now in the 100k territory, Ford now has enough cases to prove there is a legitimate problem and released a TSB and found a new plug design.

Had they recomended changing the plugs @ 50k rather than 100k then Ford may have changed the design in the 06 or 07 model years. I understand that alot of us enthusiasts found out about this problem a long time ago and told Ford, butwe represent less than 10% of the Mustang population. They may require a 20% or higher failure rate before they call it a bad product! And you got to think that not everyone has this problem. For instance me. At 3k miles on the ODO I bought new two piece plugs from the dealer as I had a miss in one right after going to F/I. Then I pulled them again at 29,000 miles and swaped them for a set of Brisk 1 piece as I was getting spark blow out before. I never had a problem removing the pulgs and I just spun them out. I did not follow the TSB or use any lubes or anti-sieze. Go figure! So now you have to wonder that how many people didn't have this problem and how many complaints until Ford decided to change?


Sorry for the long post. Just a little tired of people blindly blaming a company for not taking action when they are but they have to have a certain number of rejects before it is a problem.

wilkinda

Could someone please tell me what spark-plug blow-out is? i have heard the term but never an explanation to what exactly it is.... Does a plug literally liberate itself from the engine????

Z06 Killer

Spark blow out is what happens when there is too much cylinder pressure and it blows the flame out like a birthday candle. I happens to guys that are running high compression of or more than 10psi of boost on these motors.

cavediver

Like Goldenpony, I changed out my factory 2-piece plugs and installed the Champion #7989's in my GT. I followed the TSB and had zero problem pulling the originals out. Since I'll probably pull my Champions out and check them once a year I applied a very light coat of anti-seize to the threads and to the upper 1/3 of the ground shield. The TSB doesn't call for applying anti-seize to the threads but that is standard practice for me (and many others) any time I change plugs in an aluminum head engine. That way the plugs always slide right out.

As for the Champions, they work every bit as good or better than the original OEM's. They actually seem to have better throttle response but that could just be in my head. I'm convinced that the few who have had problems with the Champions either got anti-seize on the electrode tip or cracked the porcelain when tightening them down. They are a quality plug.