Guys,
This isn't really a problem, but I'm sure many of you can relate. I recently purchased a second-hand 95 F150 with 66,000 miles, but apparently the owner was more of a "show" guy than a "go" guy. The truck is beautiful, (I'll admit to a little bias here <g>) but I've discovered that he probably never opened the hood. I've already replaced the OEM wires, cap, rotor, etc; but tonight took the cake. While replacing the plugs with new Bosch Platinums, I found that every one of the plugs in holes # 1-6 (Bosch platinums, but *very old*)were gapped at no less than .054, instead of the called-for .044. The kicker was when I got to plug #7 & 8. Now, we all know that they aren't easy to get to, but certainly not impossible. Wouljabelieve that the OEM Autolite plugs were still in their original place??!! Further inspection with the feeler guage confirmed my disbelief at the gap: .073! What a difference a few dollars and about 40 minutes can make. Now my truck's idle is as smooth as it's shiny green paint. I'll let y'all know what the mileage difference turns out to be.
Cheers,
Shilly

 

Not surprised, gap size will grow with time. The electrodes eroded, metal expanse and contracts..........and all that good stuff.

Wouldn't Motorcraft plugs be OEM? The Autolites my have been replacements at some point, but still .073 is a pert big gap.

 

>Now my truck's idle is as
>smooth as it's shiny green paint. I'll let y'all know what
>the mileage difference turns out to be.
> Cheers,
> Shilly

Wait a second, what shiny green paint? You have no pictures of it in the User's Gallery.

 

I bought my van from the original owner with 65k on it. At 71k, I decided to tune it before a long trip. It, like yours, had the original wires, cap, plugs and rotor. It ran great, but thought a tune up would increase gas milage a bit.

The plug electrodes were burned down into the porcelain, leaving a huge gap. I'm surprised it even ran. He did have a stack of Jiffy Lube oil change tickets though.

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'94 E-150 Conversion Van 4.9 / C-6 -- '89 Mustang LX 5.0

 

My 1996 F-150 with 302 V-8 has a required plug gap of .052-.056, so if the Bosch platinums that were in the truck were set to .054 that is where they should have been. I just put a set of those in the other day and set them at .054 ( by using the .019 + .018 + .017 fingers of the feeler guage together ) and the truck runs great. It is too early to tell if the mileage will improve.

I agree about the back plugs being hard to reach--especially the back two on the passengers side of the vehicle. I found it easier to get to them from underneath the truck, and that by using a short length of tubing on the tip of the plug it was easier to install the new plugs without having to visually sight the alignment.

John

 

Here's a good one for ya. Last May I bought my well used 94 F-150 Ex-Cab with,are ya ready for this?,208,000 miles on it! I limped it home after a robowash to find 6 of 8 plugs replaced with champions. 7&8 were Autolites. All were burned to the porcelain. Well I didn't stop there. The cap,rotor were damaged. Not burned. The distibutor had come apart but still ran. (I only paid $2500 for this truck) After this I serviced the injectors with my 3M service kit and changed the fuel filter. Amazing that I went from 10 miles per gallon to 13.
Now one year later,same motor,with FIPK,flowmaster,underdrives,optima battery,Poweraid spacer,high flow cat,new distributor,9mm wires,Autolite double platinums,and Hypertech I am getting 15-16 mpg and I love to worry 5.0 Stangs and Z-28's.
I say as soon as you get it home you open the hood and look at it all. Some people have no idea of maintenance until it breaks or leaves them stranded.
This May will bring a GT-40 crate motor and maybe some fresh paint. I hope to sweat those Vettes and eat those Z's!

 

Right now it's a dusty pollen green Springtime in the South comes early, so I'm going to have to wait until I can wash it to post some pics...