My father has a 2000 e-150 with a 4.2L stock 101,000 miles , he says it rung a little slugish and really eats fule bad and the engine runs a little rough he says the sparks havent been changed yet could the spark plugs be my problem ?

 

Yes it could if it was missing or having inefficient burn the O2 sensors will read lean regardless if it is or not, it could be running so rich it was missing and it would register lean and dump more fuel.

does it have a code? run up to O'Riellys and get a code, that will help significantly.

do a tune up, if he can afford it do:

Plugs, Wires, Fuel Filter, Air filter, use some Mass air flow sensor cleaner, and if its due do a good oil change.

 

It dose not have a code thanks for the info , i just called up the dealer and they said $300 for the sparks because they have to pull the engine
dose this sound reasonable ?

 

that sounds like a bunch off bull s@#t to me, 300 is way cheap to pull an engine and way high for plugs. it may be tough but not that tough. Where are the plugs on that v6? if they are at the top then you may need to pull the intake manifold. otherwise I think you can do it without pulling anything.

 

I cant reach them on the if i pop the hood but it looks like i could reach them if i took off the tires and pulled the fenders because i can see them from the wheel well .

 

You should be able to reach the rear plugs by opening the doghouse. Others can be reached from the wheel well. Just turn the wheel. No need to dismantle the fender.

You should also visually check the vacuum hoses for cracks and leaks.

COPs (coil-on-plugs) are known to go bad periodically, but they should throw a misfire code.

 

Pull the engine?

For $300? LOL

 

$300 is the cost to pull and replace a single COP and plug, not the engine. The dealer has already assumed that you have a bad COP and you probably do. Without a code, however, it's difficult normally to determine which one is going bad. This is were it starts to pay off to buy yourself an OBD II scanner. A good one with ABS is about $200 and worth every single penny if you can replace the COPS and plugs yourself. I bought 10 COPS off of e-bay for $100 years ago and use up about 1 ever other year as the OEM ones go bad. We can always tell when we is going to fail. Van starts to misfire ever so slightly, normally feel it when idling, then it slowly gets worse, we wait for the check engine light to go on, read the code, replace the cop. I don't even worry about the plugs anymore. They never seem to fail. It's always the COP. There is little room to work to pull them but getting a set of ignition wrenches (they are tiny) helps and I can replace them now in under 15 minutes from start to finish. For those who will say the e-bay knock offs are cheap, I've replaced 8 oems now, zero e-bays. I'll take cheap.

 

I would have just replaced the whole lot in one sitting.

 

where are the COPS located and how do you replace them, would you have the part numbers by any chance i really dont know what to look at ,
i am really familiar with diesels not gass sorry i need a little help in the gass dept.

 

They are located on each cylinder and sit above the spark plug. The tail of the cop is about 5 inchs and is the rubber boot that goes over the spark plug. The are typically black and resemble a 2" high by 2" diameter can. They are typically held in place by a single both and have a 2 wire connector going to them.

 

Ok i know what you are talking about now i just didnt know what it was or what it is called , Thanks

 

I have an 01 w/4.2 and when it had about 50k on it it ran like it had a misfire.I replaced plugs,coil pack(doesn't have cop) wires egr vac valve and e few other things. Helped but didn't fix the misfire. Turned out the ports inside the intake manifold were almost plugged shut with carbon from egr gas. Used some throttle body cleaner and some long q-tips and cleaned them out and it runs fine and has for 50k.Hope this helps.