Spark Plug Change

[Fritz]

I just picked my truck up and notice a little “jerkiness” in the acceleration. I’m gonna try the plugs.
The last Ford I bought was a ‘01 Mustang Gt. The previous owner warned me it would ping on hard acceleration if not ran on premium fuel. I changed out the Bosh spark plugs for factory motorcraft and the problem went away.

Well it’s almost a year later and I finally got around to this.
I lost the motorcraft plugs I was gonna use. Parts store didn’t have them either. I used NGK’s.
Factory plugs were pretty dirty but didn’t show any wear.

EDIT: I'm at 80k miles.

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[NotBudule]

Well it’s almost a year later and I finally got around to this.
I lost the motorcraft plugs I was gonna use. Parts store didn’t have them either. I used NGK’s.
Factory plugs were pretty dirty but didn’t show any wear.

Any signs water was getting in some?

 

[txquailguy]

I think I changed mine at about 30K....I'll have to go back in here and see. I went with a NGK Ruthenium plug that was 1 step colder than our factory plugs. I run a tune in mine as a daily driver for the Mrs and I wanted to maximize performance. I'm at just over 88K so I'll probably change mine again soon.....the only drop in performance I've seen is putting 20lb heavier, K02's on recently. That definitely takes a big bite out of low end quickness....

 

[Fritz]

Any signs water was getting in some?

The porcelain looked a bit rust stained maybe.

 

[Fritz]

Any signs water was getting in some?

 

[NotBudule]

The porcelain looked a bit rust stained maybe.

just curious if you park outside ...

 

[Fritz]

just curious if you park outside ...

I don't park outside. I've only had the truck for 20k though. It was some kind of fleet truck before I got it.

 

[RangerBill]

The porcelain looked a bit rust stained maybe.

The picture shows corona stain from the presence of high voltage, not rust. This is a normal condition not caused by water.

 

[Mustang2Ranger]

I was going to say something like RangerBill, but he said it better

 

[rcairflr]

My guess is he would be doing it for mileage reasons. Belive it or not Ford actually recommends the EcoBoost to have Plugs changed every 60,000 miles. I know I'm not too far from it myself.

Then why does the Owners Manual state every 100,000 miles?

 

[Frenchy]

Then why does the Owners Manual state every 100,000 miles?

If you're running premium you can get away with 100,000 miles. Some of the other people on here run 87 because they think it's the best and run it on a performance tune for that matter those are the people that need to probably change it at $30,000 miles if you ask me and Ford put out a bulletin about EcoBoost Motors needing to change at 60,000 because of running 87

 

[Fritz]

The picture shows corona stain from the presence of high voltage, not rust. This is a normal condition not caused by water.

I’ve never noticed this on other plugs. You think this is common?

 

[RangerBill]

I’ve never noticed this on other plugs. You think this is common?

From the shop manual:

Corona Stain

1. • A brown stain near where the insulator joins the metal shell of the spark plug is often called a corona stain and is produced when oil particles present in the air near the engine adhere to the insulator surface. Corona discharge occurs when high voltage applied to the conductor on top of the spark plug causes an insulation breakdown of the air gap between the insulator and metal shell. Corona stain does not affect spark plug performance. In the upper right photograph, tracking marks are present indicating evidence of flash over on ribs, but stop once the corona stain is reached. This suggests the corona stain is not conductive, even in the presence of high kilovolts during normal operation. The lower right photo demonstrates corona staining on the inside of a boot.
2. • No corrective action is necessary if only a corona stain is present.

 

[Bsthroop]

After all the talk of water in the spark plug wells and thread seizing I decided to check my plugs and install anti seize. With 21k miles plugs look fine and no water issues. Plugs were easy to remove but were very squeaky so I used never seize to protect the threads going forward. It's an easy job of 15 or 20 minutes but a few notes to make the job easier. Get a 5/8 spark plug socket to speed the removal since the wells are very deep. Look down in the wells before removing just to ensure no foreign material, mine were clean. The rear plug sits under the fuel pump(I think) so it is best to unhook the wires from the coil so you can turn it to remove. Mine was very short and I couldn't get it off without unplugging it. When replacing that rear coil, be sure it lines up. Because you can't push it straight down, so the first try it missed the plug. I had to angle it in the well while pushing the boot straight to catch the top of the plug. A few obligatory photos to finish off. You can see the plug on the coil has a white tab that slides back, then a gentle lift of a clip under that.

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