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Ford Explorer Community - Maintenance - Modifications - Performance Upgrades - Problem Solving - Off-Road - Street
Explorer Forum Covers the Explorer ST, Explorer Sport, Explorer Sport Trac, Lincoln Aviator, Mercury Mountaineer, Mazda Navajo, Ford Ranger, Mazda Pickups, and the Ford Aerostar
I 2nd what Alec said. I've researched my brains out, and tried different brands and models.....because it's in my nature to test and document things for myself. It truly all boils down to don't buy into the gimmicks!
New spark plugs and spark plug wires can only restore degraded electrical transmission and spark. You will not get any 'gains in horsepower' by installing multiple electrode plugs or low resistance plug wires on a stock or lightly modified engine.
Motorcraft makes a very robust 8mm plug wire and the double platinum plugs will give you all the reliable spark you need. If you wanna get new wires for looks, then stay with brands like Taylor or Jacobs for quality build.
I don't expect any new horsepower or tourque gains but after 80,000 miles I figure they need to be changed very soon. Also next year I plan on a new cam, pushrods, and maybe some 4.0 EE heads if they get done with them so I would like something semi-reliable.
I was interested in the Taylor Spiro's for wires but didn't know exactly what I should get.
because they had some other items I needed. Do search by vehicle. It takes you through the standard make, year, model....."loading loading loading" then scroll down the list to Ignition, Spark Plug Wires. Select CUSTOM FIT APPLICATION, then engine size. Make sure you select the right wires for your OHV engine, beause the OHV and the SOHC are different.
I think Summit Racing might have them cheaper if that's all you're buying. Call an advisor and tell them what vehicle you have and an advisor/salesman should be able to size 'em up for you.
If you're not going to go to a local autoparts store like Autozone, Pepboys, Advanced Auto (who can tell you what will fit your X), then best recommendation I have for you is to look in your owner's manual and see what the Motorcraft part number is for your stock sparkplugs. There are several resources online that allow you to use the Motorcraft part number to cross reference other brands. And you will probably be able to find what the diameter, reach, hex, seat, etc is. You can also accomplish alot by searching the forum with keywords like SPARK PLUG PART NUMBER DESCRIPTION.
Hey dudes and dudettes! I posted this same thing in "Under the Hood"....
I put new Motorcraft platinums set to .054 on my 97X 5.0L and immediately got a 2-3 mpg increase on two tanks of gas (19.8 mpg). Couple of weeks later I received a set of Motorcraft 8mm plug wires thru Fordparts mailorder, installed them and mpg dropped to below what it was before I put the new plugs in (15.2 and 16.4 mpg ???). I didn't expect miracles, but thot I'd at least hold on to the 2-3 mpg increase.
I went back under the hood and ensured all the wires were fully seated, same thing topside...still less the enviable mpg. A friend suggested checking the new wires' resistance with a multimeter, possible bad wire not carrying spark. But, she sure runs smooth...no hint of running on less the 8 cylinders.
Kinda weird...I think I'm going to reinstall the old wires .
Very disappointed in the Jacobs wires. Only three years old and the terminals and inside of the wires have already rotted away. Jacobs says there is only a one year warrenty and cannot replace them. You think such an expensive wire would last. I decided to go back to motorcraft.
Originally posted by RickOTR Very disappointed in the Jacobs wires. Only three years old and the terminals and inside of the wires have already rotted away. Jacobs says there is only a one year warrenty and cannot replace them. You think such an expensive wire would last. I decided to go back to motorcraft.
had you posted this somewhere earlier? somone had the same problem as you and had posted it up so I decided not to even think about the jacobs wries. I'm pretty sure I will get the taylor spiro's and motocraft double plat. sparks or splitfire's
Hey guys, check out my recent posting. It just got too cold and I don't have time with work and a new house to be spending time on my X right now. Someone help a brutha out!
HA! No one's here to badger you. Lots of guys run aftermarket plugs, it just appears the consensus is that Motorcraft plugs are an excellent, reliable all around performers. Hell, I'm running NGK's!
Don't have any info on the 96 XLT (assume you have the 4.0L OHV V6). I'm not sure what "reach" your engine requires. Look up in your owners manual, what the part # is for your spark plug. I know you can cross reference it here to an NGK plug:
Then you can go here, type in the NGK part number, and get a description/size/specs (might be able to skip the 1st link and go right to the search below). When you get a line-up of acceptible plugs for your engine, just click 'more info' on one of em and you'll get all the stats (thread dia, reach, seat, hex, etc):
Sorry, FOO!
