2011 5.0 Spark Plug Change - Tips

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Feb 22, 2016 | 04:09 PM

roebedo

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From: Arizona

2011 5.0 Spark Plug Change - Tips

Hi All,

Was looking for any tips from people who have changed their plugs on this engine. I was just told from a parts store that the engine needed to be HOT! There's a guide online I believe Pauls Travel Pic's and he's stating "Warm Engine" I've read room temperature as well. Also, parts guy said to use Anti Lock on the new plugs, I don't think this is right, so I'm planing on skipping that. Again, any insight or tips would be nice. Truck has just over 108k, so I'm not expecting them to come out very easy.

Thanks

Mike

Feb 23, 2016 | 03:33 AM

svt2205

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From: Sunapee NH

From my 11 service manual. I replaced mine on my 11 5.0 once and on my 13 3.5EB twice so far with the engine stone cold with no issues or concerns.

Feb 23, 2016 | 06:48 AM

WXboy

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From: Central KY

Just did mine Saturday. I posted a picture of what mine looked like when they came out in a recent thread.

I checked the gap on my plugs (SP-519s) and all were gapped at .047 so I left them alone.

The hardest part for me was disconnecting the coil harnesses. The red locking tabs were frozen up on 5 of them and I had to press down on a specific part of the tab with a screwdriver and then push the locking tab up. It was hard on my fingers! Then I had to pry the connector apart with a larger screwdriver. Be very cautious not to break the tabs or harnesses. That was by far the most time consuming part.

After that, I used a "cat claw" which is basically a trim removal tool to pop the boots free and remove the coils. I removed the old plugs with a long extension and spark plug socket. Then I used anti-seize on the new plugs and torqued them to 12 ft/lbs. I put dielectric grease on the end of the coil boots before reinstalling.

The only cylinder that was a pain was the back one on the passenger side. The A/C line was in the way of my extension so I had to get creative. Took me 1.5 hours total.

Now the truck purrs like a kitten again. And I saved a ton of cash.

Feb 23, 2016 | 08:29 AM

David W Jones

Tuned

Joined: Jan 2013

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From: Pleasant Grove, Alabama

Mine is a 2012 5.0...I'm guessing they are the same?

I did my plugs a couple of weeks ago and all the red tabs released with no issue. The passenger rear plug removal and install did required some extension creativity.

Feb 23, 2016 | 10:53 AM

WXboy

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From: Central KY

Yeah my old plugs were hard to break loose, but then they came right out no problem. It felt like they were torqued to more than 12 ft/lbs from the factory. Then again, there was no sign of anti-seize on them. I used it on the new ones. Hopefully at 200K these will come out easily also. The plugs should be the same on all 11-14 5.0s.

Feb 24, 2016 | 12:32 PM

roebedo

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From: Arizona

Thanks for all the tip's everyone. I'll tackle this after I get the boat out of storage.. left some extensions and tools in it.

Thanks again!

Mar 7, 2016 | 01:44 PM

roebedo

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From: Arizona

This went a lot easier than I expected. Used a 11" 3/8 drive magnetic spark plug socket for all cylinders, but 4 & 8. Used a 2" extension in addition to the 11" on cylinder 4. Standard spark plug socket, 6" and 2" extension for cylinder 8. A extendable ratchet came in handy for leverage, bought one that extends 12.5". PB blast came in handy for some of the clips that didn't want to easily pull up.

I was actually amazed on how well the old plugs looked!

Thanks for all the tips!