These are my 97' roller 5.8 plugs that I finally got out with lots of PB, time, and a 30'' breaker bar... unknown mileage. Engine is rounding 190K.




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3
darker brown like #8, perhaps contributed to a weak plug wire I replaced a year ago?



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7
Worst looking insulator of the bunch, or is that deposits?



7
other side.



8

It's common for #8 to have more ash, correct? Its also a darker brown.

Any feedback is welcome! Thanks!

 

Those look fine to me given the mileage. Just put new plugs in and also I would replace the wires as they have been under stress due to the old plugs. New cap and rotor while you are there.

 

I'm replacing with the Ford single platinum plugs that are recommended, and MSD cap, rotor, and wires. Already replaced the coil with a MSD streetfire.

 

Plugs are a little uneven, that's not surprising for that milage so an injector cleaning would not be a bad idea. Use only copper plugs in this motor the platinums will die prematurely.

 

Those look like platinums and I don't think they were lacking for mileage.

Put in OE spec plugs, whether that is platinum or otherwise.

 

Thanks for the replies!

This engine specs motorcraft ASF32P (SP-501) plugs supposedly, but I was tempted to run coppers in conjunction with a slightly hotter coil like people doing the 6.0 litre tune up recommend, but ended up getting the platinum's.

I'm not sure If I will end up bumping the timing or not.

 

Just checked the gap on these, the only opened up to .045-.046 from the .044 spec.

 

I run Autolite Copper plugs in all my Fords and they love them. Even my 4.6L which did call for platinum-waste-of-money plugs liked the coppers.

The idea of not changing plugs for 100K miles don't sit well with me... think of how many heat/cool cycles they would go thru and how hard they might be to remove afterwards. Besides, I like seeing how they're burning every so often.

 

I definitely agree. You have to admit though, had these not been platinum plugs, they probably would have caused some serious drivability issues before I could get them out of the engine... they only opened up one or two thousandths.

 

Use a little anti-seize on the threads and next change will be a snap.

 

True, platinums do wear better. But that's why I like my coppers... if I wait too long they let me know by misfiring under load. This forces me to change them whether I like it or not, which makes me look at their condition and potentially spot a problem before it gets serious.

To each his own...

 

It wasn't my intention to diss coppers in any way, and I do appreciate the feedback.

I am kind of a maintenance nut, so believe me when I say the platinum's will not be run to death like these pictured were. Honestly the PO should have changed these before I bought it, but the PO probably should have maintained allot of things that I have found he didn't...

 

I did! These clearly didn't have any applied, but the new one recieved some nice copper high temp anti seize...

 

Do you mean a cleaner in the tank, or a manual cleaning on a flow bench? I believe I have the old pintle single port injectors, so I may upgrade to a clean set of the newer "multiport" style that are supposed to spray a finer mist of fuel.

 

No worries, I didn't take it as you dissing anything.