A month ago I bought a one owner 2004 F150 3V 5.4. 60,800 miles on her. Lariat, super clean, never saw mulch never mind dirt in the bed. I've owned a 97 Explorer and a 02 Explorer (208k on the 97 sold, and currently 159k on the 02). I take care of my vehiches and they last.

I read the whole thread on the spark plug issue, but really cause there really wasnt a difinitive answer. I usually do all my own, but talked to my mechanic and he's done these and had em break so has the tools and a little experience. Some wil say, what does he adivse? But he already told me he would always defer to OEM unless he knew for sure of an issue.

One of my best friends son works at a Ford dealership and says, despite my discount, go with aftermarket but make sure you bring it somehwere to replace the original plugs.

So, what have you all done? What plug have you gone with and how has it been? I would hope to be the one changing these out at 120k. I like to change mine every 60k. Always have.

Thanks for the advice.

 

i would go with oem as the aftermarket last less miles (although some are one piece design) and if you buy the leslie tool (no more than $50) you can do em over and over again... the common fix for the spark plugs is replacement with plenty of anti sieze...

 

honestly as long as you replace the plugs well before 100+k youll never have any problems with MC. most guys on here will tell you that aftermarket plugs wont last nearly as long.. go with motorcraft IMO

 

read the whole spark plug thread. btw i pulled mine hot and none broke. 2 in a row for me with no breaks... get the lisle tool it is easy to use and it works.

read all you can on common useful links. search vct, phaser and vct soleniod and read all you can.

these trucks have a few problems and education is half the battle. everything you need to know is here you just gotta find it