Motorcraft Spark Plugs GONE

rogerblose

Member
Jan 11, 2007
53
11
19
Well they are gone. After a three month research project, I was able to change out the dreaded 2 piece spark plugs and finally relax. It all started with the panic complaints on this and other mustang web site which described the horrible breaking of these units which Ford had installed in all V-8 2005-07 Mustangs. Ford knows that they have a big problem since they re-engineered the 2008 and up cylinder heads and spark plugs to accept a completely new 1 piece design. Don't bother trying to put the newer 1 piece units in your car since they are a different design and size! I have watched the FORD video on "broken plug extraction" on FLATRATETECH.com three times and it took the two FORD factory techs a long time to clean up this engineering mess. Some owners have paid up to $700 at the dealers to extract the broken plugs only to replace them with the same skunk Motorcraft units. Nice.
Okay, everyone is using Champion 1 piece double plats which are available at a wide range of prices. Advanced Auto, $18.99, Sparkplugs.com, $11.99, etc. so I go mine and purchased the required cans of "carb cleaner". As a back up, I had my local gas station on standby to bail me out if I broke any plugs in my daily driver. My station technician told me that SNAP-ON already has a 3V extraction kit available to help local techs work on this mess. Nice!
I did not sleep the night before. I followed the FORD TSB that calls for cold motor, 1/8 turn, stop, carb cleaner soak, ( Ford says 15 minutes, me, 90 minutes), torque wrench up to 30 ft lbs., and slow and easy. 6 came out smoothly, and two squeeked and groaned at 40-50 ft.lbs all the way but they are out and I fell to my knees! All of these plugs had a lot of carbon on the barrels. Also, the Motorcraft plugs are a 9/16 socket, the Champions are a 5/8 socket so watch out AGAIN!
Anti-seize on all of the Champions threads and in they went at 30 Ft Lbs. My car started right up, idles nicely, and seems to have more snap than before. I have 27,300 miles on my car. I could not imagine what those old plugs would have looked like at higher mileage. Good luck to all!:nice:
 
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I, too, replace my own plugs recently. 7 of 8 came out easily. 1 groaned the whole way out, but came out in one piece - thankfully! Installed FRPP 3V0's (copper & one heat range cooler for my supercharger) and the car runs much smoother now (no more supercharger blow out and misfire!).

On a side note, the Ford TSB says to put anti-seize on the barrel, NOT ON THE THREADS. By putting anti-seize on the threads, you risk having your plugs work their way loose. Take them out, clean the threads with gasoline, dry them off, and coat the barrel only - per the TSB - before reinstalling.
 
A friend of mine , who is a ford tech, changed mine for me. We were both scared to death because of the 65k miles on the car. The first plug he tried broke off, and we both were in agony. After an hour of him removing the broken plug & cleaning everything out, The other 7 plugs came out with a little struggle. We put in the Brisk 1 piece plug and the car runs great and I sleep better knowig that the OEM plugs are gone.
 
Plugs

I put in Champions over 12,000 miles ago, car is still running great. When I removed my originals there was 38,000 on the clock. The second one broke off. I chickened out , trucked it to my dealer who broke off 5 more. I never want to relive that again. Needless to say, I sleep much better knowing my one piece Champions are on the job. :nice:
 
Boy I feel so very lucky after hearing this continuous stream of misery! How did you talk the FORD dealer into installing your Champion plugs after they broke the remaining Motorcraft plugs? They usually start with the"...these plug are good for 100K, why change now, followed by a discussion about voiding engine related warantee work" with aftermarket products!
 
The plug gap is listed in the owner's manual as between .040-.050. I really debated the anti-seize issue on the Champions and decided to coat the actual threads to ease in and future removal. FORD says that the plugs will loosen up with anti-seize on the threads, I say given the friction going in and the bolted on coil packs, I will take that chance and retorque / check it down the road. Also, FORD is counting on re-installing the same skunk Motorcraft plugs which will again require a clean path past the threads for the carb cleaner to travel and break the carbon locks. Let's all hope that the engineers at FORD who designed and approved this fiasco have been fired by now.
 
Boy I feel so very lucky after hearing this continuous stream of misery! How did you talk the FORD dealer into installing your Champion plugs after they broke the remaining Motorcraft plugs? They usually start with the"...these plug are good for 100K, why change now, followed by a discussion about voiding engine related warantee work" with aftermarket products!

Actually, they can't void the warranty for different plugs anymore than they can for using a different brand of oil. As long as the plugs fit and have the proper gap, doesn't matter what brand you use.
 
Actually, they can't void the warranty for different plugs anymore than they can for using a different brand of oil. As long as the plugs fit and have the proper gap, doesn't matter what brand you use.

You are correct, and that right is guaranteed by the Moss-Magnuson Act. Basically, a manufacturer cannot void a warranty for using non-factory parts. All they can do is refuse to cover a failure that was clearly caused by that aftermarket part.
 
You guys have it made. Try doing this procedure in the number 4 and 8 cylinders on a F150 and then we can talk. :notnice: Its hard to imagine that some engineer at Ford actually thought this was a good idea. Hopefully he was one of the countless thousands that got laid off. Even better, maybe they sent him to GM...
 
after this thread started i couldnt take it anymore. i ordered a set of champs 7989 plugs and had nightmares for 2 days until they came in. i went to my buddys shop and gave him the reigns to the stallion as i couldnt bear to do it my self. ive changed hundreds of plugs but couldnt stand to hear the sound of one snapping off. it didnt hurt that he is an ASE certified mechanic either:nice: anywho, we got 5 out no problem. the last 3 gave some resistance but after more lube they moaned and groaned like a $2 fluzzy but finally gave in. the key is to turn very slow. gapped the new plugs to .045 and it fired right up, it smoked a bit from the lube but settled down after a few minutes. i anti siezed the barrels and put just a tad on the threads. im going to sleep like a baby tonight:D
 
Plugs

Installing Champion plugs was the best thing I've done to my '06 GT. I know what you mean about sleeping better. What breaks me up are these guys (listening Dustin?) that bad mouth Champion plugs and pull their 2 piece POS plugs every month or so to clean and re-lube them. Sorry, but that's insane. I have over 12,000 completely trouble free miles on my Champions and I've never driven a better running car.
I've read a few negitive posts regarding the new Champions, but far and away most are positive. I'm convinced that most of the problems come from faulty installations.
The best part of running Champions? When it does come time to replace them, they'll come out the way they went in - IN ONE PIECE. :nice: