New owner, plug and boot advice

[Dennis_H]

I just got a 2010 XLT with just over 100,000 miles. Looks and drives great and am pretty pleased with it. I know it's time for plugs and it sounds like I don't need to replace coils unless it throws an error. Seems a little sluggish when cold. Looks like it needs Motorcraft SP509 plugs, and I will replace boots at the same time after reading the forum. What boots do I need? I see some straight ones, and angled ones. Would these work?
https://www.amazon.com/Standard-Motor-Products-SPP113E-Coil/dp/B004SJRK2K
or should I look for something different?

 

[ExpeditionAndy]

Hi Dennis, Welcome to the forum. The best thing to do is look under the hood and see what you have now and use the same thing, the coil packs are screwed down so you will need the same type of connector that you have now. Rock auto is showing the straight connector for your model year so that would work.

 

[Rigpig]

Those are correct for the application. You should have straight brown boots like the one pictured.
I just ordered some SP509s off of Amazon, $24 for all 8. I just received them today, and they look authentic. We'll see whether they work this weekend.

 

[Mikep01]

I'll be doing the same. I bought plugs and boots off amazon.

 

[RedExpy]

so a question to this... i am seeing that both the SP515 and the SP509 will work for my 08.... (and i haven't looked to see what i have under there yet so) which is factory? does it matter (given these both fit)?

 

[Dennis_H]

I'll probably pick the plugs and boots up when they are all back in stock. Did a 300 mile drive yesterday and got over 19 mpg average. Guessing they are all working OK right now, but it is getting close to time at 130K. Stayed no faster than 75 and it was all highway. When I did a trip earlier, I was a little more heavy footed and was around 16.5 mpg. Wanted to see what I could get being a little more careful with the gas pedal.

 

[bobmbx]

I'll probably pick the plugs and boots up when they are all back in stock. Did a 300 mile drive yesterday and got over 19 mpg average. Guessing they are all working OK right now, but it is getting close to time at 130K. Stayed no faster than 75 and it was all highway. When I did a trip earlier, I was a little more heavy footed and was around 16.5 mpg. Wanted to see what I could get being a little more careful with the gas pedal.

Some time ago, I drove an Explorer to FL with a luggage bag on the roof. Got about 16 mpg over 1000 miles, virtually all of it on I-95. Coming back, averaged close to 19 mpg, with no bag on the roof. Aerodynamics play a huge role in the mpg game. And it wasn't a big bag, either.

 

[Fred Valdez]

remember to follow tsb when changing plugs out...pre-spray with PB (or like) 15 min+ before change...I've read this before I did my plugs but figured they should come off like regular plugs and didn't spray...broke 2 and that's where I'm at now...even with the Lisle tool I cannot get them out...

 

[Mikep01]

Just an update. Swapped the plugs and boots, got rid of my misfire on cyl 8. Checked the plug gap. Spec is 0.040 they were at 0.060. Recommend replacement per all data is 60k.. I was a 96k so they were over due.

 

[Rigpig]

so a question to this... i am seeing that both the SP515 and the SP509 will work for my 08.... (and i haven't looked to see what i have under there yet so) which is factory? does it matter (given these both fit)?

If your coil boots are brown, you need the SP-509s.

 

[Dennis_H]

One more quick question before I change them out... What is the proper torque spec for these on the 2010? With as temperamental as they appear, I really want to make sure I don't overtighten them.

thanks.

 

[ExpeditionAndy]

One more quick question before I change them out... What is the proper torque spec for these on the 2010? With as temperamental as they appear, I really want to make sure I don't overtighten them.

thanks.

The factory setting is 15 ft/lbs but you might want to consider this from: http://www.blownoutsparkplug.com/faqs.htm#Q: Why do you prefer 28-32 foot lbs torque instead of the factory specification

Q: Why do you prefer 28 foot lbs torque instead of the factory specification?
A: Over the past few years we have heard from many of our customers that they tightened their plugs to the correct torque but they still came loose. We worked with 10 other Ford Certified Master Mechanics and concluded that 28 foot lbs of torque would be satisfactory. We have been using 28 foot lbs of torque for many years and have never had one come loose or strip out. To verify that we would not damage the original threads we used a test cylinder head with good factory threads we applied over 100 foot lbs of torque to the spark plug without any failure.

 

[Dennis_H]

Thank you for the info. Hoping to get to it next week. Still waiting for the boots to get back in stock to order those.