2017 Eco 6, just turned 100k. Time for plugs??

ManUpOrShutUp said:

It's an inherently stupid debate on both sides since the engineers are not the ones that provided those recommended intervals to begin with. If those recommendations came from them, they wouldn't be the same on every single vehicle, but rather would be based on the specifics of that particular vehicle. The engineers make their recommendations and we rarely ever get to know what they actually are because they've been filtered down through corporate bureaucracy ten times over in order to meet whatever standards are necessary to sell more vehicles. If your vehicle has a maintenance cost that is 3x that of the other guy, that's going to negatively impact the bottom line, so it's not getting published. Chevy has an SUV that gets 21 mpg and we can get 22 mpg by changing the recommended oil? Done. That didn't come from the engineers.

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I agree to an extent, however it's been touted by Ford and their dealers that the 5W20 oil spec for the 5.4L 3-valve is because the engine was "engineered for this oil".

Funny how the same engine was not "engineered" to the same oil specs outside of North America, where CAFE standards do not apply... and out in those places owners use 5W30 with great success in this very same engine and have fewer timing / cam phaser problems! (as per Makuloco and others)

The real truth here is that engineers will state what is the minimum oil & fluid specs required for the cars / trucks to last the warranty and get best MPG ratings. As such, light oils and stretched oil & fluid change intervals can be "recommended" by them, as these will not hurt the corporate bottom line.

Even the spark plug question here is a moot point to FoMoCo and their engineers : the OP's truck is long off warranty, so what do they care if the OP damages his engine or catalytic converters by not replacing plugs much sooner? Answer: they don't give a rat's ass, because it ain't coming out of their pockets, plus they'll be happy to sell him a new engine or cats!

I did mine at 70k. Do yourself a favor and pick up a couple extra clips for the coil connectors. I broke the two closest to the firewall. They get very brittle. Found them on Amazon for half of what the dealership wanted.


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TC16XLT said:

I did mine at 70k. Do yourself a favor and pick up a couple extra clips for the coil connectors. I broke the two closest to the firewall. They get very brittle. Found them on Amazon for half of what the dealership wanted.


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Do you have the part numbers for the clips? The clips were very brittle and fragile, and seemed like a cheap-design.

When I did my spark plugs, I also replaced the boots at the end of the coil packs (and used dielectric grease on the boots, as well as the seal at the top of the coil packs - which were stuck to the engine and were very difficult to remove.

Thank you.

It's good for an engine if you wind it out every so often. Open it up and get the RPMs up there once in a while. Driving conservatively all the time is actually detrimental to an engine IMO. Burn the carbon off...

Whoa! Hold the phone. I'm with ya on the plugs but, did you say you changed the recommended oil and pulled 22 LARGE outta that puppy? What kinda fracking runny fudge are you using?

Never had such a hard time getting the cop's off. Two of them left the bottom part of the cop boot on the old plug and had to dig it out with a long needle nose. Damaged both those and had to replace the boots.

Damn. Forgot to order clips. Ordered boots and bought iridium plugs. Hope to do tomorrow and avoid breaking clips

OGBobbyJohnson said:

Damn. Forgot to order clips. Ordered boots and bought iridium plugs. Hope to do tomorrow and avoid breaking clips

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I had two clips break. Used the tie-tie fix. I figure no one can see it with the engine cover on. I would like to order the clips but can't figure out how to just order the clips without the connectors if that's even possible.

On a turbo engine you should definitely not wait until 100K regardless of what any dealer or manufacturer says.
65-80 would be my max.

aagitch said:

I had two clips break. Used the tie-tie fix. I figure no one can see it with the engine cover on. I would like to order the clips but can't figure out how to just order the clips without the connectors if that's even possible.

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For better ventilation and longer service life of all parts (especially important for plastic parts), keep the stupid beauty cover OFF!

All the police interceptor vehicles I've seen / driven come stock with a "beauty cover delete". The Charger Enforcer (5.7 Hemi V8) even has the hood insulation deleted too!