Just changed my 5.4 plugs at 84k, sharing my experience with others
#1
12-29-2007, 06:56 AM
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Just changed my 5.4 plugs at 84k, sharing my experience with others
(I put this post over in the Expy/Nav section but also thought is could help here
Sorry this is such a long post but I hope the experience shared here will help others. Changing plugs on the 5.4 is definitely a PIA. Since it was my first time, (Ford Expy 5.4 4x4 with only 84k miles), I took a long time to do it properly (over 12 hours in my case), and very carefully. Tools & parts required:
(1) spark plug socket
(1) 5-80 lb-ft digital torque wrench (Sears)
several new 3/8” extensions including the 6” version suggested by others
several new ¼” extensions (for the COP bolt removal)
several 3/8” to ¼” and (vice-versa) adapaters
(1) telescopic inspection mirror (to see down #4 and #8 plug well)
(1) telescopic magnetic pickup tool (mandatory, especially for withdrawing the plug after you loosen it)
(1) telescopic small parts pick up tool
(1) several feet of vacuum tubing (definitely use it for starting all the plugs in the holes, do not start those plugs with anything else but by tubing that you control and start the plug by hand on.)
(1) can each of carb/throttle body cleaner, liquid wrench, and silicone spray
(1) tube of dielectric grease
(1) tube of anti-seize
(8) plugs - in my case, the OEM manual called for the Motorcraft AWSF22E’s, but the Ford parts guy sold me the SP-479’s, check this link http://www.ryderfleetproducts.com/c...duct_detail.jsp ; I compared the old and new plugs and it turns out they are almost identical, except the SP-479’s have almost twice as much threads than the original.
(8) COP boots/springs (not the entire COP, just the boots and springs), they came in a tune up kit I ordered from Witty Deals, here is the link: http://www.wittydeals.com/product_i...id=60&year=2000 ; you can’t beat this deal, all 8 boots/springs only cost $28.00. Witty boots and springs are exact OEM replacements
Other things you will need:
Air compressor (for blowing out dirt and grime from around the plug wells and the engine – mine were not too bad, but they were dirty and oily and there was a lot of dirt, sand, grass, etc. that had blown in the engine crevices that I didn’t want anywhere near the plug wells.)
Some notes:
I started the job by removing the negative batt cable. Just do it to be safe. Then, I removed the fuel pump relay and cranked the engine over a little bit to remove fuel pressure in the rails (it dumps it back to the tank.)
Interestingly, I was able to do this entire job without removing the fuel rails, although I can see where it may make the job easier, it is in fact not completely necessary to remove them. I had even bought a set of sixteen fuel injector o-rings just in case, but never had to remove the rails or injectors, but I’ll keep the o-rings around if I need to remove an injector at some point.) I had read in many posts and articles that some people say to remove the rails and some say it isn’t necessary. I was skeptical, but surprised to find out that when you removed the COP electrical connector, then the COP retaining bolt, the COP itself becomes flexible enough that you can bend it under the fuel rail and work up and out. The COP is sitting on top of a flexible rubber boot with a spring inside of it. So it came out fairly easily. Be very careful with removing and re-installing the COP bolt, I used several ¼” extensions and the 7mm socket to remove each bolt, but I left the loosened bolt in the hole and then used the magnetic pick up tool to pull it out of the hole safely, you don’t want to drop that in the intake valley.
I removed the air cleaner, throttle body top cover, various PCV and vacuum hoses, the power steering reservoir brace, the DPFE switch, several wiring connections like the one to the crankshaft indicator, etc., and took out the entire PCV hose that runs from the PCV valve to the back of the throttle body – mainly so I could inspect it thoroughly for the first time. You will need to pad the radiator support with a blanket since you will be on your stomach for most of the work. Use plenty of lighting to get in close and see what you are doing. You will find that the fuel injectors turn in place so you can move the connectors out of the way as you remove the COPs, or just remove the injector connector completely.
Do each plug one at a time and replace all nearby connectors, hoses that you removed previously as you progress. For the most part, I used a 3/8” ratchet connected to a 10” extension, connected to a 3/8” universal swivel, connected to a 6” extension, connected to another 3/8” swivel, and finally connected to the spark plug socket. I took rubberized electrical tape and wrapped each joint connection to keep them from coming apart or slipping, you don’t want the plug socket left down in the plug well. I also took the rubber grommet out of the plug socket, it was useless and would not hold the loosened plug for extraction, so in my case, I just loosened the plug and then used the magnetic parts retrieval tool to pull out the loose plug. I used the vacuum hose attached on the end of the plug top to replace the new plug. Make sure you coat the new plug threads with anti-seize. Also coat the COP retainer bolts with anti-seize. I also used the vacuum hose attached to the COP retainer bolts to start them safely in the holes, in some cases, it is really hard to get your hands in there to start the threads without dropping the bolt. Just be careful with that. The Ford shop book says to torque the COP bolts with 7 nM of force, but I just felt it was way too tight and did it by hand. You should hold down on the COP as you are tightening the bolt and make sure it does not have too much play after tightening the bolt, there may be a very small amount of movement in the COP after tightening it, but that’s ok, just don’t over tighten it or you will strip it.
The Ford OEM manual is very specific about the 9-20 Nm (7-15 lb ft) torque value and the 1.32-1.42 mm (.052-.056 in) gap on the plugs. I torqued my plugs to 13 lb ft. It doesn’t feel very tight when you are torquing it, but I used a very accurate torque wrench that I also made sure I calibrated before the job. Torquing it correctly is the way to go, but I will say that it is very tough to torque the #4 and #8 accurately without adjusting for all of the extensions and angles you experience in getting clearance for those. You need to read your torque wrench manual and adjust slightly for the extra connections, but in no case should you over torque the plugs or you will strip them in the heads. You should be continually using compressed air to clear out dirt as you go, especially the grimy area around where the top lip of the COP boot contacts the plug well top, you wan this ring of space clean to make a clean connection to the boot.
After you replace the plug, you replace the COP. I removed the old COP boots and springs and cleaned the COP body, then replaced the spring and new boot, then connected the boot to the COP body. At the top seam of the boot/COP connection, I put some dielectric grease to keep water out. A little further down the boot, I also ran a bead of dielectric grease to create a water barrier at the top of the plug well. Finally, I added a bunch of grease in the end of the COP boot, just shoving it down the boot about ¼ “ and around the bottom of the boot on the outside, this will ensure that the boot goes on and off the plug end smoothly, and it is apparently ok to let the grease get on the spring end where it goes over top of the plug. I guess the grease does not hamper the flow of current, so you can be liberal with applying it. Insert the prepared COP in the plug well and carefully down on top of the plug.
In my case, all of my plugs looked fine, a small amount of dark grayish-white deposit on each but that was it. The gap was a little bit wider, probably a little bit over the .056” mark, maybe .058”, but it was uniform across all plugs. The COP boots looked generally fine, relatively clean, a couple of them had some wear and tear in the seal at the top of the plug well, but they looked fine. All the plugs were tight and the threads looked fine. I guess I could have made it to 100k with those plugs.
I took the opportunity to remove and clean the throttle body and the IAC (even though I replaced the IAC about 20k miles back) while everything was off the top of the engine. Can’t hurt to do it now while you are doing the plugs. My TB was pretty dirty, and the IAC had only a slight about of new carbon, but all of it is clean now.
Reconnected everything and the truck started right up. Even after a couple miles of test driving it (and it is still in ‘re-learning’ mode), I can tell a huge difference. It runs like the day we bought it - at least for now.
Sorry this is such a long post but I hope the experience shared here will help others. Changing plugs on the 5.4 is definitely a PIA. Since it was my first time, (Ford Expy 5.4 4x4 with only 84k miles), I took a long time to do it properly (over 12 hours in my case), and very carefully. Tools & parts required:
(1) spark plug socket
(1) 5-80 lb-ft digital torque wrench (Sears)
several new 3/8” extensions including the 6” version suggested by others
several new ¼” extensions (for the COP bolt removal)
several 3/8” to ¼” and (vice-versa) adapaters
(1) telescopic inspection mirror (to see down #4 and #8 plug well)
(1) telescopic magnetic pickup tool (mandatory, especially for withdrawing the plug after you loosen it)
(1) telescopic small parts pick up tool
(1) several feet of vacuum tubing (definitely use it for starting all the plugs in the holes, do not start those plugs with anything else but by tubing that you control and start the plug by hand on.)
(1) can each of carb/throttle body cleaner, liquid wrench, and silicone spray
(1) tube of dielectric grease
(1) tube of anti-seize
(8) plugs - in my case, the OEM manual called for the Motorcraft AWSF22E’s, but the Ford parts guy sold me the SP-479’s, check this link http://www.ryderfleetproducts.com/c...duct_detail.jsp ; I compared the old and new plugs and it turns out they are almost identical, except the SP-479’s have almost twice as much threads than the original.
(8) COP boots/springs (not the entire COP, just the boots and springs), they came in a tune up kit I ordered from Witty Deals, here is the link: http://www.wittydeals.com/product_i...id=60&year=2000 ; you can’t beat this deal, all 8 boots/springs only cost $28.00. Witty boots and springs are exact OEM replacements
Other things you will need:
Air compressor (for blowing out dirt and grime from around the plug wells and the engine – mine were not too bad, but they were dirty and oily and there was a lot of dirt, sand, grass, etc. that had blown in the engine crevices that I didn’t want anywhere near the plug wells.)
Some notes:
I started the job by removing the negative batt cable. Just do it to be safe. Then, I removed the fuel pump relay and cranked the engine over a little bit to remove fuel pressure in the rails (it dumps it back to the tank.)
Interestingly, I was able to do this entire job without removing the fuel rails, although I can see where it may make the job easier, it is in fact not completely necessary to remove them. I had even bought a set of sixteen fuel injector o-rings just in case, but never had to remove the rails or injectors, but I’ll keep the o-rings around if I need to remove an injector at some point.) I had read in many posts and articles that some people say to remove the rails and some say it isn’t necessary. I was skeptical, but surprised to find out that when you removed the COP electrical connector, then the COP retaining bolt, the COP itself becomes flexible enough that you can bend it under the fuel rail and work up and out. The COP is sitting on top of a flexible rubber boot with a spring inside of it. So it came out fairly easily. Be very careful with removing and re-installing the COP bolt, I used several ¼” extensions and the 7mm socket to remove each bolt, but I left the loosened bolt in the hole and then used the magnetic pick up tool to pull it out of the hole safely, you don’t want to drop that in the intake valley.
I removed the air cleaner, throttle body top cover, various PCV and vacuum hoses, the power steering reservoir brace, the DPFE switch, several wiring connections like the one to the crankshaft indicator, etc., and took out the entire PCV hose that runs from the PCV valve to the back of the throttle body – mainly so I could inspect it thoroughly for the first time. You will need to pad the radiator support with a blanket since you will be on your stomach for most of the work. Use plenty of lighting to get in close and see what you are doing. You will find that the fuel injectors turn in place so you can move the connectors out of the way as you remove the COPs, or just remove the injector connector completely.
Do each plug one at a time and replace all nearby connectors, hoses that you removed previously as you progress. For the most part, I used a 3/8” ratchet connected to a 10” extension, connected to a 3/8” universal swivel, connected to a 6” extension, connected to another 3/8” swivel, and finally connected to the spark plug socket. I took rubberized electrical tape and wrapped each joint connection to keep them from coming apart or slipping, you don’t want the plug socket left down in the plug well. I also took the rubber grommet out of the plug socket, it was useless and would not hold the loosened plug for extraction, so in my case, I just loosened the plug and then used the magnetic parts retrieval tool to pull out the loose plug. I used the vacuum hose attached on the end of the plug top to replace the new plug. Make sure you coat the new plug threads with anti-seize. Also coat the COP retainer bolts with anti-seize. I also used the vacuum hose attached to the COP retainer bolts to start them safely in the holes, in some cases, it is really hard to get your hands in there to start the threads without dropping the bolt. Just be careful with that. The Ford shop book says to torque the COP bolts with 7 nM of force, but I just felt it was way too tight and did it by hand. You should hold down on the COP as you are tightening the bolt and make sure it does not have too much play after tightening the bolt, there may be a very small amount of movement in the COP after tightening it, but that’s ok, just don’t over tighten it or you will strip it.
The Ford OEM manual is very specific about the 9-20 Nm (7-15 lb ft) torque value and the 1.32-1.42 mm (.052-.056 in) gap on the plugs. I torqued my plugs to 13 lb ft. It doesn’t feel very tight when you are torquing it, but I used a very accurate torque wrench that I also made sure I calibrated before the job. Torquing it correctly is the way to go, but I will say that it is very tough to torque the #4 and #8 accurately without adjusting for all of the extensions and angles you experience in getting clearance for those. You need to read your torque wrench manual and adjust slightly for the extra connections, but in no case should you over torque the plugs or you will strip them in the heads. You should be continually using compressed air to clear out dirt as you go, especially the grimy area around where the top lip of the COP boot contacts the plug well top, you wan this ring of space clean to make a clean connection to the boot.
After you replace the plug, you replace the COP. I removed the old COP boots and springs and cleaned the COP body, then replaced the spring and new boot, then connected the boot to the COP body. At the top seam of the boot/COP connection, I put some dielectric grease to keep water out. A little further down the boot, I also ran a bead of dielectric grease to create a water barrier at the top of the plug well. Finally, I added a bunch of grease in the end of the COP boot, just shoving it down the boot about ¼ “ and around the bottom of the boot on the outside, this will ensure that the boot goes on and off the plug end smoothly, and it is apparently ok to let the grease get on the spring end where it goes over top of the plug. I guess the grease does not hamper the flow of current, so you can be liberal with applying it. Insert the prepared COP in the plug well and carefully down on top of the plug.
In my case, all of my plugs looked fine, a small amount of dark grayish-white deposit on each but that was it. The gap was a little bit wider, probably a little bit over the .056” mark, maybe .058”, but it was uniform across all plugs. The COP boots looked generally fine, relatively clean, a couple of them had some wear and tear in the seal at the top of the plug well, but they looked fine. All the plugs were tight and the threads looked fine. I guess I could have made it to 100k with those plugs.
I took the opportunity to remove and clean the throttle body and the IAC (even though I replaced the IAC about 20k miles back) while everything was off the top of the engine. Can’t hurt to do it now while you are doing the plugs. My TB was pretty dirty, and the IAC had only a slight about of new carbon, but all of it is clean now.
Reconnected everything and the truck started right up. Even after a couple miles of test driving it (and it is still in ‘re-learning’ mode), I can tell a huge difference. It runs like the day we bought it - at least for now.
#6
01-06-2008, 10:24 AM
Join Date: Mar 2005
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the most important part of the job is torquing the plugs.
the book calls for 11 ft/lbs of torque. not enough, and the plugs will loosen up and blow out.
to much, and you will strip the threads out of the head, and the plugs will blow out.
i love it when i hear people say "i torqued the plugs to 20 ft/lbs."
i tell them to go buy a set of heads, cause it is only a matter of time before they will blow a plug.
and within a months time, they are crying cause their engine spit a plug or 3 out.
the book calls for 11 ft/lbs of torque. not enough, and the plugs will loosen up and blow out.
to much, and you will strip the threads out of the head, and the plugs will blow out.
i love it when i hear people say "i torqued the plugs to 20 ft/lbs."
i tell them to go buy a set of heads, cause it is only a matter of time before they will blow a plug.
and within a months time, they are crying cause their engine spit a plug or 3 out.
#7
01-06-2008, 12:58 PM
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01-07-2008, 04:46 AM
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#14
07-24-2008, 01:20 PM
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Its funny that you say that they will blow plugs... not that im arguing and you will see why in a sec.
I have had 5-6 mod motors over the years in various vehicles, and i have never once torqued my plugs. Maybe Im just getting it close enough to the spec'd torque. By no means am i suggesting anyone do that. Always torque everything if it calls for it.
I just think its interesting that its such a problem, yet i havent had any. Maybe being a mechanic for a number of years has taught me what proper torque is by hand. I dont know. I just go by feel.
Any ways just thought i would throw that in there.
I agree completley that every one should torque there plugs on these motors, the consequences are not worth it.
I have had 5-6 mod motors over the years in various vehicles, and i have never once torqued my plugs. Maybe Im just getting it close enough to the spec'd torque. By no means am i suggesting anyone do that. Always torque everything if it calls for it.
I just think its interesting that its such a problem, yet i havent had any. Maybe being a mechanic for a number of years has taught me what proper torque is by hand. I dont know. I just go by feel.
Any ways just thought i would throw that in there.
I agree completley that every one should torque there plugs on these motors, the consequences are not worth it.
