spark plugs at 75000 miles.

[Left Coast Geek]

So after reading about high mileage spark plugs causing a decrease in mileage, and wondering why I wasn't seeing the sorts of gas mileage others report, I figured 75000 miles wasn't too soon to put in new plugs, just got 6 NGK Ruthenium HX installed.

These are the plugs that were pulled...





all gaps were a little too tight for my 0.030" gauge and way loose on the 0.025... I thought they are supposed to be gapped 0.032 ?

anyways, I'd say that for 75000 miles, these plugs look pretty good.

edit: ok, Ford says gen2 uses 0.028 gap. hmmm, NGK says their ruthenium plugs come gapped 0.031" (0.8mm)

 

[SyndicateZ]

So after reading about high mileage spark plugs causing a decrease in mileage, and wondering why I wasn't seeing the sorts of gas mileage others report, I figured 75000 miles wasn't too soon to put in new plugs, just got 6 NGK Ruthenium HX installed.

These are the plugs that were pulled...

View attachment 81382

View attachment 81383

all gaps were a little too tight for my 0.030" gauge and way loose on the 0.025... I thought they are supposed to be gapped 0.032 ?

anyways, I'd say that for 75000 miles, these plugs look pretty good.

What type of gas milage u getting?

 

[Left Coast Geek]

kind of all over the place, but mostly 13-17 when not towing, 12-13 when towing a fairly streamlined 4500 lb trailer at a steady 60-65 MPH.

 

[Hellwig]

They don't look bad.

 

[Hellwig]

kind of all over the place, but mostly 13-17 when not towing, 12-13 when towing a fairly streamlined 4500 lb trailer at a steady 60-65 MPH.

Similar to mine. When doing highway and not towing, I got 21 to 22 mpg.

 

[Old Gearhead]

On a turbo, I change mine every 60K. I get anywhere from 20-23 on highway regardless of speed. Everyone once in awhile, I will approach 24 but that is a rarity.

 

[bobward757]

What old gearhead said. No more than 60K with the turbos. TONS of threads on the plugs.

 

[BigOleFordFan]

What old gearhead said. No more than 60K with the turbos. TONS of threads on the plugs.

Ok, so what exactly does the number of threads have to do with whether or not the plugs need to be replaced ?

In 50+ years of driving & maintaining my vehicles, I have yet to see any threads suddenly (or not so) disappear...although I have known some folks who messed them up by over-tightening or cross-threading them, in which case they will get damaged but are still in the same place they always were just not in great condition...

Just hoping someone can enlighten me on this, cause everything I've ever read & seen about plugs (in any vehicle) says that if they look like the ones the OP showed (which normally occurs between 60 & 75K miles), they should be replaced asap

 

[BSarchet]

Ok, so what exactly does the number of threads have to do with whether or not the plugs need to be replaced ?

In 50+ years of driving & maintaining my vehicles, I have yet to see any threads suddenly (or not so) disappear...although I have known some folks who messed them up by over-tightening or cross-threading them, in which case they will get damaged but are still in the same place they always were just not in great condition...

Just hoping someone can enlighten me on this, cause everything I've ever read & seen about plugs (in any vehicle) says that if they look like the ones the OP showed (which normally occurs between 60 & 75K miles), they should be replaced asap

By “threads” he’s referring to the number of different discussions on this forum regarding spark plugs.

 

[lv2drive]

Ok, so what exactly does the number of threads have to do with whether or not the plugs need to be replaced ?

In 50+ years of driving & maintaining my vehicles, I have yet to see any threads suddenly (or not so) disappear...although I have known some folks who messed them up by over-tightening or cross-threading them, in which case they will get damaged but are still in the same place they always were just not in great condition...

Just hoping someone can enlighten me on this, cause everything I've ever read & seen about plugs (in any vehicle) says that if they look like the ones the OP showed (which normally occurs between 60 & 75K miles), they should be replaced asap

oh man this is so great - thread of the week (no pun intended)

 

[5280tunage]

Don't forget the anti-seize. Also, I'm doing mine about every 30k. Is that necessary, no. But it still costs about the same as every oil change, lol.

Having said that, the do look pretty good. And dang, all you guys with that kind of mileage, come drive at high altitudes with heavy ethanol and max of 91 octane and see what kind of mileage you get... Sheesh.

All kidding aside on the mileage, I just did a 7.5 hour trip (normally without crappy I70 traffic it's about 6 hours), lots of stop and go and total elevation change of roughly 16k', I still managed to maintain around 17mpg.

 

[BigOleFordFan]

By “threads” he’s referring to the number of different discussions on this forum regarding spark plugs.

Oops, my bad, sorry....I really should stop posting stuff when it's past my bedtime

 

[99WhiteC5Coupe]

Don't forget the anti-seize. Also, I'm doing mine about every 30k. Is that necessary, no. But it still costs about the same as every oil change, lol.

Having said that, the do look pretty good. And dang, all you guys with that kind of mileage, come drive at high altitudes with heavy ethanol and max of 91 octane and see what kind of mileage you get... Sheesh.

All kidding aside on the mileage, I just did a 7.5 hour trip (normally without crappy I70 traffic it's about 6 hours), lots of stop and go and total elevation change of roughly 16k', I still managed to maintain around 17mpg.

Ford does not recommend anti seize compound on modern spark plug threads.

Good reading: http://www.jagrepair.com/images/AutoRepairPhotos/NGK_TB-0630111antisieze.pdf

 

[BigOleFordFan]

Ford does not recommend anti seize compound on modern spark plug threads.

Good reading: http://www.jagrepair.com/images/AutoRepairPhotos/NGK_TB-0630111antisieze.pdf

Good to know, thanks !

 

[BSarchet]

Reviving this thread with a new question. I just replaced my plugs and got the recommended NGK rutheniums from ZFG. But before doing the job I watched a video from Ford Tech Makuloco about Ford moving to indexed plugs with copper crush rings. Mine that I took out had the copper crush rings. I put the new ones in and torqued them to 18lbs but just wondering if anyone thinks this is going to be an issue that the replacements didn’t have the copper rings to index them.

Appreciate the thoughts on this from anyone or @LokiWolf any thoughts on this?