Tune Up Questions?
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Cross-Country
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 89
Likes: 1
Tune Up Questions?
I have a 1995 F-150 with a 5.0, and I have around 50,000 miles on it right now. And I want to do a tune up on it, I want to get some new Plug Wires - Plugs & a new Cap & Rotor. I've looked around & most guys say go with OEM Ford parts, so that's what I'm thinking about doing. I thought about getting the Ford Racing 9mm Wires, I have a set on my Mustang Cobra & they seem like good wires. And for Plugs a lot of guys say they like just the regular Copper Motorcrafts, and then some said they prefer the Platinum. So I wanted to get the advice from you guys on here. What style Plugs would you go with, and what do you think about the Ford Racing Wires? And would the OEM Motorcraft Cap & Rotor be the best, or maybe the MSD Street Fire? It has the Brass terminals, and I'd like to go with a cap that has the Brass terminals.
Elder User
Joined: Sep 2018
Posts: 735
Likes: 8
From: NC
Have always just used regular old Motorcraft parts on my 93. Nothing special,just plain stock parts and it does well. The only "stock" parts that have not put back on it were the vacuum lines. The nylon tubes were breaking apart so i went with regular vacuum line of appropriate sizes.
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Cross-Country
Joined: Mar 2013
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After looking around some more I found the Accel Cap & Rotor, and it has the Brass inserts. And Accel does make good parts, and it looks a lot better than the OEM Ford one. And I was also looking at either the Motorcraft Platinum or the Autolite AP 25 Platinum Plugs, I know I said I was leaning toward the Motorcraft Copper plugs. But the Platinum would last longer.
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Cross-Country
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 89
Likes: 1
Have always just used regular old Motorcraft parts on my 93. Nothing special,just plain stock parts and it does well. The only "stock" parts that have not put back on it were the vacuum lines. The nylon tubes were breaking apart so i went with regular vacuum line of appropriate sizes.
The only vacuum line I replaced on my 95 was the one that controls the Max A/C, when I'd turn the A/C from regular to Max nothing happened it stayed the same. And I checked the line coming out of the wire loom going to the actuator & it was pretty much gone with cracks & dry rot so it couldn't hold a vacuum. I pulled back the wire loom to get to some good line that wasn't exposed to the elements, and I cut it there & put a new piece of just a little bigger line over the old line. Then I ran it up to the actuator, and then I tried out my Max A/C & when I switched over to Max you can really hear & feel a big difference in the Air coming out. I'd say a lot of guys have this issue & probably don't even know it.
Hotshot
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 12,832
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I would replace the wires, cap and rotor with Motorcraft stock replacement parts. I have run the Motorsports wires but keep in mind that they will not fit in the wire clips so you will have to find another way to retain them. I would also stick with the copper Motorcraft plugs. The replacement interval is 30K miles. I’m curious why you would want to put 100K mile plugs in a vehicle that has averaged less than 2,200 miles a year. If they are the original spark plugs, I wish you luck getting them out.
Post Fiend
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 19,311
Likes: 97
From: Waterloo, Iowa
When it comes to ignition parts it's really tough to beat OEM. Aftermarket parts may be OK, or they may not. How can you tell? Do you have an ignition scope? Maybe a Dyno? It's a gamble.
Incidentally, not picking on anybody, but everyone always talks about brass distributor cap terminals. Aluminum is higher on the conductivity scale than brass. Not less. I don't think it matters too much, but. What is important that the parts conform dimensionally and aren't crooked, out of round, excessive rotor gap, defective dielectric plastic materials. There's lots of shiny $&it out there in bright colors.
Incidentally, not picking on anybody, but everyone always talks about brass distributor cap terminals. Aluminum is higher on the conductivity scale than brass. Not less. I don't think it matters too much, but. What is important that the parts conform dimensionally and aren't crooked, out of round, excessive rotor gap, defective dielectric plastic materials. There's lots of shiny $&it out there in bright colors.
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Elder User
Joined: May 2013
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When it comes to ignition parts it's really tough to beat OEM. Aftermarket parts may be OK, or they may not. How can you tell? Do you have an ignition scope? Maybe a Dyno? It's a gamble.
Incidentally, not picking on anybody, but everyone always talks about brass distributor cap terminals. Aluminum is higher on the conductivity scale than brass. Not less. I don't think it matters too much, but. What is important that the parts conform dimensionally and aren't crooked, out of round, excessive rotor gap, defective dielectric plastic materials. There's lots of shiny $&it out there in bright colors.
Incidentally, not picking on anybody, but everyone always talks about brass distributor cap terminals. Aluminum is higher on the conductivity scale than brass. Not less. I don't think it matters too much, but. What is important that the parts conform dimensionally and aren't crooked, out of round, excessive rotor gap, defective dielectric plastic materials. There's lots of shiny $&it out there in bright colors.
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Post Fiend
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 19,311
Likes: 97
From: Waterloo, Iowa
Still I'd rather have a black OEM aluminum Motorcraft terminal cap than a brass terminal piece of chinesium in blaze yellow. There's a lot going in the ignition and parts that look good may not be.
Elder User
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 904
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From: Pittsburgh
I'd go for an OEM cap and rotor. I replaced my whole distributor last year with a new Carquest one, but next time I replace the cap and rotor I'll be going with Motorcraft. For plugs, I use Autolite #25 copper plugs.
Logistics Pro
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 3,716
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From: Chillicothe
I'll also suggest the regular copper cores. I put platinum plugs in my truck when I first got it. And after a few minutes of run time it ran worse than it did with the old plugs with an .085 gap.
So I switched out for the copper core plugs and it ran fine all the time. Only thing I can figure is on the older engines since the platinum gets hotter than a normal electrode and ground strap( how they stay clean for 100k) it was causing preignition when the engine warmed up. And in turn was causing the knock sensor to pull timing.
So I switched out for the copper core plugs and it ran fine all the time. Only thing I can figure is on the older engines since the platinum gets hotter than a normal electrode and ground strap( how they stay clean for 100k) it was causing preignition when the engine warmed up. And in turn was causing the knock sensor to pull timing.
