It has been a month since the plug change.

Fuel milage seems to be up slightly. 13 MPG VS 11 to 12.5 MPG. It is a little hard to tell bacause I towed my travel trailer during that time. I do not have good MPG numbers while towing. There are too many variables.

 

Guess I missed this the first time around. Nice Post!

Besides the slight increase in mileage, have you noticed any other benefits to the plug change? Things like easier starting, more power or cleaner emissions?

 

Nope the truck drove great before the change and is the same after. There is little of no difference.

The old plugs were in pretty good shape. The gap had opened up a little but not that much. There was no fowling.

 

Good peace of mind is always a good thing in doing tuneups like you did even if they did not need to be changed out..

Thanks for your post consideration for others that will need pictures,advice,tips .Great pictures, the post will be a good food source/reference in our search engine on the FTE site ...

 

Where did you get the new boots? Parts store or Ford?

 

I got them from ford. They were overpriced but I wanted the real ford part.

O'Rielly had the plugs and aftermarket boots a lot cheaper. I purchased the Motorcraft plugs from O'Reilly and the boots from the dealer.

If you look through the posts the prices are in one of the posts. I seem to remember they were about $10 each. I origionally purchased the plugs from the dealer but they gave me the wrong ones and the Dealer was across town so I went to O'Reilly and found the correct plugs for less then 1/2 the price the dealer charged me. The dealer gave me a discount. The list price was even more.

 

Usually, I buy Standard brand stuff, and used their spark plug boots too.

generally, most aftermarket stuff for Fords is the same exact part, just a lot cheaper. Sometimes, it is different, but usually in a GOOD way. The boots I got were slightly different than the stock ones, and to me, seemed to seal better, but that's just new rubber.

Either way, you can't go wrong using NEW boots...

 

I got rid of my last Truck because of aftermarket parts.

I replaced the Radiator, Water Pump, Alternator etc. with parts from Auto Zone and O'Reilly. The radiator had to be replaced every two years after that. The same with the other parts.

Three years ago I had a Major Surgery and was down for about two Months. I could not work on the truck. During that time all those parts went bad at the same time. I was spending all my time working on the truck and was sick to boot.

I found this truck used for a good price so I just bit the bullet and purchased it. I sold the old truck to Car Max. It was leaking coolent, Power steering fluid, and the Alternator was acting up. I am convinced that if I had used Motorcraft parts I would still have the truck. It only had 180,000 Miles, Ran Great, Did not burn oil and had good Compression.

But then I would not have a V10. For the most part I am going to use Ford/Motorcraft parts. You pay a little extra but it is worth it. I had the same problem with my 1991 Suburban. The water pump and Radiator would only last a couple of years. When the Radiator and Water pump on my 1996 went out I used Dealer parts. That was about four years ago and they have lasted.

I have a Mechanic that I sometimes use when I am too busy to do things myself. I trust the man. He is 80 years old and has a great reputation. For the most part he will only use Dealer parts. The only exception is a he will have certain parts rebuilt by other Grey Beard shops that he trusts.

I almost purchased the after market boots. Then I remembered the trouble I had in the past and bit the bullet and purchased the Ford parts. I figured that the origional ones lasted 100,000 Miles and if the new ones last 100,000 Miles it is worth the price.

 

Ford buys "best price", not "best quality" just like any other large corporation. If you think Ford buys quality all the time, take a look at the 90 deg ell on the throttle body, or the vacuum lines, and yes, even the cheap rubber boots for the COPs. It's all about saving that penny.

 

tmehrkam,

Great job, thanks for sharing. I've looked a few times and maybe I missed it, but what was the mileage on the plugs when you pulled 'em?

Thanks,
RustyFuryIII

 

I am sure that is true in some cases.

Ford has a quality control department that looks at such things. I trust them to be right most of the time. My experience in the last 10 years is that many if not all of the aftermarket parts are much lower quality than the Dealer parts.

There are exceptions. I purchased a set of Wagner Heavy Duty Break pads that I just connot wear out. The Origional Chevy part "Probably Bendax" Would not last 25,000 miles. The latest replacment pads have 45,000 miles and still going. I purchased these pads instead of the Bendex based on the advice of my 80 year old mechanic.

Ford makes mistakes all the time but I think that their track record is much better than Auto Zone, O'Reilly or Pep Boys. These majors have just about taken over the Houston market. I have to drive 18 Miles to find an independant.

I tend to drive my Tucks for 15 years. It is important to have reliable replacment parts or I spend all my free time replacing the same parts over and over and over again.

 

tmehrkam

For 3 decades I was a poor GI so I used just about any source I could find for cheap parts... lots of Grey Beards just shook their heads as I left the parts house because of the cost of a part in further search of a alternative or cheaper source... over time I increased income to where I could afford the better quality, new or factory parts... my experiance is much like yours... I stick with MotorCraft for everything unless I know for a fact the alternate source is much better. Like alternators, the factory diode bridge is a crap unit. Been burned a few times, but over all it has proved to be a good thing using MotorCraft or "factory". Especially when the factory radiator was only $45 more but lasted twice or three times as long as the JC Whitney lesser quality unit.

I had same experiance with electric window regulators. Bought cheaper aftermarket and they punished me with multiple early failures... Junk yard factory originals... ten more years worth of reliable use.

 

Not to beat a dead horse here, but come on - buying Auto Zone and O'reilly rebuilt stuff? Where was the radiator manufactured?

That doesn't compare to buying spark plug boots or anything else, that is "Standard" brand ... I may have not been specific enough, but all EMISSIONS/FUEL parts that can be had from Standard are usually the exact same part as the Ford original.

In the case of the IAC, if mine ever goes, I'll be buying AFTERMARKET, for obvious reasons. If Ford/Motorcraft can't make sure they get good ones, why should I go back to the same place and get the same part again and then pay their LIST price for something I can get from the local auto store for less than half the price?

That goes for spark plug boots too. $3 each (jobber) from Standard, more like $8 from Ford or even higher. Same part. Why bother?

That's one thing I never understood. If the parts from Motorcraft go bad in 30K miles, why would I buy another one to have the same thing happen?

Moog, TRW, and plenty of other aftermarket (or original equip?) manufacturers actually take the time to come out with parts that are UPGRADED to take care of known issues with the stock parts.

I actually try NOT to use Motorcraft except for things that are not available aftermarket.

I'll certainly be going to the local truck parts place to get u-joints (Spicer) that are available from the dealer, but cost WAY more than the exact same thing I can get in a Spicer/Dana box.

The "Motorcraft" name on the box doesn't mean squat to me.

 

The radiators were brand new made by GoDan.

They were made in Mexico. They looked good. Heavy gage Copper and Brass but they would start leaking around the tank seams. O-Rielly and Autozone had the exact same price but Autozone was cheaper and gave a life time warrenty. I collect three times on the Subruban Radiator and two times on the F150 Radiator. The Grey beard told me they were crap but the Factory brand was twice as much and I did not listen.

Another problem was with a NAPA Alternator. I collected the warrenty on that five or six times. It liked to die while on Vacation. Usually on a Holliday.
I have had simular experiance with Fan Clutches. New one every year until I purchased one from the Dealer.

One of the water pumps was brand new from O-Rielly the other was rebuilt.
The only thing in common is that the would only last a couple of years. The dealer ones would last two or three times longer.

The Spark Plug wires from AutoZona and O-Rielly are crap. Change the plugs one time and you will pull the boots off. Purchase the factory wires and they will last four of five spark plug changes.

Standard Brand is not avaliable locally. I do not know about that brand.

When I replaced the U joings on my truck I used the independent Auto Parts next to where I work. They had Spicer with grease fittings. Made in USA. They were the same price as AutoZone and O-Rielly made in China parts.

There are good aftermarket parts avaliable. I just do not have the time to filter through the CRAP to find them. The small town independents seem to have much better parts. The only problem is that I live in a city that is dominated by the Chain auto parts. For the most part they sell cheap CHINA ****. Sometimes there is a choice but much of the time you have to order the part. They only stock the cheap crap.

The Grey beard told me that you have to Know what you can purchase aftermarket and What you cannot.

I have no problem Purchasing Motorcraft/ Bendex/ AC Delco/ Timken/ Spicer etc parts. The problem is that is not what is avaliable from the Chain auto parts now adays. They have brand names like DuraLast, O-Reilly etc. Life time warrenties are the norm. When I see that I assume that I will spend the rest of my life changing the part.

 

Will I purchase after market parts.

Probably.

I am working on my Daughters Mercury Mounteeneer. All the ball joints are bad. Only 65,000 miles. Mercury does not sell ball Joints. They only sell upper and lower control arms. The auto parts places sell replacment ball jouints. Much cheaper. The trick is to find quality units.

I am going to the Indepent next to work and see what he stocks.

AutoZone stocks DuraLast parts.
O'Reilly Stocks MOOG and China parts.
NAPA stocks the upper control arm and ball joints for the lower.

For sure the replacments will be aftermarket parts. I am not paying for control arms. They will have better boots and grease fittings. Ball Joints should last over 100,000 miles.