I just bought my first ford v10. I really like it alot. I wanted to change the plugs in it but I am not sure if I should. Any tips you guys have? The truck is a 2000 with 131000 on it I am not sure if it was done before or not. I dont want to have the spark plug blow out to happen so I thought of changing them and checking the torque every so often.

 

I'd change them. Use a smidgen of nickel anti-seize on the threads and them torque properly. I changed mine at 30,000 and 60,000 miles and will change next at 120,000 miles. I use the Autolite APP double platinum plugs. I haven't found a need to re-torque between plug changes on my '00 model.

 

Do you guys have the torque specs for the plugs? Also, how do you get a torque wrench on some of those back plugs, looks awfully tight to me, even if you take off the fuel rail, which I assume you have to do.

 

I did my 2000 this year. The fuel rail stayed in place. I would advise replacing the COP "springs" at the same time. Several of mine fell apart when they were removed due to age. I also used anti seize, even though some say no. I have used it in every engine I own for the last 20 years.

Torque values range from 12-28 depending on who you believe. I originally did 14 and went back and snugged them to 28 ft. lbs. after reading #39 in the FAQ's
FAQs

 

Thanks, I appreciate the tips!

 

The torque value is 84-168 inch pounds and does specify using anti-sieze on the threads. That is out of the Haynes manual for 99-02's.

 

I use 14 ft lbs (168 in lbs) with no anti-seize. To get the toque wrench on some of the back plugs you have to put the extensions in the hole and then attach the toque wench. If you use a clicker wrench just click it 2 or 3 times and install the coils and forget about them for 100K miles. I changed the ones on my 2000 at 65K and it was a waist of time and money because the old plugs looked like new. I talked to the contractor that bought my old 2000 V10 work truck with 100K on the original plugs when I sold it and at that time it had 140K with the same plugs without the toque ever being checked.

Denny

 

The used truck I just bought ( 00 F-350 V10 ) had a cylinder 8 miss fire and I wondered if they had cleaned the engine and water had gotten into the spark plug well .

Sure enough when I removed the coil and blew air into the well , water , although not much , came out .

I went over-kill on this tune-up since it was my truck and put some kano kroil penetrating oil down the well and loosened the plug a little ( allowing it to seep down the threads ) before blowing the well out again before removing the spark plug . My truck spent all it's life in Cali except the last year in Arizona and there was very fine silt/sand down the wells and covering the frame . I did use silver anti-seize but would use cooper if I didn't have silver ( I'm ole school ). I also started the engine each time I removed a plug to remove any crap that remained in the treads or fell into the cylinder .

( Did I mention I went over-kill ...........??? )

Torqued to spec and used die-electric grease on boot end and also on the seal at top of well to help seal out water and crap .

I didn't care about setting codes since I would clear any when done .

One last thing , people forget how much gasoline is passed through the fuel filter ( higher rate of flow/use ) , don't forget to replace the FF more often .

There are some good threads on tune ups in the tech folders also .

PS , for those that have never heard of Kroil , do a google ( ) search on Kano Kroil . Learned about it from a friend years ago that restored tractors that had been sitting outside for years . He'd put some around the spark plugs to get them loose , than down the cylinders and let it soak . Said he had about a 95 % success rate on freeing up stuck engines . Good stuff

 

Thanks for all the info. I replaced the plugs last week. It took most of the day, some of the plug holes had alot of crap in them I used pb blaster on all of them and blew them out. Kroil is the best but I ran out. I found out the plugs were never changed. They ranged from .075 to .080plus gap. 132 thousand miles. I installed motorcraft plugs and torqued them to 20 ft lbs. I went alittle over board on this tuneup also.

 

Good point! Something that gets 10mpg should really have the filter replaced twice as often as something that gets 20mpg.

 

i've had the plugs for a month or so and been meaning to do it. i was alittle worried about the rear ones but i guess they arent a big deal?

 

I did the plugs in my 2002 V10 last spring, not nearly as bad as I would have guessed it was going to be.

 

No, just tight area and a little more time consuming. Get a good mat to lay across on and get comfortable. While your in there doing all that work make sure you replace the boots. They are usually the culprit of water intrusion and misfires.

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For educational purposes: Anti-sieze also acts as a thread lubricant during installation. If you use anti-sieze, you should use only (around) 60% of a dry thread torque specification. The manufacturer of the anti-sieze should be able to tell you exact amount to reduce.

Whether to use it or not is a fun debate. Myself, I normally always use it when threading steel into aluminum. But not on this particular engine. I install dry and change every 2-3 years. Dry so that there is much lower risk of them loosening (a common cause of thread damage and spitting plugs), and change frequently because there is no ant-sieze to prevent galvanic siezing.

 

On the permatex web site they recommend using there copper anti-seize. It say recommended for spark plugs in aluminum heads. Some people have said nickel. I'm not sure what to buy. Any advice.
Budman