Well, I am an official member of the club! Changed my 4.6's plugs and wires on Tuesday. Total work time was 4 hours. What took me a long time was moving the other wires and hoses out of the way and getting situated up on the radiator. I did not have to disconnect or loosen my fuel rails. All the plugs came out just fine even with 117,500 miles on them. I used several different length extensions and had no use for a universal but did use a 3 inch wobble extension. I didn't crack my heads, break off a plug or strip out a plug hole. All in all I was glad I did it and won't mind doing it again. I used NAPA wires and Bosch platinum plugs.

 

Oh my! you did not use offical Ford parts! Watch out for the lightning, Looneylariat. What year is your machine?
thanks for the info,
bill

 

2kF150, The weirdest thing happened yesterday. My truck started kickin' and bucking and popping and revving real high man I didn't know what to think! Then suddenly out of no where, I woke up! Hehe, just a little prank there. Well she's a '99 and is runnin' really nice after the new plugs and wires, MAF cleaned, throttle body cleaned and a bottle of seafoam. Also had my exhaust replaced so she can breathe better!

 

Well Lightning struck! After driving maybe 100 miles my truck started missing worse than before I changed the plugs! I guess I get to do it again before I anticipated. I'll let you know what I find!

 

My son has a cross thread /partial stripped on one plug of his 5.4 any ideas on a fix without taking the head off I have heard of a heli coil kit that uses a different plug? what about a piloted tap/thread chaser any ideas or personel experience will be appreciated

 

If the threads aren't too bad you may be able to clean them up with a thread chaser. Use grease on the thread chaser to catch the filings and then blow it out really well.
If there's not much left of the threads you might be able to use a Time-Sert which seems to be better than a Heli-coil but I've seen them work ok too. If you do a search in the forum you will probably find more info on the Time-Sert.

 

Anyone else have one of the bolts that hold the COPs down snap when you're tightening them down? That happened to me and a buddy yesterday when we were changing the plugs. It was the very first one we did and that's all we got done because we were trying to figure out a way to get the rest of the bolt out. Every way we tried it didn't seem to work.

I have an appointment at the dealership today to have a recall fix performed and was thinking about having them do the rest and fix this first one.

 

Well much to everyone's statements about only using OEM parts in Ford's, I tried Some FREE Bosch plugs and FREE Napa wires. Well, even though they were FREE they were not worth putting in my truck. My truck ran great for 100 miles then started missing something terribly! I took out the Bosch plugs and the Napa Wires and replaced with Motocraft. My truck is now running like it should be strong and smooth. For those looking for advise from this thread, ONLY USE OEM PARTS ON FORDS!!!! On a good note, I'm down to 2 hours changing plugs and wires!

 

That could be my problem right now. I took my truck to the dealership and they fixed the broken bolt, and then I asked them to put on Bosch Plat +4s in.

 

The advise that I received by reading this Thread was great. I grew up working on cars and I was never intimidated by a carburator, a valve job, or even a complete rebuild. But I turned into a Desk Jockey and it had been awhile and I have not cracked a wrench on one of these "new fangled " engines.

Well I got a wild hair and decided to change the plugs and wires on my 1997 F150 with a 4.6L with 209,000 miles. I opened the hood ..."where the heck are the spark plugs". I was intimidated.

I got on this Thread and your tips and advice was priceless. It took me 2.5 hours and at least an hour of that was on the first plug before I read your advice. I couldn't have done it without the suggetion to use universal and 4" Locking Extension (I didn't even know there was such a thing as a Locking Extension) and the suggestion to use a Shop-Vac. I didn't have to remove the fuel rails, but I did unclip the injector electrical connectors and moved it out of the way. On the Power Steering resevoir, I removed the top bolt and left the bottom bolts so that I could move the resevoir enough to thread the spark plug easily.

Some ideas that I can offer. After you vaccumn out the spark plug hole, spray some PB Blast in the hole (PB Blast relegates WD40 to the kid's tool box). The plugs come out like butter. On the 3 and 4 plugs, take a piece of 1/2" ID heater hose and thread it into the holes and spray the PB balst into the hose. Let it sit and your good to go.

I had the plugs and wires changed at 105,000 the first time. The shop used Autolite Platinums and they held up but were badly eroded...I am suprised it was running.

My F-150 is without a doubt the best vehicle I have ever had. It has 209,000 miles and has never laid down on me. Other that tires, brakes, batteries and those other wear parts, I have yet to spend $500 on repairs. I have had to replace the alternator twice and that's it. That's just crazy!!

If you're considering tires...I suggest Michlen (even though they screwed up the US Grand Prix). The truck came with Goodyears that lasted 36,000. I bought Michilens and they lasted 93,000 miles. I bought another set of Michilens and they are at 80,000 miles and should last me another 5000. That's even crazier.

Enjoy your Trucks. I do

 

Welcome to the forum brpavers

Good to hear that you've had such good luck with your truck. These generally are a very good rig.
And thanks for adding to the tips here

 

Gents

finally got around to changing the plugs on my 4.6 97 expy. what a pain in the ... I wish i can get my 3 yr old to put his arms in there and then do the twisting and turning. glad i'm done with this ... thanx for everyone's input it was greatly appreciated!!

 

Well, if a jarhear can do it, guess I can too.
bill

 

jarheads are intelligent and handy people too..

 

I have come to learn and respect. Thanks for the heads up with the plugs
b