6.2L Spark Plug Replacement Schedule
#11
Senior Member
The stock gap according to our manual is .041-.047. Performance mods would dictate any deviations beyond that....Supercharged or a special tune.
Ohhhhh yea, much longer than 45mins. Took me 5hrs today but that included taking off the front tires and trying to take off the inner splash guards in the wheel wells. I gave up after I saw what condition my xmas tree pins were in and how brutal it was gunna be to reinstall them.
Well the overall change went VERY well compared to how I thought it was going to go. Like I said, I dealt with breaking 4 of 8 plugs on my 06 F150 5.4 so nothing I thought could beat that. That was nerve racking to say the least.
I ended up calling MPT in the morning and the guy I talked to said I didn't need to gap down due to running a 93 Performance Street tune from them. So I made sure the plugs I got from AdvanceAuto were within spec out of the box and they all were almost dead on at .040 - .043.
I started by running the truck for about 10 mins. This was about perfect for me to get the truck "warm to the touch" as the Ford guide says for this job. It was 60 degrees out and I hadn't run the truck for about 24hrs prior so it was definitely cold soaked before I ran it. I took out one of the top easy ones first to get my confidence level up and just to see what they would look like. I would say that the plug was still a little hot as to what they meant by warm to the touch...I could grab it but it was pretty toasty....but I just made sure I put the new one back in as quick as possible. I say it was perfect to let it run for 10 mins still because 5 hrs later when I took out the last plug, it was still just a little warm. I did the top 8 first and they were easy. I ended up using nickel anti-seize and dielectric grease. The bottom ones were a lot easier than I originally thought. I might say that they were just as easy as the top ones. Taking the wheels off made this so. Taking the wheel liners off would have made it even easier.
The worst plug was probably the top back drivers side one and then for me, putting in the new one on the bottom drivers side 2nd one in. That one was directly over the strut tower and was tough to reach because I still had the wheel liner in. I ended up putting the new plug in from up top and just got lucky blindly finding the hole.
I would highly recommend getting several extension lengths for this job and what made my life so much easier was this kit I got from Amazon made by Gearwrench. It had 3 individual spark plug sockets with extensions and they swiveled at the end of the socket part. These were also magnetic and not like the typical rubber insert type socket. I used the rubber insert type socket to remove most of the plugs as it did a good job grabbing the plugs and holding them even while pulling the plugs out. I used the magnetic type to reinstall the plugs as once I was done tightening they easily came right off the plug. I used the rubber one initially to reinstall the plug and had a hell of a time getting the socket back out of the hole as it stuck onto the plug. I was glad I bought extra extensions and 2 new spark plug sockets and that Gearwrench kit. Having the Gearwrench swivel sockets made the lower ones a piece of cake especially since I still had the wheel well liners on.
In the end, all of my plugs were still well within spec and most were right at .040 like the new ones I put back in. Hopefully I notice a difference but I might not. Atleast I have the piece of mind that I should be good for another 75-100k miles. My truck has 75k miles on it now so I was a little premature but knowing my truck came from Canada and getting it with 65k miles, I wasn't sure what to expect. I had some rust on the lower plugs but nothing crazy but it could definitely be bad for people who wait and live in the rust belt. They are exposed a bit down there and aren't enclosed like the upper ones are with the COP's.
So glad I did this but so relieved I didn't have to deal with broken plugs or any issues. I would recommend anyone who has done plugs before to do this themselves and not worry. Take off the tires, the wheel well liners, and the intake. I also had to take off my catch can but that took 1 minute. My AFE intake is also a breeze to take on and off.
Good luck and if anyone has any questions feel free to ask! Sorry for the novel.
I'm going to call MPT, where I got my tune, to see what they recommend for gapping the plugs at. I'll browse the FRF in the meantime while I gather enough courage to go change them. As long as they don't break like my 06 5.4's did, I could careless how hard they are to get at. Haha. I really don't want to get a Lisle tool again for this job and have to figure out how to get my hands in there.
I ended up calling MPT in the morning and the guy I talked to said I didn't need to gap down due to running a 93 Performance Street tune from them. So I made sure the plugs I got from AdvanceAuto were within spec out of the box and they all were almost dead on at .040 - .043.
I started by running the truck for about 10 mins. This was about perfect for me to get the truck "warm to the touch" as the Ford guide says for this job. It was 60 degrees out and I hadn't run the truck for about 24hrs prior so it was definitely cold soaked before I ran it. I took out one of the top easy ones first to get my confidence level up and just to see what they would look like. I would say that the plug was still a little hot as to what they meant by warm to the touch...I could grab it but it was pretty toasty....but I just made sure I put the new one back in as quick as possible. I say it was perfect to let it run for 10 mins still because 5 hrs later when I took out the last plug, it was still just a little warm. I did the top 8 first and they were easy. I ended up using nickel anti-seize and dielectric grease. The bottom ones were a lot easier than I originally thought. I might say that they were just as easy as the top ones. Taking the wheels off made this so. Taking the wheel liners off would have made it even easier.
The worst plug was probably the top back drivers side one and then for me, putting in the new one on the bottom drivers side 2nd one in. That one was directly over the strut tower and was tough to reach because I still had the wheel liner in. I ended up putting the new plug in from up top and just got lucky blindly finding the hole.
I would highly recommend getting several extension lengths for this job and what made my life so much easier was this kit I got from Amazon made by Gearwrench. It had 3 individual spark plug sockets with extensions and they swiveled at the end of the socket part. These were also magnetic and not like the typical rubber insert type socket. I used the rubber insert type socket to remove most of the plugs as it did a good job grabbing the plugs and holding them even while pulling the plugs out. I used the magnetic type to reinstall the plugs as once I was done tightening they easily came right off the plug. I used the rubber one initially to reinstall the plug and had a hell of a time getting the socket back out of the hole as it stuck onto the plug. I was glad I bought extra extensions and 2 new spark plug sockets and that Gearwrench kit. Having the Gearwrench swivel sockets made the lower ones a piece of cake especially since I still had the wheel well liners on.
In the end, all of my plugs were still well within spec and most were right at .040 like the new ones I put back in. Hopefully I notice a difference but I might not. Atleast I have the piece of mind that I should be good for another 75-100k miles. My truck has 75k miles on it now so I was a little premature but knowing my truck came from Canada and getting it with 65k miles, I wasn't sure what to expect. I had some rust on the lower plugs but nothing crazy but it could definitely be bad for people who wait and live in the rust belt. They are exposed a bit down there and aren't enclosed like the upper ones are with the COP's.
So glad I did this but so relieved I didn't have to deal with broken plugs or any issues. I would recommend anyone who has done plugs before to do this themselves and not worry. Take off the tires, the wheel well liners, and the intake. I also had to take off my catch can but that took 1 minute. My AFE intake is also a breeze to take on and off.
Good luck and if anyone has any questions feel free to ask! Sorry for the novel.
#13
IIRC from what I've read, the replacement schedule for 6.2L spark plugs is every 100,000 miles.
I bought my truck at 112k and now just hit 120k and I noticed a slightly rough idle.
I'll probably go ahead and replace them soon since I don't know when the current set were replaced, but wanted to confirm that the Ford recommended maintenance schedule is 100k.
I bought my truck at 112k and now just hit 120k and I noticed a slightly rough idle.
I'll probably go ahead and replace them soon since I don't know when the current set were replaced, but wanted to confirm that the Ford recommended maintenance schedule is 100k.
#14
Senior Member
Special ordered mine in Oct. 2010, took delivery in Jan. 2011. Truck just turned 96,000 miles. Had money back then. Not now thou. Trucks been running flawless, so no concerns really. Just want to keep her maintained. Disabled now and on SSD. I won't be able to change the plugs myself. So that means I will have to pay to have this done. Several years ago when I was checking on this, I read in several posts that dealer costs to have them changed would be north of $600.00. So, unless I hit the lottery, I guess it will be a while for me.
#15
Old Fart
Special ordered mine in Oct. 2010, took delivery in Jan. 2011. Truck just turned 96,000 miles. Had money back then. Not now thou. Trucks been running flawless, so no concerns really. Just want to keep her maintained. Disabled now and on SSD. I won't be able to change the plugs myself. So that means I will have to pay to have this done. Several years ago when I was checking on this, I read in several posts that dealer costs to have them changed would be north of $600.00. So, unless I hit the lottery, I guess it will be a while for me.
According to the book the 6.2 is 75,000 miles for the plugs also, not 100,000 as posted in the earlier 2016 post by Augster.
#16
Master Gunner
Thread Starter
Anywho, I pulled both fender liners and it made it heaps easier with a straight shot to the lower plugs.
Originally Posted by Siber Express;6948358[color=#222222
According to the book the 6.2 is 75,000 miles for the plugs also, not 100,000 as posted in the earlier 2016 post by Augster.
With that said, I will NOT wait another 100k to replace 'em as I noticed about a 0.5 MPG increase afterwards. I will probably hit them at 60-75k.