I have a 1997 F150 with the 5.4L. The truck has a 116k. I am looking to have the spark plugs done at a shop. I have a few questions. How many miles should the plugs be good for? What is the best spark plug to get? Also is there anything else that should be replaced at this time that would save labor later?

 

Well, most of this info is in your owners manual, but here you go. The plugs should be replaced at 60 - 80K for best performance. The best plug to get is Motorcraft, or Autolite double platinum. The wires should also be replaced, also with Motorcraft. All belts and hoses need to be inspected and replaced if necessary. The O2 sensors should also be replaced every 80,000, so if you have more than that, just replace it.

 

Since you have a 5.4 replace the COPs and use only Motorcraft plugs.

 

Dont forget the Fuel Filter,and I would also suggest a professional injector cleaning...

 

Thanks for the advice guys. I was thinking along the lines of gaskets and such as well. I have heard you have to remove a lot of stuff to get to the plugs. Would any of this save me labor on say replacing the valve cover gaskets or thermostat etc. Nothing is wrong with the truck but I want to think proactively. My mechanic is very good about not charging labor to replace things if they are right there as well. My sebring for example was quoted to triple the amount of hours to do a timing belt at other places as my mechanic did. They quoted more because they were charging all of the book time to replace the water pump and misc gaskets that by the timing you do the timing belt did not add much labor to the job.