Here's the situation: a '97 w/69k & 4.6 thats never had the plugs changed. They look buried in the engine compartment. I'm very apprehensive about tackling this project. Any special tips or things that I should be cautious about ? Or is this not as bad as I think?

 

If the truck isnt missing, I wouldnt change them....the gactory plugs and wires are good for 100,000miles.


If you do have to change them.....the 4.6 isnt nearly as bad as the 5.4. however, with some patience and a good set of sockets and extensions, you should be able to handel it. Once you loosen the plug, use a peice of tubing to screw the rest of the way out and to lift out of the hole.

there is a very good step by step instruction sheet on this web. Just do a search

Goodluck

Bowdog

 

I didnt read that instruction sheet, but I used a combo of 2 or 3 extensions & upto 2 ujoints.

I spent about 2 hours doing it for the first time. Its not as bad as it looks, just have some kind of cushions you can lay on, im 6' & w/ my 33" tires on my 4x4 97 I had to literally lay accross the engine bay to get the back ones.
G/L

 

I read the instructions. Looks like an all afternoon project. How long before the next change? By the way, the truck runs great - no engine miss at all.

 

If the truck is running good.....dont worry about the plugs and wires....they are good for a 100,000 miles.


if you want, pull the plugs and look and see how they are burning...reset gaps ect.

Goodluck!!!

Bowdog

 

with that many miles and not being done before, after I pulled the boots I would use air to clean out where the sparkplugs go, just incase any dirt or small stones have worked their way down their. Also make sure the engine is hot. If they won't break loose just stop and put it back together and pay fords to do it.

 

At 69,000 miles I wouldnt be worrying about it. I would wait until 100,000 miles to change them.
When you do change them, you want to get a special sparkplug socket that had a sparkplug boot inside of it. That will hold the sparkplug inside the socket and will make the job much easier.
Its not all that hard of a job to do, but it does require some patience. Most important of all, make sure that you let the engine sit overnight before you remove the sparkplugs. The cylinder heads are made of of aluminum, so its easy to strip the threads. If you let the engine cool completely by letting it sit overnight, it will lessen the chance of stripping the threads.

 

Thanks for the plug changing advise. Everyone agrees to sticking with the Motorcraft brand spark plugs, right ?

Has anything ever worked better ?

Anything else I can do to improve fuel economy besides the usual filter changes, etc, ?

 

Stick with double platinum moto craft or autolite. (there's pages of pages of flames on here about autolites not being as good or w/e ... but its a freaking spark plug i honestly dont even remember which i put in mine just w/e auto zone or advanced had.) Im not sure why people want you to let the truck sit over nite.... it only takes 2 hours or so max for an engine to cool completely... as long as its not hot enough to burn you it should be fine. Put anti-seize on the threads when you put them in. Usual filter changes including your inline fuel filter. Clean the little electrode behind the airfilter... At only 69k miles your truck is still brand new mines got 217,200 miles on it
As others have said if your trucks not knocking leave it alone until 100k or until you notice a decline in responsiveness or fuel economy.
If it aint broke dont fix it.

 

Mine finally failed (#3 misfire) at 136,000 and I paid to put the platinmum plugs in. The truck is going up onto 195,000 now and still running very well. I sold it to a neighbor.

 

Changing the plugs and wires are a royal PITA! I spent 8 hours changing 7 plugs and wires about 2-3 months ago. I still have to do #4...the hardest one to get to. Whoever designed these trucks need to be shot...

 

The plugs are probably fine, what concerns me is the amount of time they have been in the head. That is a lot of heat-cool cycles. I would change them just to get them out of the heads, put new PP plugs in, with a little anti-seize, I also put a very small drop of oil on the threads, and work the anti-seize and the oil into the threads. You can then forget about it for 100,000 miles, knowing they will come out OK if you still own the truck. The only real harder ones are back by the heater hoses, use a bungee cord and wrap it around All the hoses, wires etc... and gently pull them toward the fender and hook off. Be sure to pull the negative battery cable. Also back in that corner, it will be easier on one of them to unplug the injector electrical connector (easy to do). Be sure to blow out the holes before you start, if you don't have a compressor buy a can of compressed air like for your computer. Pick up a small packet of dielectric grease and put a dab on the end of the boot before you plug them back on. I use the spray stuff and spray into the boot, all slips right on, easy to get off in the future. If you have a plug that is coming out "stiff", stop and spray a little WD, PB... whatever... down the hole wait a few minutes, walk the plug back in a turn, then remove it. Will come out like butta'. As with any aluminum head, should work on it cold.

Your question on fuel economy, the guys covered it, may I add... to clean your MAF sensor, best 30 seconds you can invest.

Good luck and have fun with it, it's really not bad at all.

Spotty..

 

i have hurd that its best to use ACDelco plugs and if you buy the wires and they dont have a name brand printed on the outside of the actual wire dont buy it its not a good wire

 

if you have a 5.4 you better use the Motorcraft plugs to get best performance. Many guys have had trouble with other brands in the 5.4

 

I guess by now you have done the plugs in your 4.6. From reading all the information on this blog, with the exception of taking 8hrs, I found most hints useful. using a bungee to keep the hoses off the passanger rear, Nice. Letting it cool a bit, Nice. Patience is a must have. I kept hearing how hard #4 was to get to, not really that tough considering how it looks.
One thing I did come up with was to use the tubing along with a phillips head screwdriver to take out the loosened and insert the new plugs coated with antiseize. Slide the tubing most of the way up the screwdriver while allowing an inch or so to hold the spark plug. This kept th tubing straight. I had a clear tube remnant that was snug enough to turn the plug into place before using the socket to completely tighten it. Good luck