changing plugs today...I have no sticker under hood to tell gap specs....I see .052 to .056 is good....I'am taking out autolite double platinum with a gap of .043 now i'am confused.....with no sticker to tell gap why would the person before me gap to .043????? I'am going with the .054 on mine .....anyone have any suggestions?? 98 f250 LD 5.4 70,000miles 2wd....Thanks jimmy

.052-.056 is what the manual calls for.

coil on plug bolt sheared off
 

I have a 2001, 4.6L obviously with the damn COP's.

Ok, I read this whole thread and must be only superman here, not really. I am not the overtightening kinda guy, so I am surprised no one has the problem I had. And I am not talking about over tightening the plugs, as you might think. I changed 1-3, then started on 5, then 6 and BAM!! broke off the COP bolt when tightening it down. I wasn't even trying that hard, and had already done 1-3 without a problem. Then when investigating further, found out that I had also popped the #5 COP bolt as well, without even realizing it. SO I have 2 COP's that are just loose, holding by bythe spring to the plug.

I have never drilled out anything, but with all these people here who know what the COP bolt is, can anyone with drill out experience suggest anything on how to fix my delema?

Without this thread, I would not have even attempted my plug change, so thanks for that, but now I am almost wishing I didn't...please help me regain my confidence that I did the right thing in not paying someone to change my plugs.

thanks,

Scott

Scott, that is quite a dilemma. I have a COPS truck with only 855 miles on it so far, and I gotta look forward to this??? Holy ****owski. One thing that I was always told was that things that are delicate have a built in breaking point. Like the bolts on my brakes are made of white metal so that if I overtighten it, the bolts will break before I overtighten and do some real damage, so I think that was your warning sign. OK, 'nough about lecturing. You gotta get the broken bolts out and need an extractor set. I've only tapped out a broken bolt once, but the jist of it is, drill a small hole in the broken off part, then put the extractor drill bit into that hole and back out the broken bolt. The extractor bit is reverse threaded, so it should bite into the soft metal and slowly back out the bolt...and use a variable speed drill that has reverse on it. Pep Boys or Auto Zone, or Sears has these extractor sets. Sunday morning go to church, then begin the process. Good luck, and let us know how it all went for the future guys that may encounter the same issues.

I have noticed on the left back 3 of my 5.4 a little rust on the plugs. I was wondering if anyone has had a problem with this fouling plugs or coil packs going out?

Highvoltage,
This was exactly what I was afraid of. I think I know the problem. I have an older '98 F150 (problematic), and I just bought a new 2005 F150. Do this test>>> Open the hood of the truck,flip the windshield wipers up in a stationery position, then take a garden hose and turn on the water, and direct the water onto the windshield. Allow the water to run down the windshield freely, and observe if any water is dripping off the firewall and onto the motor. Yes, the water should flow into the plastic cowl which acts like a gutter, but if water is dripping onto the firewall, then it's also dripping on top of the motor. This is why you have to blow out the sparkplug holes of sand and debris; because the water transports the sand from the windshield into the plug holes. And when your truck is outside in a rainstorm the water drips into any one of the plug holes and is the likely culprit for a misfire and will trigger a misfire code for that plug, and you'll feel like you're running on 7 sparkplugs instead of all 8, until the heat of the motor dries out the water.
To fix the problem, (I've never done it though) the plastic piece has a waterseal (yeah right) and should be removed and resealed. You'll know what I mean when you see water dripping in those places. Under warranty? Take it in. Also, while I'm in a "water" frame of mind, check out your third stoplight on the roof of the truck. Does it hold condensation? Mine does from day 1. Let Ford know this fault too.

These directions are just what I have been looking for. My Chiltons is almost useless and I too am an old plug and wires guy. Now I feel I can check out my "cylinder 3 misfire" problem. Thanks much!

Ron

fixing the problem
 

I took a pitcher of water and found out where my water was coming from. The water was coming from a hole in the fire wall. There is a bonding strap from your intake to the fire wall, where it attaches to the fire wall ther is a ovaled hole. It is an overflow for your gutter that goes to your fender wells. I tool some RTV black and filled the hole. Guess what, no more water to leak on the back 2 cylinders. Thanks for the info.

Disconnecting COPs
 

I have an E150 van with a 5.4L, and found that #4 cylinder is not firing all the time. I expect I will need to change the Plug and the COP .. but I can't seem to easily disconnect the wiring from the COP. Is there any special release lever?

I found the #3 pulls off easily. I was able to reach #5 and #8, but neither of those wires wanted to come off (just like #4). Is #3 broken somehow? But, it doesn't show up as mis-firing on the computer.

My real concern is to be able to change #4. Should I just pull harder?

Hi and welcome to the forum :)

On the bottom side of the COP connector there is a tab that you squeeze to release it. It should come off easily after doing that.

Last fall (04) I took up the plunge and spent 18hrs changing the plugs on my 98 4.6. the NO4 wire refused to leave its snuggley bed. IPut in Bosh Plat. plugs and yesterday it started to mis-fire.
Stopped in to my local Ford dealer who suggested that after 50K on the plugs and 295000K on the wires it was time to replace the wires. After reading all the neg. about aftermarket plugs maybe I should put some Ford plugs in.

All the bosh plugs were covered in white ash except no4, it was black.
the new wires and plugs fixed the problem but why was no4 black.

Ps: It only took 4 hours this time, The2nd last tune up up was at a Ford dealer and the wires and plugs didn't want to come out??????

another question
 

My truck as been spitting and sputtering the past 2 weeks. I brought it in to have a test done on it. The check engine light is NOT on, so they could not give me an accurate answer on whether it was the fuel filter or the plugs. The guy told me that it may be the boots, that he didn't know if the coils should be replaced. Where should i go from here? change the filter first, since the test can't identify exactly what cylinder(s) are misfiring? thx for your help

Hi CDavis :)

How many miles on your spark plugs and fuel filter?
Did you take it to a dealer to get checked or another shop?
Your dealer can do a cylinder power balance test which should show which cylinder has the problem.

DMch,

I just replaced plugs and wires on my 97 4.6L. I put in Motorcraft plugs and wires in and haven't had a problem with a misfire.

Ps it only took about two hours to change plugs and wires.

HI skilife17

I had the miss fire before I change the plugs and wires. I could have done it in 2 hours but there is the time for checking this and that plus a thirst quencher here and there.
I'm still wondering why the NO4 was black and all the rest were white.