Bright and early tomorrow I'm going to change the plugs and coils on my van. It's an E250 with a 5.4, 330 ci.. A mechanic I deal with says that I have to be very careful installing the new plugs as theres only a half dozen or less threads in the head and if they're over tightened it could spit out a plug. Don't want that happenin' so I'm asking for some guidance on this process and if there's a torque spec on the plugs. Don't want to spend the day on this and screw something up. All I'm trying to do is correct a miss that has never brought on a check engine light and has not recorded a code according to the scan. Any feedback is good feedback!

 

Vacuum the plug area out, spray lots of kroil into the area the night before, get a 7mm 1/4" drive swivel from craftsman.

Or pay the dealership to take the risk.

Since I refuse to work on 5.4s, I have not kept up, but, I think there is a new replacement plug/shield now.

 

Thanks. The 7mm socket with a swivel extension is a timesaver. This doesn't have the 2 piece plug I see so many posts on. Just a standard plug with a coil over that is a bear to get to. They came out pretty easily. Getting them out of the well proved a problem until I saw a post about using a piece of fuel line or something similar to slide over the top of the plug to lift it out. That was the trick! Also, giving your fingers a quick lesson in Braille would help. It's all touch and pray. Another trick on the van, remove the passenger seat then with the dog house off you can sit on the floor with your legs by the tranny. It's actually not to uncomfortable. Read the instructions that come with the coils and use the supplied grease. Not only does it prohibit corrosion it helps to slide the coil boot over the plug.

By the way, the stealership wanted $565.00 to do the plugs alone. I paid 37.19/coil, 5.27/plug and did the work. Around 360.00 with the tax. With taking it to Ford, the parts markup and labor to do it all with a diagnostic thrown in I'm guessing it would probably be close to 800.00 if not more! It's worth the hassle.

 

Now I know why I keep my 1988 E250 W/351.
About $12 for the plugs and I think the coil is still the original at 116K miles & 22 years! Of course #1 plug is a b#$@h to change but the rest are a breeze.

 

> Of course #1 plug is a b#$@h to change

Jack the vehicle up to drop the tire and come in from the wheel well, I think that is how I did my 351w last time.

> remove the passenger seat then with the dog house off you can sit on the floor

I do that frequently on the full sized and mini-vans. Why I keep a T60 handy in my road toolbox.

Glad to hear it turned out well !