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joebuck57 · Jun 21, 2008, 08:02 AM

How do I change spark plugs in my ford 4.6L V8 engine

twinkiedooter · Jun 21, 2008, 05:06 PM

Go to the auto store and buy sparkplugs for your vehicle. Ask the clerk for the gap size. Buy a gap meter. Take the spark plug boot off ONE plug. Use the proper size spark plug socket and remove the old plug. Gap the new plug. Gently put the new plug into the spark plug hole and finger tighten it. Use the socket to give it a final 1/4 turn. Do not overtighten. Put the plug wire boot back on the plug. Do the next plug the same way. Don't try taking all the wires off the plugs at once. If you do this you will drastically change the order in which the engine fires the plugs and your engine will never run the same unless you pay a mechanic to get the wire back onto the right plug.

It's relatively easy to do this yourself. When I first buy a used vehicle I change the plugs and the wires at the same time as I have to pull the wire off the plug one at a time and I just take the other end of the plug out of the cap. This way I kill two birds with one stone. If you ever have to change the cap, do the same thing - one wire at a time from the old cap to the new cap or you'll never get it to fire right unless in the right cap position.

TxGreaseMonkey · Jun 21, 2008, 06:14 PM

Stick with the exact Motorcraft spark plugs that came in the vehicle. If you must go with an alternative brand plug for your Ford, choose Autolites. Change platinum plugs every 50,000 miles, not the 100,000 miles recommended by Ford.

twinkiedooter · Jun 22, 2008, 01:21 PM

From the photos I looked at online for this particular engine - it DOES have Spark plug wires that have spark plug boots on them. If you don't like our answers then I would strongly suggest you take your engine to the dealership and have them show you how to change your spark plugs. TexasGreaseMonkey and I certainly do not deserve REDDIES from you. I can't imagine what you are talking about if your spark plug has no spark plug wire with a boot that goes over the end of the spark plug. Just HOW does your engine differ from what I observed online? You are calling a spark plug boot a coil. It is a spark plug boot not a coil. If you don't know how to change your spark plugs, then take it to a mechanic and watch him do it, and then you do it the next time. Simple solution.

wildandblue · Jun 22, 2008, 01:38 PM

You don't give model year. I was going to answer in the same direction these experts are going, but I think I heard somewhere, don't know where, that the plugs are very hard to get to, engine has to be raised out or partially disassembled? I would take it to dealer for service if that is the case. Unless you just enjoy that sort of thing.

TxGreaseMonkey · Jun 22, 2008, 02:08 PM

With an attitude like yours, you don't deserve any help. Such arrogance! You should move on and don't come back.

twinkiedooter · Jun 22, 2008, 02:34 PM

Just wondering if he has an engine that has no spark plug wires. Out of the millions and millions of cars and car engines manufactured since 1910, is HIS engine any different? Don't think so. I think he has one of those engines that has to be practically taken out of the car to be serviced and I don't think he has the expertise to do it even if we gave him step by step directions on how to do it.

wildandblue · Jun 23, 2008, 09:30 AM

Well he is a new member, can't expect them to know all the rules. He had already given two red marks so I knew what I was in for by responding but I guess I'm color blind and couldn't care less. But when you start, "how do I change a spark plug" which is like unscrewing a lightbulb basically, you should expect a very simplistic response. But I always imagine the guy has the thing already in pieces on the floor, won't ask for directions, you know, finally realises he's bit off a little too much. Can't let the wife know this, so he goes to the computer and calls us up. He's already used up most of his patience. So try to understand his point of view, even if he's abrasive about it.

wildandblue · Jun 24, 2008, 08:03 AM

Where are those manuals? I used to have all the Chilton's repair manuals but never see them any more. And when I looked under the hood I've got some very strange looking spark plug wires in there too (Pontiac). They don't have boots, just little plastic clips that look like I could easily and costly break them if I monkey around.

wildandblue · Jun 25, 2008, 09:34 AM

They may not even be calling us up directly, I think our link appears if you go to the computer and type in, HELP! But this is the Ask Me Help Desk, not the HELLLPPP!! Desk.

Fr_Chuck · Jun 25, 2008, 01:39 PM

I will jump in here, if you don't know how to screw out a plug and screw another plug in, you don't need to open the hood and be working on your car.

So take it to the shop, wait, pay the mechanic

this8384 · Jul 18, 2008, 05:56 AM

Originally Posted by twinkiedooter

Just wondering if he has an engine that has no spark plug wires. Out of the millions and millions of cars and car engines manufactured since 1910, is HIS engine any different? Don't think so. I think he has one of those engines that has to be practically taken out of the car to be serviced and I don't think he has the expertise to do it even if we gave him step by step directions on how to do it.

Just my 2 cents: he very well may have a coil-over-plug design which means that there are not any plug wires to replace, so to speak...