1998 explorer EB 5.0 spark plugs

[cm8809]

My 98 ex 5.0 has 157,000 on it. What would be my best choices for spark plugs and wires on this truck?

 

[mr2fix2it]

Motorcraft is the only choice

 

[SoNic67]

Bull. Motorcraft are just average. And have short thread wich leads to problems.
Autolite XP104.

 

[Bill Kemp]

Bull. Motorcraft are just average. And have short thread wich leads to problems.
Autolite XP104.

Where do we find info like this about the spark plugs?

I'd like to check out some other brands.

 

[techieman33]

Bull. Motorcraft are just average. And have short thread wich leads to problems.
Autolite XP104.

Where have you seen this? I've never read of anyone having a problem with motorcraft plugs or wires in a 302, the exception being a rare faulty plug straight from the factory.

 

[SoNic67]

First Motorcraft spark plugs that where installed in 302 engine till 2001 (last year) are not in manufacture anymore. There where developing problems. The new ones are not too much better. They work, of course... but just that.

Ford uses an automated spark plug insertion tool. That tool needs that the thread to be shorter than the other plugs and in this way there is a small gap between plug and the block. There is the place where rust is seizing the plugs on iron blocks. Read (between the lines) here.
There is a TB that explains the special procedure to remove the spark plugs seized in a iron block. I find out that too late.
On aluminum blocks (newer V8), the same short thread lead to sperk plug explusion and a TB - steel inserts are to be put in aluminum blocks to fix that screw up.
There are numerous threads here about seized spark plugs, just serch it! Red circled areas represents the place where the seizing takes place due to the microscopic gap.

The Autolite XP104 plugs have the right temperature range and are better than Motorcraft. Platinum side, iridium wire... Other manufacturer that I have looked into is Denso. I just had to choose one... so I didn't try their top of the line iridiums.
Bosch plugs have a higher temperature range and are not recomended.

Below is how my spark plugs looked after 90k miles. Three of them broke like that. Rusted thru, due to lack of nickel plating. Seized because of the gap described above.

 

[Mbrooks420]

I changed the plugs in mine, and they had at least 100k on them. It had 160k on it, and they might have been factory. They all came out in one piece, and looked surprisingly well. I replaced them with Motorcrafts. Still have the stock wires at 178k :O Yeah, yeah, I have the wires (Autolite's) I just can't find the desire to put them on. Maybe if I run out of other things to fix.

 

[celly]

Haven't had anything resembling bad experience with Motorcraft. I recommend them wholeheartedly in the 302. I know of many other people who have as well.

Bit of scaremongering going on above if you ask me.

 

[crunchie_frog]

Autolite has a rebate now on their plugs and the Iridium XP104 you can get $2 off a piece. I like to change my plugs more often than the 100K miles or whatever you are suppose to get with the platinum or iridium plugs so I can see if there is anything funny going on in any of the cylinders. Also, when I have had them go the 100K miles, the gaps seem to get uneven and pretty high. I usually use motorcrafts (I have had three 302 engines I have serviced over the years) but the last change I did was with the autolites single platinum AP104 (rebate) and performace seems good so far.

 

[SoNic67]

My original Motorcrafts, at 90k had a perfectly rounded tip with increased gap. That puts a strain on the ingition coils and leads to misfires, increased fuel consumption...
Didn't look like "platinum" tip to me.

Not even close of what a fine wire tip on the iridium plugs looks like.

 

[GETMYBELTSON]

My original Motorcrafts, at 90k had a perfectly rounded tip with increased gap. That puts a strain on the ingition coils and leads to misfires, increased fuel consumption...
Didn't look like "platinum" tip to me.

Not even close of what a fine wire tip on the iridium plugs looks like.

Of coarse a platinum coating might have worn off at close to 100k miles (the end of their life cycle)... do you really think its made out of a chunk of platinum? As for earlier comments... if they moved the thread up you would still be left with an area that can rust to the block, it would just be higher. And of coarse there is a tb that says to use sleeves on a blown out plug... what other option is there?

 

[SoNic67]

The iridium one have the tip made of iridium and the ground side is platinum plating or wire. There are very tiny - only 0.4-0.6 mm for the tip - but that's what electrical spark likes!
Of course, everybody chooses what he thinks is better

I have on all my cars something better than OEM plugs. I am not attached to a certain brand - in my Mercury Sable V6 DOHC the Bosch "Iridium Fusion +4" worked great, in Hyunday Sonata V6 I did try the Bosch and didn't like them, but NGK "Iridium IX" where great, in the 302 engine the Autolite "XP104" are perfect.

PS: And no, the thread would not leave the moisture get in there because the thread metal is compressed on metal (when you tight it), unlike the micro-gap that is present in the original plug (where I circled it with red). If you use in that port a long thread plug you will still be better since the contact surface is smaller and you can fill it with silicon lube (the special one for sperk plug thread) easier.

 

[GETMYBELTSON]

The iridium one have the tip made of iridium and the ground side is platinum plating or wire. There are very tiny - only 0.4-0.6 mm for the tip - but that's what electrical spark likes!
Of course, everybody chooses what he thinks is better

I have on all my cars something better than OEM plugs. I am not attached to a certain brand - in my Mercury Sable V6 DOHC the Bosch "Iridium Fusion +4" worked great, in Hyunday Sonata V6 I did try the Bosch and didn't like them, but NGK "Iridium IX" where great, in the 302 engine the Autolite "XP104" are perfect.

PS: And no, the thread would not leave the moisture get in there because the thread metal is compressed on metal (when you tight it), unlike the micro-gap that is present in the original plug (where I circled it with red). If you use in that port a long thread plug you will still be better since the contact surface is smaller and you can fill it with silicon lube (the special one for sperk plug thread) easier.

Electrical sparks also prefers copper to platinum/iridium.

Spark plugs are just another field of easy to replace items that producers take advantage of by claiming all sorts unfounded gains, just like intake parts between the manifold and filter. People eat this **** up because they are looking for something they can replace easily that promises the stars.

In other words; if you need 4 tips on your spark plug to make your car run right you are either under a placebo effect or something else is wrong with your car. And why would you band aid the problem with more spark plug tips when something else is clearly the problem?

With spark plugs you should only be considering 2 things: what heat range do I want and how long do I want the plug to last before I change it? Most of us aren't running 20psi forced induction to require any thought beyond this, at which point you'd probably take into consideration durability and melting points. Need more spark? You upgrade other componets, spark plugs are rarely the weak link.

Also, condensation builds up on the threads during cooling. A threaded area has more surface area than a non threaded area and thus has more area for condensation to build up. I imagine with anti seize the difference in rust is negligible and you are just using a past experience to justify hearsay.

 

[SoNic67]

I don't have to have 4 tips on my spark plugs. The Autolite have just one tip and one ground.
Temperatures inside the chamber are so high and gases so reactive that the Copper would be eaten very soon. That's why iridium and platinum are used. Basic stuff...
Also I have explained why the condensation won't get in the threaded part, and I won't repeat it.

You can keep buying spark plugs with short thread in an iron block. Maybe you don't have salt on your roads. maybe you don't care that the center electrode lost it's shape and cause your MPG to increase with some 5%. Maybe you won't mind spending 600$ (like I had to) o fix problems with seized Motorcraft plugs.
That was just my opinion - that the Motorcraft plugs are just a bare-minimum plugs - and everybody can think different.

 

[GETMYBELTSON]

I don't have to have 4 tips on my spark plugs. The Autolite have just one tip and one ground.
Temperatures inside the chamber are so high and gases so reactive that the Copper would be eaten very soon. That's why iridium and platinum are used. Basic stuff...
Also I have explained why the condensation won't get in the threaded part, and I won't repeat it.

You can keep buying spark plugs with short thread in an iron block. Maybe you don't have salt on your roads. maybe you don't care that the center electrode lost it's shape and cause your MPG to increase with some 5%. Maybe you won't mind spending 600$ (like I had to) o fix problems with seized Motorcraft plugs.
That was just my opinion - that the Motorcraft plugs are just a bare-minimum plugs - and everybody can think different.

You have explained why 'you think' condensation won't get into the threaded part, but I guess you are naive to the fact that condensation will accumulate on the threads when cooled. This is thermal dynamics... just because an area has threads does not somehow make it immune to condensation. More threads = more surface area = more surface area to rust. At this point we could get real technical on the amount of force required to break rust of varying surface areas vs thickness, but it's really a moot point.

As for copper being 'eaten very soon'... sure if you consider 20k miles to be very soon. You're trading performance for longevity with platinum, but who really only changes their spark plugs twice in 200k miles? Most likely platinum plugs are disposed of well before their mileage limit (because why not? they are cheap) and makes the difference in longevity negligible to anyone who properly cares for their auto. Not to mention coppers melting point is 2000 degrees, so I really doubt the combustion chambers temperature is 'eating' it.


Anecdotal evidence is not fact.

 

[SoNic67]

Threads have the surfaces PRESSED together with tones per square inch. Metal to metal gap is therfore extremly small.
The cylindical straight face puts no pressure on the block hole. Interstitial gap is probably 10000 bigger than the one between two threads.

Also, a smaller tip, like the iridium one, cools less the flame nucleus. A biger metalic (usual tip) tip will cool the flame nucleus a lot, leading to incomplete burn.

As for the copper chemical oxidation resistance in the presence of 1000-2000 degree combustion gases and air (right to the tip), compared with the one of platinum or iridium... Nickel is the least resistent material that is used for the tip. No copper in the exposed tip.

 

[GETMYBELTSON]

Threads have the surfaces PRESSED together with tones per square inch. Metal to metal gap is therfore extremly small.
The cylindical straight face puts no pressure on the block hole. Interstitial gap is probably 10000 bigger than the one between two threads.

Also, a smaller tip, like the iridium one, cools less the flame nucleus. A biger metalic (usual tip) tip will cool the flame nucleus a lot, leading to incomplete burn.

Why don't you prove me wrong and post some sources that confirm any of this.

As for the copper chemical oxidation resistance in the presence of 1000-2000 degree combustion gases and air (right to the tip), compared with the one of platinum or iridium... Nickel is the least resistent material that is used for the tip. No copper in the exposed tip.

So why do you mention temperature as a cause here?

Temperatures inside the chamber are so high and gases so reactive that the Copper would be eaten very soon. That's why iridium and platinum are used.

Enough anecdotal evidence already. Backup what you are saying with some sources.

 

[SoNic67]

Don't feel the need to proove nothing. That's what google is for...
As far as I care, use coat hangers if you like.

 

[GETMYBELTSON]

if you are posting info against the status quo then you have a responsibility to prove your words. You have many other posts that have blatantly bad information which ruins your credibility. I've googled your 'info' trying to find something that supports your theory, but there is nothing. if you had nothing to prove you wouldn't have kept supporting your theories in face of my opposition.

Bad info costs less knowledgable people money. Don't be 'that guy'.

 

[celly]

At the end of the day, Motorcraft and Autolite come out of the same factories and drawing boards (made by Honeywell). They even look and feel alike. I've seen a lot of people on the www use these Autolites with a decent degree of success. Then again, enough people say the same about Motorcrafts. Both brands to me are the best application for any Ford.

What I don't understand Sonic is you rant about how rusted your Motocrafts were in a salty region after 90,000 miles. Can you say with certainty that your Autolites won't be the same after 90,000? I find your "theory" (and that's all it seems to be) that Ford's assembly method is the reason for the rust. I'm just not buying that.

I'm with ugexe. A lot of what you're presenting is opinion and a lot of anectdotal evidence. If you say that Google supports these assertions, post up some links. I'm outright doubting you, but I am pretty skeptical of your claims especially since you always say you saw it on Google but won't put up any links. I'm certain that Autolite plugs are damn good, but are they that much better than the Motorcrafts? I'm seeing a lot of fancy marketing with those Autolites.

Unlike what I read somewhere in one of your posts, anti-seize is highly effective at preventing corrosion in your threads. I recently had to remove my plugs to do some misfire troubleshooting and they were a piece of cake to get out. They're a year old and endured one Canadian winter. Granted, we don't use a lot of salt here, but the threads look almost new. Only a bit "dirty" from the anti-seize in the threads. I use a Permatex copper based compound and I swear by it. I used something similar on my mountainbikes (lots of dissimilar metals hooking up on bike parts).