- 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!
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!