gkaufman

So I decided to pull the spark plug on the number 1 piston ( i think) and see how it was doing at 45k miles. I made sure to clean out the spark plug well with compressed air. I then removed the plug. I noticed it was kinda hard to do. Sure enough once I got out the plug there looked like some kinda dirt or loctite on the threads and some of it fell down inside. There was no way to stop the "crap" on the threads from falling in the motor so I assumed it would burn away whatever little went in. After starting the car back up I noticed the car was idling funny. Like the car would hold idle for a few secs then have a slight drop then come back to normal. I did wipe down the plug a little so perhaps that plug is cleaner then the others now. Would that cause it to idle funny? Is it the dust or whatever that fell in the engine the issue? Im probably just paranoid and this will work itself back out over the next day or so but I just wanted some opinions. Just in case anyone wonders.. I did tighten everything back to spec and the plug wasnt bad at all.

Also... If i bring the revs up and hold them above idle say.. 1200-1500 its smooth as silk. So maybe that means its the idle fuel trim or something. I did reflash the tune again to reset the trims but the issue seemed the same.

Thanks!

gkaufman

Well as it turns out. I decided to pull all the plugs instead of just one. All looked good. This time I stuck a vaccuum hose up to the well and sucked out anything i could before reinserting the plug. I also disconnected the battery for an hour which totally wiped the car's fuel trims. Seems lots better now still kinda funky but I think that might be because its just now learning to idle again.

karman

Good info, thanks.
One question, if you took them all out why didn't you put in new ones?

gkaufman

Because new ones are going to run me about 100 dollars. At least from what I remember. Why replace them if they arent bad yet? Removing, cleaning, and installing them all took about an hour. Just gives me some piece of mind that my plugs arent fouling up for some reason. Im going to wait another 15k miles or so before replacing them. I wont be waiting until 100k like the manual suggests however.

gkaufman

Its still acting up. Everything else is fine no missing or shaking at anything above 740rpms. Idling it moves probably 5-10 rpm 740-750 over and over about .5 second apart. It shakes the interior just enough to annoy me. What in the world could I have possibly done by pulling the plugs, cleaning and replacing them? Please help.

jsaylor

Are you certain that you didn't damage one of the plugs getting it out? Occasionally this can occur even when you don't do anything wrong to cause it. A crack can play havoc on the plugs performance, and you might not even be able to see it.

gkaufman

I never dropped it nor did it contact anything other than the hole in which it was supposed to go. WOuldnt damage to the plug cause problems at not only idle but revving? The weird thing is it seems like it is just the idling. I can rev the **** car at 850 rpms and its totally smooth. Its driving me crazy. Im going to try and ride it out for the rest of the week. If its not gone yet then I suppose i'll be replacing the plugs even though they dont need it.

05YellowGT

Sorry to hear about your troubles , especially since I was planning on replacing my plugs this weekend with one heat range colder. I wonder if the stuff on the plug treads was anti-seize compound. I got some and it's like a crayon , instructions say to apply like a crayon. Did any fall in when you pulled the other plugs , or were you able to get them out without it happening ?

gkaufman

ya perhaps some fell in but i did make sure to stick a vaccuum tube on the hole and suck out whatever I could. There really isnt anything you can do about it. Its going to fall in as you back out the threads. I really dont think the stuff that fell in is the cause of my issue though. What Im reading seems like maybe the gap screwed up on one of em. Which makes no sense since I was overly careful about it. I may purchase a new set from ford to replace the ones I have. Is the spark plug gapping tool available from anyone?

05YellowGT

Yes , I ordered a gapping tool from pmpparts.com , 24.95 & free shipping. What are you gapping the plugs at ? As I said , I'm putting in one heat range colder and Fred at Steeda said to gap them at .050 and that the stock heat range was .052. After hearing about your problems , I think I'll stop back in and talk to Sam. I want to know if I have to worry about the anti-seize compound falling in. I'll let you know what he says ...

gkaufman

Tell me if this sounds like a plan. Since the plugs are 140 dollars altogether. Im going to buy all 8 for now. Replace the number 1 plug with a new one. It seems like the problem didnt change after pulling the other 7 plugs. So maybe whatever happened to it happened when I pulled the first plug. IF the number 1 plug fixes the issue then I'll just swap out the other 7 as well. IF it doesnt fix it I'll return the other 7 new plugs. And at that point scratch my head for awhile until I find out what in the world else could have gone wrong.

gkaufman

i did some datalogging. Spark cyl 0-7. One of them is peaking way higher then the others. The max values are somewhere between 19 and 21 on the other 7 cylinders. But this one is peaking at 26 and seems to always stay 5-6 units higher than the others. Now question is which one is that. I guess I'll have to pull some wires while its running.

RENEW1

Did you remember to clean out and re-grease the coil plug boot with silicone grease? This is very important, especialy at that kind of mileage. If you don't use it, the spark may jump to ground enough to throw off the idle but not enough to set a Code. At higher rpm the spark is a little higher and may not be a problem.

gkaufman

how do you clean out the coil plug? Its got a spring in there. I blew it out and there looked like there was enough grease on the boot already. What type of grease should be used?

gkaufman

Well I'll find the correct grease tomorrow and if that fixes it I'll have a set of 8 motorcraft plugs handy for my 100k tuneup. Oh well its just money anyways *sigh* So far as I know they are non returnable items. Even if unused.

karman

Autozone had them for $96 a set. If you can fix the problem,you should return them if they are unopened in plastic. $140 is too much.
Try changing one plug for another before you put in new ones.
I'm just trying to help you save some $.
Good Luck.

gkaufman

Well electrical items are nonreturnable... They are in a box but they werent shrink wrapped. I doubt they go back. I didnt want to buy autolite(autozone)... Wanted to stick to ford parts. I will try and return them if the grease fixes it but if not I can just hold on to em. Buy em now or later doesnt really matter. In 2 yrs I'll have 100k miles. Thanks for trying to save me money but the damage has been done haha.

gkaufman

Well the grease didnt fix it. So I did a little unplugging and isolated it to cylinder number 1. The plug must have been going bad or something and I woke it up. So i swapped all new plugs in and it runs nice and smooth again. Glad to get it back to normal even if I had to spend a little money.

clintoris

By the way.... I found a place on ebay that sold me 8 COPs AND plugs... all genuine Ford parts for my Expedition.... $128 shipped. The COPs retail for $80 or so a piece.. you might have saved some cash, now that it's too late... but something to think about in the future.
Just one question, now that you have already resolved your problem... was the #1 plug the only one that seemed tight? I'm wondering if the stress from turning out the plug cracked it, perhaps inside.... just a thought.
But, yeah... I was shocked at the price I paid for the COPs and plugs.

gkaufman

Whoa nice deal. *sigh* oh well. It was def. the tightest of the 8 but none of them were as easy as I thought 25ft-lbs would have been. There is nothing visibly wrong with #1 plug so it has to have some issue inside.