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Changed the plugs ***BEWARE***

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Old Apr 7, 2018 | 11:53 PM
  #1  
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Changed the plugs ***BEWARE***

My 13 has 84k and change on it now so I wanted to get some pm taken care of because I know these trucks will kill the cats if the plugs get weak as they get close to 100k.

i did a bunch of stuff today, belt, tensioner, idlers, air filter, sway bar end links, oil, transmission and transfer case in addition to the plugs.

The top plugs come out relatively easily, you just have to take stuff off to get to them. The bottom plugs are much easier if you take an extra 15 minutes to pull the inner fender liners.

i got all the top plugs done and started on the lower ones on the passenger side when I came to #3 and it snapped off in the head. After crapping my pants, I was able to get it out with a punch and a bolt extractor.

As as best I can tell, that plug gets some spray from the wheel. It was the only plug that was rusty (I’m in FL and this truck has never seen salty winter roads).

Just a heads up to anyone attempting this.







 
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Old Apr 8, 2018 | 04:01 AM
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Glad you got it out....

the common advice is to remove the spark plugs with the engine warn.. not hot... they come out easier..

do 8.. restart to warm again, do other 8...

now you got 80,000 miles before needing to do it again.

Rust was NOT the issue... my opinion.
 
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Old Apr 8, 2018 | 08:09 AM
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Exhaust manifold looks to be in great shape. Living in Florida has its advantages. Did you notice a performance increase after the plug change?
 
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Old Apr 8, 2018 | 08:54 AM
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I changed mine at 50k and everything went smooth. I did not remove the inner liners so it took me about 3hrs to change the plugs. 95% of the time was spent on the bottom 8 plugs.
 
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Old Apr 8, 2018 | 09:42 AM
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I plan on changing mine out at around 50k - 60k. Never had a plug snap like that before. Glad you got it out without major issue.
 
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Old Apr 8, 2018 | 10:16 AM
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I changed mine at 55k, but i also have enough idle hours to equal 100k on the truck, What other goodies did you get there to replace??
 
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Old Apr 8, 2018 | 06:24 PM
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How big of a ratchet or breaker bar did you use to take that plug out that snapped?
 
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Old Apr 8, 2018 | 10:53 PM
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Have 115K on mine, don't fix it if it ain't broke.
 
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Old Apr 9, 2018 | 11:11 AM
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The shell of that plug was most definitely rusted and looked like it was hanging on by a thread. When you barely put any force on the ratchet and it simply snaps, there was something wrong with that plug.

None of the others were like that and all came out of the warm engine like butter.



 
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Old Apr 11, 2018 | 10:46 AM
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Originally Posted by texinwa
Have 115K on mine, don't fix it if it ain't broke.
With the clogged cats we've seen, worn plugs, and corroded resistors in the boots, with mileage less than yours, that's probably not the best outlook. A plug change is a fraction of the cost and headache of a new catalytic converter.

The 6.2 is an awesome, rock solid motor, but that's just general maintenance that when ignored can lead to problems that shouldn't be blamed on the truck.
 
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Old Apr 12, 2018 | 07:30 PM
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OP - all the other plugs look fine at the swedged junction. I suspect that was a manufacturing defect issue that was just lurking. Probably would have happened at 35k or 100k. Look like a gap allowed general corrosion to set up and then it was just a matter of time.
 
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Old Apr 12, 2018 | 09:17 PM
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Just some food for thought, pretty sure Mobil 1 atf does not meet the specs for Mercon LV required by our trucks. How hard was the belt, tensioner and idlers to do?
 
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Old Apr 13, 2018 | 05:50 AM
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Originally Posted by Randy_270
How hard was the belt, tensioner and idlers to do?
hardest part... the fenders and radiator support.... did mine 2 years ago.. at 140,000 miles. long arms help.

to the "OP".. the rust on that one plug... is a defective plug...
do spark plug changes on lifetime snow plow trucks... needing breaker bars..
a few ,,, needing the cylinder heads removed for plug changes...
 
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Old Apr 13, 2018 | 08:44 AM
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Originally Posted by Randy_270
Just some food for thought, pretty sure Mobil 1 atf does not meet the specs for Mercon LV required by our trucks. How hard was the belt, tensioner and idlers to do?
Correct on the former. That's why it went in the transfer case.

It took maybe 20 minutes to change the tensioner, idlers and belt. Simple job.

...and yes to those saying the plug was defective, I had already understood that. Thanks!
 
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Old Jul 25, 2018 | 01:22 PM
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Originally Posted by saratoga2011
Correct on the former. That's why it went in the transfer case.

It took maybe 20 minutes to change the tensioner, idlers and belt. Simple job.

...and yes to those saying the plug was defective, I had already understood that. Thanks!
Why the change of the idlers and tensioner? I've never changed them on any Ford of mine. But with my daily driver Infiniti, I've had to replace them all between 100K and120K miles due to bearing noise (one seized and unthreaded itself from the block). Were you hearing anything, or just preventive?
 
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