You can load up the boot with a dielectric grease like I did. Now the boot won't stick andit is also waterproof. Not bad for 10 yr old stock parts. Put the grease on the electrical connectors also.

 

Sorry, I have to disagree with you. Dielectric grease is an electrical insulating compound. A COP connecting wire doesn't attach firmly to the spark plug. If over greased the compound may be forced between the plug and wire and misfiring may occur.

 

Works for me. Absolutely no problems at anytime.

 

which is easier to remove the injectores,from the intake or from the rail ? thx-jeff ( '98 E-150 5.4 L )

 

whats anyone's thought or experience with the NEW autolite iridium plugs ? advance didn't even show a listing for M-craft,said these were better cause of the HEI-? XP -103,thx- also did the seafoam trick,tank was near empty,added a bottle & 7 gallon's of gas,ran that out in about 75 miles,added more gas,gonna tackle this on xmas eve day, jeff--'98-E-150 VAN - fun,fun,fun !

 

Why are you pulling the injectors? As far as I know you only have to disconnect the connector to the injector to gain access to the remove the coil-pac and spark plug. As for spark plugs, if a factory plug lasts roughly 80-100,000 do you need anything more?

 

? well i wasn't really gonna pullem,just wasn't sure bout the clearence on getting the cops off.but after about 3 hrs of reading last nite thru this thread,i'm convinced now,that i don't need to pull them,looks like only a 1/4 " of clearence..will know more tonite after work when i get into this deal.will post up later on,don't really need more miles on them plugs than that...was just inquiring,thx- jeff

 

i just replaced the plugs on my 1997 f150 with a 4.6. i have nothing to add that has not been already said, except for dont eat hot wings after doing this job. its rather painfull.

 

'98-E-150 5.4L,just changed out the # 6 plug,the old M.craft was gapped at .065 ..( it was a light brown tan color,seemed to be burning fairly good ) gapped the new A-lite at .053 ( it was at .048 ) the boot was in really good shape along with the spring inside it,so i didn't change it.#5 cop was loose,and i put a small flat washer under the bolt to space it out & got it tightened up.it still misses under a load,an shudders when i click on the overdrive.i've had this van for over a year an have not serviced the tranny yet.i remember reading in a earlier post that it could be the tranny from the shuddering.? so in the am i'll take it back to advance an have them run the check on it again and see if anything comes up.the check engine light is off now also...i had a time limit is why i didn't change any of the other plugs,an kinda wanted to get the feel of these plugs,and how to change them. i know i'm gonna change out the rest of them in the next few days,but my main concern was # 6 cyl., cause thats what was on the scanner when i 1st had it checked, jeff

 

ok,just got back from a test drive,pulled my cuzs' trailer back to him,an boy it wudn't run for crap.OD kept kicking in an out at 65 mph., on the interstate.drove 40 miles,then turned around an came back w/out trailer an ran fine...so i guess i'm gonna order a few coil's/ COP's. got it tested at advance again,an it still reads # 6 misfire,so now i know it IS the cop ? thx for the help ! jeff

 

Did you do a reboot of the computer by disconnecting battery cable for several minutes, or a KAM reset with a scanner, when you did the work? If not it may be running on the old tables still correcting for a misfire.

 

yes i did the re-boot,while i replaced the plug,the battery was unhooked for about 2 hrs.,drove it 10 miles,no better...let it sit about 6 hrs,woke up an went to advance auto,had them put scanner on,still #6 misfire..they cleared codes,then drove 40 miles,to return trailer on I-state,delivered trailer an went to oreillys,had them check it,same,they then cleared codes,drove home another 40 miles.still the same, gonna bite the bullet an get a cop in the AM.install that an then see what it does.thx lime---jeff,looks like i just missed you from when i posted earlier,had to get to work-jeff

 

got it fixed !changed the COP w/1 from advance auto-i cudn't wait any longer,eating me up in gas...got a accel,w/boot...changed it out on # 6 ,was pretty easy to get to after i got the air box outa the way.runs great now.. just 1 more ? guy at parts store said it may put pressure on the rest of the factory COP'S ? cause them to weaken an go out,is this true ? has anybody had this happen to them yet ,thx all for replying...merry xmas-jeff

 

Gonna jump in with a thank you for this thread. I purchased my 2002 4.6L .in August, just rolled 106K. The problem started with rough engine between 1700 and 2200 rpms then the engine light came on. Scanner code showed misfire #5 could be plug, coil, vacuum line or something else I don't recall. So I figured a plug change was no big deal even though I've never done it myself. Bought a new air filter and plugs, feeler gauge and a cheapo tool set since I prob. won't use it much and pulled into the garage.

Moved all the junk into the house, truck barely fits. The front bumper touches the wall and I have about 1/2" to close the door therefore to get from one side to the other, I had to crawl thru the doors. Popped the hood and thought, what the heck? Go find the stepstool. Called the repair shop, apprx $240 to change the plugs!!!! I did not know what those things were on top of the plugs so I came here to see what I had gotten myself into.

Ok, they are coils so I learned something new. I had planned to change all the plugs but got intimidated by all the posts with problems ppl have not to mention my garage is unheated and I got tired of crawling thru and backed it out a bit so I could get around it.

Luckily #5 was easy enough to get to and after making a trip to parts store for an extension, I was able to change it in a matter of minutes. I think I spent more time "getting ready and psyching myself up" than it took to actually change the plug. Went for hand cleaner and cleared the code.

Drove it in town and a few miles highway speed just fine. Turned around and there's the misfire again only now it is at 1000 to 1500 rpms and is not near as bad, only lasts a few seconds. I've driven it all day around here and there and out on the highway and can't get the engine light to come back on to see if code is the same or something else. I'm thinking maybe I should go ahead and change the $55 coil on #5 and see if that fixes it. I checked all the vacuum lines and found nothing out of order.

Now its not only cold but dark and I have to work 12 hrs tomorrow so the coil is gonna wait til Friday morning plus I have to creep around on here to see if I can do it myself.

One thing to mention is the blue words do not link me to any pictures and they would have been nice to see.

Kathy


EDIT #2...now I feel really dumb as I've read a bit more and rechecked the order and I changed the wrong one. I changed number 7, not number 5 so no wonder it didn't fix anything!!! So Friday I'll change the correct plug and go from there. Somewhere on the internet I found firing order:
87
65
43
21
Which is not what I found way back in the beginnings of this thread

Kathy

 

Don't put yourself down for picking the wrong plug---knew a guy who had a crippled cow--shot her---called a friend to bury her with his backhoe--called him 2 hours later to come back and bury another one---he had shot the wrong cow the first time!