If some of you read the 2010 threads, I was out of work on Wednesday getting a colonoscopy. No biggie as I've had 6 of them in my life and I'm only 33 (I had Ulcerative Colitus from age 16-24). Anyhow, I also took off Tuesday to drink the stuff you need to do, to prepare for it. That was at 7 pm. So for the early afternoon, after having lunch with my girlfriend, I went to my folks place and put my GT in my dad's shop (he has a full 2-post lift, air compressor, heat, and A/C in the place and every tool I need). I hadn't driven the car since Nov 3rd, and wanted to change the oil, filter, and since I'm almost at 30K, I wanted to do the fuel filter AND the last thing, the plugs!!! Ah, the dreaded 2-piece horror story plugs! More on this in a bit.

Oil was fine. No worries. I use Motorcraft Full-Synthetic and it was the same color coming out as it was whet I added it 4,000 miles prior. The filter same thing, clean. Next was the fuel filter. That was a easy change as well. Just unbolt the 3 bolts that hold the shroud in place (the entire thing couldn't come off as the lift blocked the one end). I had plenty of room to work. The fuel filter is held in place by a bracket and the lines are the green snap out/in self locking type. For anyone who hasn't changed one of these, be careful of fuel that will spray out from the lines. Put the new one in (the old one has ALOT of crap in it, so its DEFINITELY something I would do by 30K, maybe even sooner). Lastly were the plugs....

Before I started the oil change, I removed all 8 coils and labeled each one, so they went back where they came from (1-4 each side). Once I did that, my dad gave me the socket to loosen the plugs. Let me tell you, the TSB says to tighten to 33-ft-lbs? BS!!! Those plugs were tighened to more than that, dispite how much carbon was built up. Even if you have ALOT of carbon, they will turn the minimum 1/8 turn to get enough of the Ford Carb Cleaner to trickle down to break up the carbon. Well, these plugs were TIGHT!! But I got them all lose, and they pretty much started turning rather easily. Heck, one would have came out without the carb cleaner.

I sprayed each plug well then went onto the oil and fuel filter. Once that was done, all 8 came out rather easily, with NO ISSUES (THANK GOD!!! ). My dad didn't want me to tie his bay up as he had to work on someone's classic car in a few days. There were a few that were pretty carbon covered but the cleaner really does make a difference. Really ate away at it. And once I got all 8 out (see pics below), I went and got my 8 new Motorcraft 2-piece plugs I bought and I added the Anti-Sieze to each plug shank, NOT to the thread. All 8 went back in, I buttoned up the coils and plugged all the harnesses back on and started it up. BINGO, PERFECT!!!

I gotta say, I was pretty terrified in regards to what to expect (I had no ideas). But it ended easy, the car is done, and ready to drive for the spring/summer season. Now, I just gotta get it inspected as it hasn't had new inspection for over a year (but that is a story for another time > ). Check out the pics below of the 8 plugs and what they looked like after only 30,000 miles!! Thanks for readying everyone!!!

 

Thanks Jeff.
I'll probably change mine before I get to 30K.
At the rate I'm going, that will still be at least another 5 years.
It's always good to see what the plugs are looking like on other cars though.

 

Congrats on a job well done my friend !

 

I changed my fuel filter at around 25,000-26,000 miles and noticed a big difference when I put the new one in! I almost wonder if I should change it closer to every 15,000 miles instead... But I am glad it is doing what it is suppose to!

Good job getting her ready for this year!

 

Jeff, did you use new plugs or re-install the old ones? Sorry if I missed it in your post. If you installed new ones what did you use? I have almost 14K on my 07 and was thinking that I would change them out now and then I won't have anything to worry about. I'm just not sure what to use as replacements...

 

Glad it worked out. I'm in the same exact spot, 06 with 25k miles. Gonna tackle this in the next couple of weeks.

My plan it to use the 1 piece Champions.

Why didn't you put the anti seize on the threads, thought that was where the build-up causes the problem?

 

 

Threads are not the problem.

The bottom piece (looks like long pipe past the threads) gets covered in carbon.
You can see it in Jeff pics.
Sometimes when you go to remove the plug, the top will unscrew OK and the bottom stays stuck in the cylinder.
That's why people often replace with the 1 piece.

 

Holy crap dude. A few of those plugs look Naaaaasty

 

Well I guess it happens, but it would have to be a HUGE carbon build-up to end up being larger than the threads.

What am I missing here?

 

Thanks everyone for the kind words!!!

Hey Jay, what kind of a difference are we talking about? Mileage went up? Thanks for the info.

 

Hey Jim, sorry about that, lol. I looked and realized I never typed what I used to replace them with (I went back and added it in, lol).

I threw out the old ones and used new OEM Motorcraft 2-piece plugs. I was going to use Brisk 1-piece OEM heat range but the price difference I couldn't justify right now. Plus, with the anti-sieze on them, I can check them, clean them, and reinstall with no issues (hopefully).

 

Hey Colby, tell me about it. I was shocked! Just think of people who have 50K or 75K on their cars!!

 

Mileage went up a little, but nothing to get excited about... Actually it could have been more than I think, cause the other difference I noticed was it felt like I put a new tune in the car! Just seemed to get up and go better! So because of that, I had my foot on the gas a bit more, cause it was fun!

 

Really?!!! Thanks for the heads up!! I'm taking it out maybe tomorrow, if it doesn't rain to get some mileage on it, and see if I can get my emissions issue solved!!!

 

Is a special tool required to change the fuel filter?

 

It's not a HUGE difference, but I definitely could tell that something was different! Just felt like cleaner power... Like the car was drinking the gas through a straw that wasn't clogged anymore! LOL!


Technically, I believe there is a special tool you can get that will help. I did not use any special tools though (I actually changed it in my old apartment stall, with just driving the front tires up on ramps). It was not the easiest thing I have done, but doable. I just bought the filter from our Ford store and then like Jeff did, undid the bolts and then you just have to jimmy out the old filter (this is where the tool would be helpful) and popped the new one in, made sure it was in there good and started her up! The whole thing took me about 30-45 minutes...

 

Not really. Dad just gave me a flat-head screwdriver to undue the clips and wiggled out the filter and added in the new one. Total time, maybe 15 minutes.

 

The part that the bottom slides into is a lot smaller diameter than the threads.
The clearance between the head hole and the bottom "pipe" is next to nothing.
It only takes a small amount of carbon to jam it in place.
The later design heads do not have this bottom "pipe (shield)" at all.

 

Must be nice to have a lift...


BTW thanks for the updated info. I think I will save up for the 1-piece plugs. I figure if I change them now I will be best off and then with the 1-piece design I will have no worries.