I read in a "Car Talk" article by Tom and Ray Magliozzi recently that all of the modular 3v engines through 2007 are susceptible to the carbon build up on the spark plugs that's been discussed often on these forums.

The question is, what happened in 2008 that made this problem go away? Was it new plugs, new engine design, or "we just don't know because 2008's haven't changed plugs yet"?

 

The way I understand it in the mid 2008 MY (3Vs in SD) Ford made the switch to a new plug design and changed the head somewhat to accept the new plug design. The new design looks a lot like the plugs Dodge/Chrysler uses in their recent "Hemi" engines. I'm sure JL will chime in as he more than likely knows more about it than I do.

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Well, rats. I guess we can't just change plugs and make the problem go away then.....

Thanks.

 

I have a '08 F350 and the V10, and I just changed my plugs on Tuesday 5-31-11. The whole job took 2.5 hours, just took my time and blew out the valleys with compressed air where the plugs reside. I was kind of dreading doing it but it really was pretty easy. My truck has just over 58,000 on it and I didn't want to put it off any longer. I am of the opinion that if you are running a tune you should change plugs more often.

 

It may be a bit "old school", but I change plugs every 60K or so, too. The metal in the plug is a lot harder than the metal in the heads. It just seems to me that leaving those plugs in the head for 120,000 miles is just asking for head/thread damage....

 

I have a 2008-I guess I will find out when I change them (newer plug). It won't be anytime soon as I have only 24K on it-its used mostly for towing.