Spark plugs have been in for 8 Years!

[bluestream1]

I last changed my spark plugs 8 years ago, I used anti-seize at the time, and have put on about 75,000 miles since. (Motorcraft double plats - good for 100,000 miles) The other day I decided to pull them and have a look. Engine was still warm, and the first plug started to come out, and didn't "feel" right, so I quickly turned it back in. I have had that sickening feeling in the past just before thread striped.

At this point, I have two choices:

Leave the plugs in as I likely will sell the truck before reaching the 100,000 miles service life of the plugs. This is the "safe" play; let sleeping dogs lie.

Or, be a man and attempt to remove the plugs with the engine cold and working them back and forth with some PB Blaster. Once out, I may as well put in new ones, at additional cost to me.

I have read a lot of horror stories of broken plugs, and stuck easy-outs on this site. This is the right thing to do, but taking them out would really only be a benefit to the next owner.

What would you do?

 

[G-96XLT]

I doubt you have a problem. You can strip them going in but unlikely to strip or cross them coming out. Also spark plugs should not be in tight regardless of 1 year or 8 years. They always come out easy, and you put them in by hand until they are well threaded.

 

[G-96XLT]

Broken is no problem. The ceramic breaks making them easier to take out. I broke one before and the only downside was having to buy another pair.

The people who are stuck have various stories. If you have a ratchet, a swivel connector and the right plug remover tips you should be OK. The driver side is easy, the other side is harder and you should take the wheel off, swivel helps on the last plug.

 

[drdoom]

That's about how long my last set were in, with about 75K. Autolites, I believe, gaps measured at .057, and they came out just fine. YMMV

 

[herebyproxy]

PB blaster

Go with the PB blaster......a good soaking, wait a couple hours and resoak.....wait a couple hours....twist them out

 

[Sbyrne97]

just bite your lip and do it...i know that feeling when something doesn't feel right...but your not going to know unless you try

 

[bluestream1]

I think the anti-seize that I used has baked on over the years. Normally when the plug is broke loose the plug comes out easy. When I started to remove the plug the feeling was the same resistance, it not not spin out freely. That's what worried me...

 

[SoNic67]

No, the crappy Motorcraft plugs will brake super easy. They just rust in, have a smaller thread and a gap that gets filled with rust (they used that because the automated machine that was inserting the plugs in factory)...
I did broke three of them (after they sit 100k miles). Not fun. I did replaced maybe 30-40 plugs in my life and those where the only ones that broke.

Use Autolite XP next, have a better electrical and mechanical construction and anticorrosive plating.

 

[herebyproxy]

Better yet.....

Change them a little more frequently......from here on.....

 

[bluestream1]

Change them a little more frequently......from here on.....

Well, I would but I plan to sell it within 2 years and get a different truck

 

[yavapaires]

If it were me. I would leave them alone if the truck is running OK. When you sell it you can tell the buyer. My 96 4.0 OHV plugs were very tight, but it has cast iron heads. I don't care what anyone else says, you can strip the threads out of an aluminum head. Take it from a former VW mechanic from the late 60's. Just try working them back and forth, do NOT try to take them out all at once. PB Blaster may work. I didn't have that when working on VW's.