Just changed plugs and fuel filter

[Dave Sanquenetti]

I just changed the plugs tonight and the fuel filter a couple of days ago. I have no intentions of changing the plugs again until this baby hits 100,000. Its at 48,000 now. #3 plug was challenging and #6 was almost as bad. Take a look at these and tell me if anything looks out of the ordinary? I've been running 87 octane and only 3 tanks of E85 since I purchased the truck 3 months ago with 45,000 on it.



Screamin Demon coil, wires, and 87 performance/93 performance/93 torque tunes with Xcal3 should be here in the next week or so.



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[EddieS'04]

4,5,6, look to have some uneven electrode wear. They apear to be burning clean.

 

[Dave Sanquenetti]

Fast Eddie'04,12/24/2007 00:31 ET



4,5,6, look to have some uneven electrode wear. They apear to be burning clean.

4 was a bit more ashy than the others. Most of the plugs were in the .052 - .056 range. One was at .060. Any thoughts for the difference in wear?



Thanks for the response!

 

[Shelby Crane]

I would say those look great after 50k miles. Spark plugs that are gaped differently (i.e. angle of gap) will wear differently. Maybe someone here knows more........

 

[Dre L]

The factory plugs are all over the place in terms of gap. when you put your new ones in, make sure you check the gap, even if they were pre-gapped.



I gapped all of mine at .054. The factory ones were upward of .060 (I think there may have been a change in gap between 2001 Job1 and Job2 models.)



The pre-gapped ones I purchased at .054 were all over .060.



#3 has 5 blue stripes, all the others have 6 blue stripes.

 

[Don Pertz]

I'm calling for an eye exam on Wednesday. I see 5 blue stripes on all 6.

 

[Kevin Palmer]

I am seeing 5 stripes as well... LOL



For 50,000 miles the plugs are in great shape.



As noted, the gap can be a WIDE spread from the factory, thus, the electrode wear difference.

 

[Martin]

I only see 5 as well :lol:



Test your eyes with the image below







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[Kevin Palmer]

I have seen this one before, but it is pretty neat.



Basically a reverse image, but it is strange how our mind works...

 

[Scott Heckler]

The screamon deamon coil will allow you to gap the plugs wider but is not required. What did you gap the new plugs at? If memory serves me right, you can go to .060 with the new coil. Just a thought.

 

[Todd Z]

I have noticed the Ford plugs tend to wear out on that one side over the other. I think it is the pressure difference in the fuel rails causing a slightly lean condition on that side of the engine which wears the plugs more...



My Ford plugs went at 60K with a miss on the # 5 cylinder. My truck also had the different part number plugs that some of the ST's had...



With all my OEM plugs coming out worn over .60 I installed the plugs with the .54 gap even with the S/D coil.



The larger gap on the st is not huge factor and IF the new plugs wear a little it is a little insurance policy for me...



I also indexed them as well.....



Todd Z

 

[Martin]

I had 70k miles on my 2003 Ford Edge before trading it in....never had to change the plugs....but then again, never used "cheap" gas either

 

[Aaron Yarbough]

I had 70k miles on my 2003 Ford Edge before trading it in....never had to change the plugs....but then again, never used "cheap" gas either

"Cheap gas"? What does that have to do with anything? Besides, there is no such thing as cheap gas.... Those marketing people have really done a number on some people. :lol:

 

[scott degroot]

The reason for the gap being larger on all the plugs is that they wear, as the plug fires over time it eventually wears the electrode away and therefore opens up the gap, as far as the plugs on the left side of the motor(4,5,6) having what some call an abnormal wear pattern, this is caused by the firing polarity of the coil pack. On the left side of the motor the plugs are fired with positive polarity and on the right with a negative polarity (or vice versa). For some years Ford was using 2 different plugs in their engines to alleviate this but the benefits were minimal so they stopped doing it...now you now the rest of the story

 

[Todd Z]

I would go along with the polarity theory but Looking at the wiring and the schematic of the ST coil pack, I am going to disagree...



The st coil has 4 wires on it, thats it... It fires 2 plugs at the same time.... Being only a v6, it is tough to fire 1 of those coils to allow a polarity switch on this setup.



Ford is not that good with wiring any way, they would screw it up and the truck would never run right !!! :lol::lol::lol::lol:



Todd Z

 

[Martin]

In meaning "cheap gas", I'm referring to those stations who....on purpose mess with their storage tanks to make their gas go longer. Have found that only the "no name" stations around here have been caught in the past messing with their storage tanks. But still charge just as much as the big guys like Mobil, Exxon, Shell, etc.



And just maybe, I've been lucky in never having to change out any spark plugs in any car I've owned.

 

[Dre L]

For all of you that counted stripes...





MADE YOU LOOK

 

[ga rebel]

"Cheap gas"? What does that have to do with anything? Besides, there is no such thing as cheap gas.... Those marketing people have really done a number on some people.

yup, people make me laugh about the theories of gas and have no clue about what they are talking about