So this weekend I decided to finally tackle the dreaded plug change. I have about 122,000 miles on my 2005 SCREW and had been suffering from a really bad miss in cylinder #7 for a little over 8-months. Over the past three weeks however, this miss has turned into a plethora of DTC's, especially when trying to accelerate on the freeway. Since the holidays are approaching and that means no more free weekends for at least the next two months and my girlfriend is out of town for a few days, I figured this would be the best time to do the job!

I spent the last few months researching the web and learned A LOT from all of the greats posts on this board. I couldn't have done it without all of your help, so thank you in advance for everyone who took the time to post their stories, pictures, problems and solutions. For all those considering this project, take the time to scour the internet and this board for suggestions and information. You won't regret it!

The first decision I had to make was which plugs to purchase. The new Champion plugs were attractive because they are one piece. However, somebody had made a great point in defense of the Motocraft/Autolite plugs. The stock plugs may be a pain to take out, but they have lasted me well over 100,000 miles. This was a no brainer to me -- I stuck with stock.

I then purchased the Lisle 65600 extraction tool. This isn't even an option -- you have to purchase this tool. It can be found online, brand new, for under $60.00. Even if you never need to use it, the $60.00 is worth the piece of mind you'll have when working on the project. I will talk more about this later.

The last thing I needed to find (and I waited till the day of my project to do it), was a 9/16th spark plug socket. I had no idea how hard it would be to find this. After visiting quite a few auto parts stores, and even Sears, I decided to make my own. I removed the cushion from my standard plug socket and pushed it into a normal 9/16th deep socket -- worked like a charm.

Friday night…

I began around 3:30 PM and started by removing the: battery, PCM and PCM mounting bracket. It also helped to remove the vacuum line that runs across the front two COPs. Next, I removed the passenger side COPs and placed them on my work bench with a piece of masking tape on each, indicating what cylinder I removed them from. This will help your re-install go quickly. I then repeated this for the driver side. My engine compartment was fairly dirty, so I used my shop vac and air hose to blow and vacuum up the crud.

Now the next few steps will forever be debated as everybody has their own method. But this worked for me, so take it for what it's worth:

Once all the COPs were removed, I cracked each plug 1/4 turn and then sprayed PB Blaster into each chamber. In my futile attempt to not make a mess, I carefully used a funnel to get solvent into cylinders 3, 4, 7 and 8. I say futile, because I used my shop vac and air hose to then blow out the chambers after letting them soak, which got PB Blaster everywhere. After about an hour of soaking time, I decided to give the passenger side a go.

At about 4:45 PM, I started to wrench on cylinder 1 (front plug on passenger side). This was my first plug and I expected the worst. I followed the method of loosening the plug 1/4 turn and then tightening 1/4. This method was slow, but I felt good about taking my time. The plugs in cylinders #1, #2 and #3 came out without a hitch, but #4 (closest to the firewall) broke. In my case, all of my broken plugs came out with the tip and ring still attached and left the extension in the cylinder. Based on my research, this appears to be the most common break. If you view my photo, you'll see what I mean.

So I took a deep breath, broke out my Lisle tool and gave it a go. It's a scary feeling when you are tightening something blindly and all you can hear is the sound of porcelain cracking and popping. It took me about 30-minutes to figure this contraption out and extract the broken piece.

When installing the new plugs, I placed some nickel anti-seize on the extension piece of the plug (as suggested) and decided to forgo it on the threads. I also placed a long piece of fuel line on the end of the plug to assist me in getting it threaded properly into the chamber. Once the plug was threaded enough to cause slipping of the fuel line, I placed my torque ratchet on it and tightened it to the recommended 25 ft-lbs, as suggested in my Hanes manual. I then reinstalled the COPs and attached the appropriate wire harnesses. I had dinner plans and at this point, decided to call it a night.

Start: 3:30 PM, End: 6:30 PM, Total Elapsed Time: 3-hours and 1 broken plug

The next morning (Saturday), I wanted to get an early start on things and began around 9:00 AM. Since my Fighting Irish were playing at 1:00 PM PST, my goal was to be done by 12:30 PM. After last night, I was feeling optimistic. These plugs were also allowed to soak all night, so I though that would make my life even easier (wrong!). I used my air hose and blew out the solvent from the chambers. I knew that cylinder #8 (driver side, closest to firewall) was going to be a headache, so I started on this one first -- I was right. The plug came out broken and took me almost an hour to extract. I had complications with the push rod portion of the Lisle tool which added to my frustration and fear. I will address that at the end of my post.

The plugs in cylinders #7 and #5 came out in one piece, but cylinder #6 broke. However, by this time, I had mastered the Lisle tool and was able to extract the plug quickly. I then installed the plugs, COPs and wire harnesses in the same fashion as described above.

I then reinstalled the PCM mounting bracket, PCM and battery. I made the sign of the cross, said a short prayer and started my truck. She sputtered for a second and then started. After about 10-seconds, I heard a horrible sound coming from under the hood. It sounded like fluid or air being blown out -- almost like a supercharger. I feared that a plug had blown out or something. My heart sunk and I popped the hood. I forgot to attach that vacuum line I disconnected! I immediately reattached it and all was good. I let the baby idle for 15-minutes while I cleaned up and took her for a test drive. She now runs like the first day I bought her. I am also now able to run my Edge again! Mode #2 was exacerbating my miss problem and had been running at stock.

Start: 9:00 AM, End: 12:45 (with test drive), Total Elapsed Time: 3.75 hours with 2 broken plugs

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Tips That Helped Me
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1. I had to extract three broken plugs and read horror stories about how the extraction tool was stripping after the first few uses. I was religious about cleaning the threads and applying anti-seize after each use. After three broken plugs, my threads still look brand new.

2. Concerning the Lisle pusher tool, the directions leave out a very important part. You'll notice that the body of the pusher tool is threaded. These threads are designed to screw into the spark plug threading of the chamber. If you don't do this, then the pusher rod will never reach the plug. In my case, I would begin extending the rod and it would never make contact with the broken plug. The body would start spinning freely and for a moment, I had feared that my threads had stripped. This is because with the rod extended, the body of the pusher housing will never bite the spark plug threads. Therefore, with the pusher pin completely retracted, screw the body of the tool into the chamber first and then begin to tighten the pusher rod down. My directions didn't specify this anywhere and added a frantic 30-minutes to my total job time.

3. Nothing about the Lisle pusher tool feels or sounds right. You have to realize that the sounds you hear when breaking porcelain will go against everything you've ever been taught about a spark plug change. Remember to trust your tool!

4. As you'll see from my picture below, each spark plug tip snapped. Now the Lisle directions state that the porcelain will be pushed to the edge of the plug in order to create a purchase point for the extraction tool. It also states that there is no chance of the porcelain being pushed into the chamber. Although the tip snapped in every case, the porcelain was still solidly stuck within the broken piece. I don't really have a fear of it falling in.

5. Take your time and a few deep breaths. I'm not a professional mechanic and have your standard Craftsman roller tool chest setup. You don't need anything fancy for this job. i did it with a standard socket set, the Lisle tool and borrowed the torque wrench from a friend. I never used any universal joints or bends. Just my driver, appropriate socket and a few extensions.

6. Galpin Ford, the Los Angeles based SUPER STORE Ford dealership, wanted $900.00 plus $50.00 per broken plug for this job. In my case, I would have spent over $1000 to get plugs done…that's absurd. For $150.00 (including a case of your favorite adult beverage) and a few hours of sweat equity, you can easily do this job yourself. To me, the savings was well worth it. Even if this job took up my entire weekend, it would still have been worth it to save $1000.00.