Howdy: I'm new on this site and, although is probably been beat to death, I would like some advice. I have a '98 Ford E-450 superduty with the V-10 (yes it's in my '99 Jayco motorhome). I have been told that these are prone to blowing out their spark plugs. I just got back from my Ford dealer who says it's a 3-3.5 hour job just to check the torque on those plugs - all labor! At 90 bucks/hour that's around $300.00 just to make sure they're still torqued correctly. I have 41,000 miles on the rig. Ford recommends that the torque be checked every 30K. What would you guys recommend? Pay the money now; or replace the plugs to the newer style; or let it go to around 60-70K and then replace; or forget it until the 100K replacement period rolls around and take my chances of one blowing out in the meantime? I'v been hearing a bit of "tick" on idle for the last month or so - I read somewhere that that is a possible sign of a loose plug or plugs. Is that correct? Thanks for your help - and sorry if I'm retreading old ground................eddielee

 

Welcome to FTE, Eddielee

I will answer a question with a question: At what price is peace of mind?

If you are at all worried about it, then just make up your mind to replace the plugs yourself. And the problem is not with the plug threads, but the threads in the head. You can't gain thread strength in the head no matter how many threads are on the plug. But, that's just my opinion. It certainly don't hurt anything to put the longer-threaded plugs in there.

Just make sure you have the plug cavities clean before removing the old plugs and blow the cavity out while removing the plugs. This will remove any debris that happened to cake around the plug base - if there is any. Then inspect each threaded hole before installing the new plugs - look for deformed threads, pulled threads, galling, slivers of aluminum, etc. If all looks good, then lightly apply some anti-seize and torque the plugs to 14 ft/lbs max.

 

FWIW I have 115K on my plugs, and they're original, with the original torque. I'm not looking forward to replacing them on my van, but I will. I'll use some dielectric grease, and a good torque wrench. I will then replace them at 225K. Good luck ! I would bet the odds of a plug blow out are much less than having a tree fall on your MH. Peace, Ken

 

All,

I may be tempting fate, but with 78K on the van, driving about 500-600 miles per week, I intend to wait 'til spring to replace the plugs on my '03 E350. I've not heard many "spark plug horror stories" on the '01 and up engines. If I've made an expensive mistake, I'll 'fess up to the group so we can have the information. We shall see...

DadVan