I was wondering how hard a job it is to replace the plugs on a 1998 van. I bought it used and I don't know if the plugs were ever replaced. It looks like a pain to do any plug work. Any help would be appreciated.

 

I have a 1997 E-350 V-8 5.4 liter. I have currently 223,000 miles on it. The plugs were changed at about 100,000 miles by a mechanic took him 5 hours and he said it was a head ache. Originally he quoted me 2 hours labor but called back and said "these plugs are different".

Good luck doing them yourself... It is not easy. Find a mechanic that has worked on your year van before. I am due for another spark plug change soon. I found a mechanic that will do it for $200 flat rate.

What type of engine and how many miles does your van have?

 

My 95 E150 has the 5 Liter 302, which I know they discontinued shortly thereafter. You must have the 4.6 L or other version. Anyway, when I bought the van in 98, first thing I wanted to do was changed plugs. I pulled the cover from the inside, and got about 5 of them done. Problem with the other three was that the boots were really stuck after 87000 miles, and I couldn't get down to the boot to grab it. Only way to pull was to tug on the wire which I didn't want to do for fear of damaging it. I had my shop do the final three plugs. I later learned, however, there is a special boot puller that will assist you with this. It grabs the boot and will keep you from damaging wire by pulling on it. The other posts are correct, though, these engines are not easy to get into.Might be worth just spending the money and having it done. Could'nt be all that much and is certainly a good thing to do at least every 100,000 or so. Might want to do the boots while at it.

Jim

 

Hi smd747 and welcome to the forum

What size engine in your van?
For some tips on replacing your spark plugs,if it's a 4.6 or 5.4, take a look at https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...d.php?t=104027 .
It was written for F150s but the van is very similar other than that you have to remove the doghouse and go in from the inside for most of the plugs.
On a van I start by removing the front seats. It only takes a few minutes and makes working on the engine way easier.

 

I thought removing the plugs on my 95 5.0 was a real sucko. First exposure to working on a van. The pass side was real tough to grab the plugs/boots due to the Thermactor piping. I was already replacing the plug wires as they were the originals, but I could really use one of those boot pliers. Took hours to do, and to re-route the wires properly. Good news was that I did not break any of the stock wire looms so it went back together properly.

Now to your question

You have the 5.4 Modular motor. The plug access will be marginally easier as the plugs go in on the intake side of the heads above the valve covers. What is a pain is those boots. The Modular boots are like 3 inches long inside the heads with a few ribs near the top. Those suckers really get stuck in there, plus watch out for dirt and sand etc on top, or just inside the boots. I pulled em up a bit, then blew out the dirt that collected just under the boot. Obviously you dont want crap falling down into the plug hole.

Plan on taking an afternoon for the job, I am SOOO glad I got Autolite platinums as I will not likley need to change them again (Van has 85,000 miles and won't get driven too much) I would recomend platinum plugs since they keep the gap longer and it's so fun to change them.

 

One comment about the Autolite vs Motorcraft

On the Crown Vic site I go to they swear those are interchangable. Ford does not make the Motorcraft plugs and it was reported that Autolite makes them. The Autolite platinums looked the same as the Motorcrafts I pulled out other than the platinum electrode.

I usually go for the direct factory replacment, but they did not have any in stock, plus I wanted to go platinum for the longer wear.

Also it's a good move to use anti sieze on the plug threads with any Modular due to the aluminum cyl heads, as the steel plugs can get frozen in there.

Did Vans ever have the coil pack/plug wire modulars or did they go directly to Coil on Plug's?? Crown Vics went to COP in 98, Stangs went later.

 

I made a mistake it is a 1999 E 150. Also, it has the 4.6L eng. It has 74,000 miles and is still running fine I was just going to do some tune up stuff and the plugs looked like the worst of jobs to do. I printed up the post on the f150's plugs(thanx racerguy) and added it to my Haynes repair manual. Some day when I have a whole day of nothing to do I will attempt it. Thanks again for all the help.