Changing Plugs/COPs

[FordGate]

I finally bit the bullet and did the plugs on the 2003 EB with 5.4. Not as bad as I thought or read. The only really bad one is the passenger side rear and that wasn't a total PITA. All you need it one universal joint and a few extensions. I replaced all 8 plugs and COPs in well under 2 hours. I didn't worry at all about breaking the existing plugs and none broke. The old plugs had 130k miles on them and were worn the -f- out. Wow I am surprised the car ran at all! The good news is all 8 plugs looks really good accept for the electrodes being burned almost gone. The gap was at least 3x bigger than specs too. I had at least 3 failed COPs. Runs like a champ now and I expect better mileage as well.

Oh and I used plenty of anti-seize on the plug threads as well as around the boot for the COP. I also put dielectric grease on the ends of all the springs.

This isn't too bad a job and anyone handy can do it.

 

[mwhyes]

Thank you for the note - I plan on doing this myself within the next week or to. I'm at 126k. Did you have to remove anything other than the air intake?

 

[FordGate]

Thank you for the note - I plan on doing this myself within the next week or to. I'm at 126k. Did you have to remove anything other than the air intake?

Just the air intake, the engine cover, and there is something that blocks the front driver's side plug that is easy to remove not sure what it is.

You need a 7mm socket with extensions and a 7mm open end wrench to remove the COP bolts. One of the COP plugs is hard to get to without the wrench the fuel rail is right in the way of a longer extension. The other 7 are ok with just the socket. Maybe if you had a small universal joint or a socket with built-in swivel you could get it with a socket. You also need a 7/16" for the air intake along with a screwdriver. Also get dielectric grease and anti-seize.

Also I used 2 spark plug sockets. One with the rubber plug for removing the spark plugs and one without for putting them back in. My problem using the rubber plug for putting them back is when I went to remove the socket, it was too tight on the plug and the extension pulled out. So I just carefully dropped the sparkplug in the hole and used the non-rubber plug socket to put it back in. If you had a tighter extension you wouldn't need that.

Good luck!

PS My hood struts slowly sag and the hood shuts when it has been opened too long. I used a piece of wood to keep the hood wedged open. Keep this in mind you don't want the hood slamming on you while you are bent in the engine.

 

[mwhyes]

Cool, thanks. I did pick up a 7mm u-joint socket from Amazon a few weeks ago in anticipation of the work, so I hope that will be helpful. Thanks again.

 

[mwhyes]

Just completed. Took 4 hours - it was hot and humid in DC these last few days, so a lot of sweating and rest breaks. It wouldn't have kicked my butt so hard if it were cooler out. It's an intuitive job, but just hard to wiggle around in there. If every cylinder was like #1, it would take less than an hour. Most of the time was spent removing the COP bolts and lining up the plugs (esp #3/4).

The only downside was the hose connecting the PCV valve and the throttle body was severed while I was fishing around (probably was rotten), so I ordered a replacement. I have duck tape holding it as a bush fix until the part arrives.

Strangely - it started up but ran hard for a few minutes. I shut it off, checked for codes (thinking maybe one of the packs wasn't fully secured to the plug) which there were none. I restarted after 10 minutes and was instantly back to normal and runs very sweet. Drove 20 miles without issue/no codes. May be some rotting vacuum tubes (which will be replaced) or just dirt/sweat that needed to clear out of the bores. Not sure.

 

[Sherman]

I finally bit the bullet and did the plugs on the 2003 EB with 5.4. Not as bad as I thought or read. The only really bad one is the passenger side rear and that wasn't a total PITA. All you need it one universal joint and a few extensions. I replaced all 8 plugs and COPs in well under 2 hours. I didn't worry at all about breaking the existing plugs and none broke. The old plugs had 130k miles on them and were worn the -f- out. Wow I am surprised the car ran at all! The good news is all 8 plugs looks really good accept for the electrodes being burned almost gone. The gap was at least 3x bigger than specs too. I had at least 3 failed COPs. Runs like a champ now and I expect better mileage as well.

Oh and I used plenty of anti-seize on the plug threads as well as around the boot for the COP. I also put dielectric grease on the ends of all the springs.

This isn't too bad a job and anyone handy can do it.

Just wondering what did you torque the spark plugs too?

 

[WarrenG]

What brand of COPs did you use and where and how much did they cost you?

 

[thenaaks]

The rough running was probably water or oil running down the spark plug hole once you pulled the plug out. I've changed lots of plugs and coils in 4.6 and 5.4 engines. Almost all of them had water in a plug hole or two.

I recently changed my own plugs while removing the intake manifold to replace gaskets. I had the worst time getting the coil boots out. Only one coil came out with the boot attached. All the others had to be pulled out with pliers. Several were ripped into 2 or three pieces. Two plugs had to be removed with part of the boot still stuck to the plug. Had to pound a standard deep well socket over the boot onto the plug. Moral of the story, use plenty of silicone grease when installing new plugs

As far as coils go, I ordered a set of 8 on amazon for $50. I've installed six of them in friends' cars over the last 3 or 4 years. So far, so good.

 

[igozumn]

... I didn't worry at all about breaking the existing plugs and none broke.

While anything can happen, they didn't start having plug seizing/breaking issues until the 3-valve was introduced in the Expedition in '05 and the F150 in '04.

Torque spec from the shop manual for the plugs is 15 ft/lbs (20Nm) on an 03 Expedition.

I too, had the first one grab the plug holding boot in the socket. After the first one, I just didn't push the plug all the way into the socket. Just enough to hold it and also made sure I didn't push down on the wrench while tightening. Had the same issue when I put my Town Car back together.

I did my plugs and coils when I had the intake off for gasket replacement. No issues with bad coils or plugs, but decided to be preventative and hopefully not have to change one out on the side of the interstate during a heat wave.

 

[mwhyes]

I surprisingly had no issues with plugs or packs - they all came out relatively easily (5.4l 2v).

Torque spec from the shop manual for the plugs is 15 ft/lbs (20Nm) on an 03 Expedition.

This is correct. I actually went up a hair to 18 as these plugs are known to walk out of their threads.

What brand of COPs did you use and where and how much did they cost you?

The yellow Accel 140032 ones from Amazon, approximately $150 for 8. Motorcraft SP-479 plugs, though ($10-15 for all 8 I believe)