atc250r

I'm the original owner of my '07 with a 5.4. It has an easy life, just used for a 5 mile highway commute each day. Truck has 70,000 miles. Oil gets changed regularly with Amsoil synthetic, but I haven't touched the spark plugs nor coolant yet. Should I be doing those things now? I recently got back from a 600 mile interstate trip with 800 lbs in the box, so during that trip I ran 3 bottles of Techron to hopefully clean up the combustion chambers.

Would the dealer have better equipment than I do for flushing the coolant? Should I do it now or is the factory coolant still good?

And what's the latest on spark plug recommendations? Should I leave them in for a couple more years?

tuflehundon

Do the spark plugs now. Read the sticky on our plugs. The longer you wait, the more issues you may have with them breaking on you.

nrivera04

As far as the flush, just buy a bottle of flush from your local parts jobber and follow the directions. Consider replacing the tstat as well as you'll likely have to remove it for the flush. Refill with 50/50 G05 or Motorcraft Gold.

HubFord

I would do the plugs and coolant. As the last poster said, Zerex G-05 is the way to go, or Motorcraft Gold, which is the same stuff.

That's what I plan to do minus the t-stats (or maybe I will).

Quick question, is all the fluid removed from the block when the lower radiator hose is removed? Or is there a drain plug that has to come out to get all of the flush out of there?

FrozenTundraGuy

a 5mile commute is not easy on your engine-it needs to go 10-15 mile minimum to burn off all of the water that gets into the crankcase. Ford says to change the coolant @ 5yrs or 100K-whichever comes first; and then everey 2 yrs afterwards. Yes, I'd change the plugs now to be saft-did mine @ 6oK with no problems. Mine had a lot of wear for only 6oK.

FrozenTundraGuy

No-the block will still have some left in it. There are drain plugs, but are a pain in the _ss to get to. I just flush my system out with about 5-6 gals of distilled water till nothing but clear water drains out. Then I full it back up with concentrated Motorcraft Gold Coolant. Make sure the heater is on full heat when you drain/fill.

tuflehundon

From everything I've read about these engines, you are generally OK if you change every 60K or so. It's when you wait till 100K like the manual originally says to do. When I asked the tech, he said they now recommend it be done every 60K. even with the newer design spark plugs.

Thankfully I have the newer designed head that don't use the 2 piece spark plugs, but did help a buddy do his 07, and he had issues. He got his truck with 120K on it already, had the original plugs, several of them broke coming out.

redfishtd

I don't know what plugs your year needs for sure but there have been repeated out of the box failures here on sp 515's .I can't help but think they have some production problems .I have run 3 sets of champions with no trouble but I bought new sp515's and they are sitting here unused .. The champions are getting very expensive . Go no more than 60k on plugs .
The antifreeze advice says the 50% mix is premium more or less is not efficient , flush and use distilled but you can't get it all out so I top it with 100%.
Change reservoir cap as they go bad and lose pressure-- they have been redesigned. Increased pressure helps a lot . Change thermo too.
Distilled water for sure ,I mix my own ,wally world cheap .
Miles is not the bottom line, time is -heating and cooling cycles break down water/metal minerals . Acid formation can create a lot of problems . My poor stepson used a bulb in his engine compartment/for heat- no anti freeze/corrosion prot. and well water . At the end of two years it turned into dark mud .Ruined radiator and engine .
Mom and I bought new rad and wrecked vehicle for engine .
The cooling system can ruin your engine in minutes you are right to keep it up .

650NutKase

I would change the plugs and coolant soon. As stated, the 2 piece plugs have a tendency to break off. Better off getting them out soon also because you ran a bunch of cleaner through the fuel system, thus breaking off carbon, thus making them less likely to break lol. The coolant is 10 years old...regardless of mileage, I would flush it.

MilosF150

Plug change interval will depend on a lot. Run them to their rated life (100k) unless you have issues. You could just as easily said change plug ever 30k and not be wrong, just waste a lot of money.

You really need an hydrometer to check specific gravity to tell if your antifreeze is good. 50/50 mix is recommended, but you can vary that A LOT (60/40 etc) and still be fine.

Your cap is working unless you are losing coolant. Check the pressure (overflow) tank and if you're between the lines your cap is fine.

You can buy all the stuff this dude recommends but you're not solving any problems.