113,800 miles on plugs w/ pics - 2009 F150 5.4 3V

[04SE]

I changed the plugs on my new to me truck today, 2009 FX4. Plugs are original Motorcraft plugs with 113,800 miles on them. The truck ran & idled just fine with no hesitation or misfires. It seems that non-OEM plugs have a recommended gap at around 0.044" but OEM is 0.041". The original plugs were all north of 0.050" and most were in the 0.055" range. The finewire tip was MIA on all of the plugs. I think 100,000 service on these plugs is too much. I would say that 60,000-70,000 would be a good time to change them.

R&R was very easy on the passenger side. The only real 'tough' one is the rear plug on the driver's side. I replaced them with OEM Motorcraft SP-509 plugs gapped at 0.041".

The truck definitely starts quicker and has better throttle response. I was surprised at the difference.

Sorry for the picture qualify, my iPhone 4S needs to be retired.

 

[Chris142]

I pulled some 206k plugs out of a customers Chevy and they were worn to .070

 

[Pontual]

Nice strong coils this thing has to jump spark with such worn central electrodes. Good Lord!

 

[Gasbuggy]

Are these the infamous snapping plugs?

 

[04SE]

Originally Posted By: Gasbuggy
Are these the infamous snapping plugs?


No. Those are on 2004-2008.5 model year 3V engines. Ford revised the design halfway through the 2008 model year.

 

[CarbonSteel]

They look similar to the ones that I changed in my 2010 FX4 at 128,000 miles. Did you change all 8 COP boots too?

 

[04SE]

Originally Posted By: 2015_PSD
They look similar to the ones that I changed in my 2010 FX4 at 128,000 miles. Did you change all 8 COP boots too?


No, never even crossed my mind. I just put a squirt of dielectric grease into each COP boot before re-installation.

 

[bdcardinal]

Good call changing the plugs when you did. We replace a fair amount of coil boots when we do plugs, especially when the customer waits a long time to replace them. On the 2V motors it was more common due to the coolant crossover leaking into the tubes, but not as common on the 3V and unheard of of the 4V engines. Usually we have to replace them on the 3V and 4V engines just from them tearing when the coil is removed.

I pulled the plugs on my '14 Mustang when it had 15k miles and they looked similar to how yours look.

 

[KD0AXS]

Originally Posted By: 04SE
Originally Posted By: Gasbuggy
Are these the infamous snapping plugs?


No. Those are on 2004-2008.5 model year 3V engines. Ford revised the design halfway through the 2008 model year.


I have those in my truck. Not looking forward to that job, which I should do soon.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Should've used NGK Laser Iridium, if available for your car. Iridium plugs last well beyond 100k

 

[The_Eric]

Originally Posted By: slacktide_bitog
Should've used NGK Laser Iridium, if available for your car. Iridium plugs last well beyond 100k

That's probably what they are...

 

[The_Eric]

Originally Posted By: Chris142
I pulled some 206k plugs out of a customers Chevy and they were worn to .070



I pulled some out of 4 liter cammer Explorer that I had to use a tape measure to check! I am not kidding! Gap was .125" and it ran fine otherwise.

 

[bdcardinal]

Originally Posted By: The_Eric
Originally Posted By: slacktide_bitog
Should've used NGK Laser Iridium, if available for your car. Iridium plugs last well beyond 100k

That's probably what they are...


Ford uses NGK a lot on the newer stuff. I think the OEM ones on that were platinum.

 

[CarbonSteel]

Originally Posted By: 04SE
Originally Posted By: 2015_PSD
They look similar to the ones that I changed in my 2010 FX4 at 128,000 miles. Did you change all 8 COP boots too?
No, never even crossed my mind. I just put a squirt of dielectric grease into each COP boot before re-installation.
As far as I know the COP boots are a wear item just as the spark plugs are. Since you changed the plugs yourself, not a big deal on the labor "cost", but if you encounter misfires in the future, just keep that in the back of your head.

 

[04SE]

Originally Posted By: 2015_PSD
Originally Posted By: 04SE
Originally Posted By: 2015_PSD
They look similar to the ones that I changed in my 2010 FX4 at 128,000 miles. Did you change all 8 COP boots too?
No, never even crossed my mind. I just put a squirt of dielectric grease into each COP boot before re-installation.
As far as I know the COP boots are a wear item just as the spark plugs are. Since you changed the plugs yourself, not a big deal on the labor "cost", but if you encounter misfires in the future, just keep that in the back of your head.


Good to know. I checked O'Reillys and they have Motorcraft boots for around $10 a piece and an off brand for $5 a piece.

I was actually surprised at how thick/heavy the boot was compared to the COP boots on my CVPI.

I am just amazed at how much better the truck runs/idles and I thought it was just fine before.