My 2000 EX V10 is about to get its second tune up after 190,000 miles. The first tune up was at 100,000 miles and I had the dealer do it while it was in for service. This is the first time that I am going to be messing around with these spark plugs. I purchased 10 motorcraft original plugs and 10 new COP boots. I have a tube of anti-seize compound and dialectric grease. Is there anything else someone could add to help me get through this easily on Saturday? I would appreciate any tricks or ideas that would make the job go more smoothly.

Thanks in advance.

 

Get a torque wrench. Err on the side of too much torque not too little. Clean out the plug bores with an air hose prior to removing plugs. Spray some WD40 or some other penetrating oil in the bores and let it soak a while. I put my plugs in at 20ft-lbs. Not a bad idea to check them every year or so. Don't put antisieze on the rim just the last little bit of threads. Use the grease on the plug boots where the plug goes and on the Boot rim to help seal out water. Failure seems to occur when the plugs become loose and partially unscrew and then the threads come out with the plug. When you loose a thread or two this way you are screwed because you only have 4 threads to start with. The head only has about 4 threads in it on the early models like yours. 4 threads is enough at long as the plug is tight. To prove this one member took a junk head and torqued the plugs till something broke and the plugs broke at about 100 ft-lbs not the threads.

Perry

 

Thank you Perry for the great information. I have a torque wrench and will listen to your advice.

Robert

 

A few pics of getting at spark plug #5. A few short extentions will work. You'll be laying on your tummy so a carpet or towel will keep various parts from poking you. While you're contorting under there, check and clean the IAC (last picture).

 

Remove the intake duct to the throttle body to give yourself some room. Get a piece of vacuum hose to secure the tip of the spark plug tight so you can screw the plug in by hand to avoid cross threading. Start practicing on the plug closest to you to get the feel for it before tackling the #5 plug.

 

Make sure the anti-seize is the high temp stuff. I think it's copper instead of aluminum.

 

I did a thread in here about how to get at the rear 2 plugs on the passenger side (search). When you put anything on the plug it will change the torque value so don't err on any side, just torque them to 14 pounds or whatever the agreed value is. If you make them too tight you might not get them safely out next time and I think Ford recommends a dry torque anyway. Never change a torque value just because you have an idea that might improve on it. I never put anything on mine, don't torque them, and never have a problem but that's just me. I strongly believe plugs come out because people don't tighten them all. With 10 holes is is easy to get distracted and screw it up so allow yourself enough time to methodically complete the job with no wife saying; time for lunch, or kid saying; my ball went over the fence..........you get it. You can spray some adhesive on the inside of your socket so the plugs will rise out and tape the socket to the extension so you don't loose it. Only put a tiny bit of grease on the end of the spring because that is the only place it is needed and any grease that gets on the plug end of the boot will only serve to attract dirt and moisture which is counter productive, and I use heavy axle grease and a lot of it under the lip of the boot to keep water out (I know it's not dialectric), this will last at least until you need boots again.

 

One other thing (and this one is important) is make sure your engine is COLD when you do this.

 

X2 VERY SOUND ADVICE. Somebody rep him please, apparently I like him too much.

 

There is another debatable subject. Why does it need to be cold? I've heard cold, warm, lukewarm, I don't think it makes any difference and I know any garage won't wait for it to cool down.

 

Oh, rep me, rep me,

 

I'm not so sure how debatable it is regarding changing them on a cold engine. A quick search shows that every manufacturer of aluminum heads I ran across recomends cold or risk possible thread damage due to different expansion properties of aluminum vs steel. Champion and NGK also say the same thing. Yes, one may get away with it numerous times with no damage. I figure why risk it? Besides, it's no fun to change them when the engine is hot.

 

I want to thank everyone for the excellent inputs in helping me get through this tomorrow. I am very pleased with how many people chimed in to help someone out in need. This is a great site and I consider all of you my friends.

Robert

 

One more question, if I remove and clean the IAC valve while replacing the spark plugs, can I reuse the IAC gasket or do I have to purchase a new one?

 

If the old one is in decent shape, put her back on. If it ripped in the removal process, get a new one.