2006 High Mile Spark Plugs and Belt
#1
2006 High Mile Spark Plugs and Belt
Some people have expressed interest in having a look at some plugs left in way longer than the recommended 100,000 mile change interval and so here they are. These plugs came from a 2006 E-350 with 5.4L V8 engine that is at 741,500 miles on the engine. The plugs have 429,500 miles on them and were in for about 4 years in our backup vehicle that only runs every other day or so. They are Bosch Platinum 2 plugs that are not gappable. The van was not running noticeably poorly at the time of the change. I hope to be able to update the thread with fuel economy before and after the change. The serpentine belt pictured was also changed at the same time and also has 429,500 miles on it. It was a Dayco 5060985 belt.
The electrode can just be seen here. It is approximately 1mm (0.04") below the surface of the ceramic. When new, the electrode was flush with the surface.
Closeup showing grooves cut in the ceramic by the spark arc. Almost looks like a crack in the ceramic but I don't think it is. I cleaned some of the oxidization off with a wire brush in this photo. You can see a new plug at the Bosch website: https://www.boschautoparts.com/auto/...-2-spark-plugs
Belt looks pretty shot, glad I got it out when I did. I don't think we need to extend intervals beyond 400,000 on either plugs or belts.
BTW, I started the plug change project at 4pm and finished at 5:45pm. During this time I also changed the serpentine belt and had a random van pull in that needed a fuel filter changed and I changed that also. Front seats remained bolted in all vans at all times . To be fair I had maybe an hour of ancillary work before and after that included getting the parts, getting my tools out, and getting things put away. Then this post, another hour at least lol.
The electrode can just be seen here. It is approximately 1mm (0.04") below the surface of the ceramic. When new, the electrode was flush with the surface.
Closeup showing grooves cut in the ceramic by the spark arc. Almost looks like a crack in the ceramic but I don't think it is. I cleaned some of the oxidization off with a wire brush in this photo. You can see a new plug at the Bosch website: https://www.boschautoparts.com/auto/...-2-spark-plugs
Belt looks pretty shot, glad I got it out when I did. I don't think we need to extend intervals beyond 400,000 on either plugs or belts.
BTW, I started the plug change project at 4pm and finished at 5:45pm. During this time I also changed the serpentine belt and had a random van pull in that needed a fuel filter changed and I changed that also. Front seats remained bolted in all vans at all times . To be fair I had maybe an hour of ancillary work before and after that included getting the parts, getting my tools out, and getting things put away. Then this post, another hour at least lol.
#2
Del this is very interesting---thanks for taking time to contribute this here.
I'll be changing plugs in my own '00 E250 w/5.4 motor sometime in the next 6 weeks or so----its seldom driven so not a huge need or rush to do all this. It has Motorcraft spec plugs, mileage will be about 50K when changed. This set was installed by a friend who owned a F150, similar year with the 2 valve motor.
I think I see a bit more ash on the plug bases than I'd feel comfortable with in my own E250. Because I tend to use the same brand of fuel from the same station almost exclusively it will be interesting to see those plugs.
Another E250 w/5.4 motor has had a steady diet of Chevron Techron Concentrate used as suggested, 24 oz in a full tank every 3K miles or so. That van will probably have new plugs sometime before end of summer.
I'll post photos along with measuring the electrode gaps.
Thanks again Del!
I'll be changing plugs in my own '00 E250 w/5.4 motor sometime in the next 6 weeks or so----its seldom driven so not a huge need or rush to do all this. It has Motorcraft spec plugs, mileage will be about 50K when changed. This set was installed by a friend who owned a F150, similar year with the 2 valve motor.
I think I see a bit more ash on the plug bases than I'd feel comfortable with in my own E250. Because I tend to use the same brand of fuel from the same station almost exclusively it will be interesting to see those plugs.
Another E250 w/5.4 motor has had a steady diet of Chevron Techron Concentrate used as suggested, 24 oz in a full tank every 3K miles or so. That van will probably have new plugs sometime before end of summer.
I'll post photos along with measuring the electrode gaps.
Thanks again Del!
#3
Interesting report, Del--thanks for posting the pics especially. My van got new plugs when it got new cyl heads under warranty (at 42k miles) and I'm a bit over 80k on the plugs. Guess I won't feel any urgency to change them at 100k if my horizon for keeping it is short. I never changed the plugs in my wife's old '98 Sable and we sold it at 112k miles.
I am guessing you know about the million mile van guy who got 1,299,000 miles out of a '97 E250 until the engine finally puked. Here is his website where he lists some of his achievements: Home
I will note that he got over 500,000 miles on his original serpentine belt
It looks as though one day you may break his mileage record with one of your vans.
I keep thinking that I need to swap my E150 for something with good passenger legroom for my wife, but there are SO many miles left in it. Maybe I need to get a part-time gig as a freight expeditor...
thanks,
George
I am guessing you know about the million mile van guy who got 1,299,000 miles out of a '97 E250 until the engine finally puked. Here is his website where he lists some of his achievements: Home
I will note that he got over 500,000 miles on his original serpentine belt
It looks as though one day you may break his mileage record with one of your vans.
I keep thinking that I need to swap my E150 for something with good passenger legroom for my wife, but there are SO many miles left in it. Maybe I need to get a part-time gig as a freight expeditor...
thanks,
George
#6
The vans are used for long haul passenger transportation. There are four of them over 1 million miles. Most recently, the 2010 van sporting it's original 4.6L hit the big 10^6th. One of the 2006s retired early last year around 1,340,000 when the original engine blew.
I do not perform the oil changes as that would bog me down with way too much low margin work. I use to think we were running Valvoline 5-w20, but the mechanic at the shop that does our oil changes informed me that the price on the Valvoline went crazy a while back and so he switched to something else, and then something else. So in summary there's no telling what kind of oil the engines have been run on. I don't think it actually matters. It's definitely nothing fancy-pants like Amzoil or Mobile 1 as the oil changes cost like $27.00. Oil changes are every 10,000 miles, if the drivers remember to get in for a change.
I do not perform the oil changes as that would bog me down with way too much low margin work. I use to think we were running Valvoline 5-w20, but the mechanic at the shop that does our oil changes informed me that the price on the Valvoline went crazy a while back and so he switched to something else, and then something else. So in summary there's no telling what kind of oil the engines have been run on. I don't think it actually matters. It's definitely nothing fancy-pants like Amzoil or Mobile 1 as the oil changes cost like $27.00. Oil changes are every 10,000 miles, if the drivers remember to get in for a change.
#7
Holy cow and hats off to you, Del! You've gotten a bunch of mod motor vans over a million miles, and this is especially impressive given you're carrying human cargo, which demands way more safety than a van full of boxes. The million mile van guy I've been using as an example has nothing on you at all except that he's a wrestler...
A friend had a limo business and he'd regularly run 4.6 Town Cars up to half a million or so before selling off the limos, but a big van with a million on a 4.6 is really impressive.
Are you doing suspension and shock replacements every couple hundred thousand miles? What brand of tires do you use?
It could be said that long haul miles like these are easy on a vehicle, but going over a million miles is not easy on ANY vehicle.
I'm feeling an urge to get in my van and drive it to California
Great to have your experience base available to us, and this is more proof that sweating details about which motor oil to use or paying double for fancy full synthetics may not be worth it.
Have you ever run GM or Dodge vans?
George
A friend had a limo business and he'd regularly run 4.6 Town Cars up to half a million or so before selling off the limos, but a big van with a million on a 4.6 is really impressive.
Are you doing suspension and shock replacements every couple hundred thousand miles? What brand of tires do you use?
It could be said that long haul miles like these are easy on a vehicle, but going over a million miles is not easy on ANY vehicle.
I'm feeling an urge to get in my van and drive it to California
Great to have your experience base available to us, and this is more proof that sweating details about which motor oil to use or paying double for fancy full synthetics may not be worth it.
Have you ever run GM or Dodge vans?
George
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#8
#10
I am now starting to get some GM experience due to the E-series discontinuation. We've got a 2012 Express 3500 van we've had since it had about 20,000 miles, now it's around 350,000 miles. The first transmission dropped out of it at 260,000, engine blew at 330,000 and the used transmission that I put in just dropped out of it a couple weeks ago. The radio works great though!
Our Ford transmissions go about 800,000 in the 5.4L's pretty reliably for us, 4.6L's work them harder and might only get 400-500K. Shocks and suspension components are actually quite long lived as long as you buy good quality. Every once in a while I'll need to replace things but for instance the ball joints in the 1.3 million mile van were replaced once at 70K with Moog and never again. Ford factory shocks seem to run more than 500,000. This is a lot of highway running though.
Our Ford transmissions go about 800,000 in the 5.4L's pretty reliably for us, 4.6L's work them harder and might only get 400-500K. Shocks and suspension components are actually quite long lived as long as you buy good quality. Every once in a while I'll need to replace things but for instance the ball joints in the 1.3 million mile van were replaced once at 70K with Moog and never again. Ford factory shocks seem to run more than 500,000. This is a lot of highway running though.
#11
361,000 mile plugs out of a 1,160,000 mile 5.4L engine here. Mostly Autolite Platinum AP103's but I see there's a Motorcraft AGSF 22WM in the woodpile there. I suspect I had a coil go dead and I replaced the coil and the plug.
The plugs started out at a standard gap 0.054". I tried to measure them when I pulled them out and they looked to be at a higher gap than my gauge went to. My gauge went to 0.080", but I think the plugs are at around 0.090".
I've been meaning to pull the fuel economy figures before and after the change on these things. Maybe I'll set the office minions on this task and follow up. My suspicion is that there's barely any change but I'll report honestly. Nothing to hide here.
The plugs started out at a standard gap 0.054". I tried to measure them when I pulled them out and they looked to be at a higher gap than my gauge went to. My gauge went to 0.080", but I think the plugs are at around 0.090".
I've been meaning to pull the fuel economy figures before and after the change on these things. Maybe I'll set the office minions on this task and follow up. My suspicion is that there's barely any change but I'll report honestly. Nothing to hide here.
#13
You Sir are a machine! I can't even think straight about working under the dog house without removing those obstacles!
#14
Pulling the seats actually has more appeal to me with our Chevy. The doghouse doesn't even come off unless you pull them. They have some goofy method of rotating it to one side to change plugs on that half the engine, then swinging it over the other way to do the other side. Not much fun.
#15
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