Changed mine at 28k lots of carbon on shield glad I didn't wait none broke followed new tsb with one exception I used seafoam deep creep.

 

There's no way the 5.0 was near as good as a motor as a 5.4....my new truck 5.4 weighs far more than my 95.....and gets better mileage and hauls a whole lot more.... 5K lbs behind my 95 (even before the lift) and the thing was groaning.....5k behind my 07 and I hardly know its there...

 

Had mine changed at 65,500 and no problems. They followed the TSB. The tips on the old plugs looked like new and could have gone a lot longer.

 

Exactly. Ford recomends changing them at 100,000K for a reason.

 

beware deisele75, them are fighting words to some people

 

LMAO...... OK..... I'm Sorry everybody.

 

Well I was going to wait until 100K but got a cylinder 8 misfire code the other day so might be a little sooner than anticipated. However, it is running fine now knock on wood.

 

I changed mine at 51,000 miles. They all came out with no problems, installed the new plug design that will not break. I plan on having this truck for the long haul and I did not want to wait until 100,000 miles and then have some break.

After 35,000 - 40,000 miles the plugs
are worn and you can lose up to 5 HP or more. The reason why a lot of the auto makers are claiming that these plugs do not need to be changed until 100,000 miles is so they can show a low cost of ownership which looks really good on the JD Powers report.

When I changed the plugs I noticed a difference immediately.

 

Wife has a 2005 Explorer with the 4.6 2V old design. But head has more threads and Ford used antiseize on the plug threads! At around 40,000 miles the cop wires started cracking and setting codes. She had the dealer replace them and they convinced her the plugs should be replaced also, So she had them do the plugs also. As "justification" for changing the plugs they gave her the "worse worn" one. Needless to say it was in good shape still at 40,000 miles. The platinum puck still had good life left, the plug color was spot on and clean and the plug gap was not much larger than specs for new plugs. Could it have gone to 100,000 miles? Yes, with her style of driving and the rate she piles on the miles. But most likely with loss of mpg and power. My 2002 F150 with the 4.6 but with the 3 thread head would probably blow a plug or rust the plug so it's difficult to remove. After almost 7 years I've only gone 38,500 miles. Last Fall I loosened the plugs, didn't remove them, but retorqued them to factory specs. Come next Spring or Summer I'll change them for new Motorcrafts, put antiseize on the threads and torque them to factory specs. I broke them loose last year because I was afraid they could seize if left for too manny years undisturbed.

Whimsey

 

where are all the "broke my plug" guys? they always come out of the woodwork when there is a thread that discusses if a plug change should be performed.

I know there are alot more than just 2 people who have broken plugs on FTE. and 9/10 of them were early changes

 

Well took my 05 F150 5.4 to the dealer today for the brake recall. I asked the service manager about the cost of changing the plugs and he said " why would you change them now the go 100,000 miles" I meantioned about reading on here that they build up with carbon and break. He said that they have NEVER broke any and the cost with plugs would be $160.00. he said that there is a T.S.B out on them but he nor any of his mechanics have ever seen one break. He has an 04 that he waited until 1000,000 miles and the came out, he said just don't get in a hurry and snap them off. So I will wait and see what happens.

 

9/10 of them were NOT early plug changes......check the old threads...most of them were at 75000 miles or more...

 

ok, this was pathetic. I spent 2 hours searching through the 2004+ F-150 Forum. I went from present day to spring of 2005. Used the search terms or "broken" "spark" "plug" in the 2004+ F-150 forum only.

There is a really interesting thread from 2005 that is 5 pages long...actually, there a several 5/6 pagers. Some really imaginative ideas for removing broken plugs. Highly recommend anybody who breaks one read that thread.

The list below is the people who have posted about changing their plugs and the results.

I predicted 9/10 changes result in a breakage. Boy was I wrong. In other threads I guessed it's a 50/50 crapshoot. Should have listened to myself. If you account for all the broken vs. the non-broken in this forum alone, # is 25 breaks vs. 20 non-broken. I'm too geeked out to do a similar search for the Superduty 5.4 forum and the Expy forum. Probably find similar results

so, for the F-150 it's a 60% chance you'll break your plugs.




Broken at 100,000+ miles

Broken under 100,000 miles

Not Broken

Broken, Don't know the mileage

 

if you really want to get technical. only 9 of the 16 known mileage breakages were at or over 75,000 miles.

factoring in the 9 unknown mileages and assume they were <75k (figure 15k/yr mileage, so average 2004 truck would only have 60-70,000 miles)...that gives you 18 of 25 breaks under 75,000...or 7/10 breaks occured below the 75,000 mile point


<90,000 miles with breakage (>90k is too close to 100K, therefore can't "truly" be considered an early change)



I know, we could assume the 9 unknownrs could be over 100k...but realistically, they won't be. and I fully admit to not being a staticions (sp?)

 

1 Person had them break out under 40,000 miles....which is why i'd say to everyone...change them EARLY.....get them swapped out and don't worry about a 50/50chance at 100,000 miles....

I still don't see your logic in waiting...