Hey guys I have a 2014 ecoboost with 45,000 miles, I just bought it a few weeks ago and absolutely love this truck! I noticed from day 1 that when I go out in the morning and start her up she will pop for about 5 seconds or so. I did a little digging around here and came up with possible bad plugs so I purchased the SP534 and gapped them to .030, as I was pulling out the old ones I checked everyone and they were all SP534's gapped at .030.


I put in the new plugs and she does seem to run a little smoother and I gained about 1 mpg according to the dash but I am still getting the cold start pop. Although the cold start pop is now only 1 or 2 pops real quick in the beginning then done so the popping did clear up slightly but still there...


What do you guys recommend I do? The truck is 100% stock and I plan on keeping it that way other than getting a tune someday but that may not be until next year.


Thanks for any help!

 

Where did you buy it from? Private sale or a dealership?

Can you video the noise?

Did you torque the plugs down to spec? They are quite sensitive and can easily crack.

 

I bought it from a dealer and it has the factory powertrain warranty left until 60,000 miles.


I could try and get a video with my cell phone but it wont do it until tomorrow morning.


I didn't use a torque wrench, I tightened them in by hand until I couldn't anymore then with my 3/8 ratchet just snugged them. I know its 7-14 foot pounds so I didn't go crazy with them.


Should I buy a nice torque and redo them?

 

I cracked mine using the human torque guestimator and I ended up cracking one. I've installed hundreds of plugs this way and was super surprised it happened.

Honestly if you have a powertrain warranty why bother, just take it in and let the dealership deal with it.

 

I had no idea the dealership would do plugs for me under warranty?


Plus the dealer would need my truck for a couple days to reproduce the back fire and plugs are typically cheap and easy. I also like to work on my vehicles to an extent.


If I cant find a cheap/easy solution here then I suppose I'll have to take it in?

 

They won't change plugs under warranty. But since you have a warranty use it. You paid good money for it so why waste your time.

 

Yeah I hear ya, me changing my plugs is actually less of a waste of time than bringing it to a dealer but if it ends up being something big of course I'll use my warranty.

 

Mine also popped pretty bad on cold start, especially with the corsa exhaust amplifying it. I put new oem plugs in gapped to .30 and now it barely does it if even at all.

 

Yeah I did the same and it doesn't do it anywhere near as much but I still hear it pop once or twice on cold start.

Maybe it's not a big deal but if I can fix it so it never happens that would be ideal.

 

I would say this is normal for this engine. I also bought mine used and does the same even after I replaced the plugs with the original. I scanned a few times to see if thrown any codes but I never got anything. It is only a few pops while the engine is trying to get up to a temperature. After you start driving there is no more pops or misfires. I had it for about 8 months now and is running strong.
I would say don't worry unless you get the misfires while driving.