Some Questions about a Tune-Up!

[willied]

Well, guys, my dad took my '06 Explorer V8 to the shop the other day to diagnose a problem with it running a little rough. The guys at the shop said it wasn't the coils, and that it could use a tune-up, currently at around 71,000 miles. He said I would need to get a tune up at the latest of 100,000 miles, but the earlier the better. He said the spark plugs would cost $240 alone and the labor would be $200 or more because it's so much work. What are your opinions on this and are these prices right? Thanks.

 

[my pos mounty]

That price should include a beautiful blonde, dinner, movie and she should make you a sandwich after you finish "doing your business."
$440 for a sparkplug change?
Run, do not walk.
Go to an autoparts store, buy your own sparkplugs and a ratchet and socket. Take the 30 minutes to do it yourself and enjoy the $400 savings

 

[willied]

That price should include a beautiful blonde, dinner, movie and she should make you a sandwich after you finish "doing your business."
$440 for a sparkplug change?
Run, do not walk.
Go to an autoparts store, buy your own sparkplugs and a ratchet and socket. Take the 30 minutes to do it yourself and enjoy the $400 savings

Is it really that easy on the new Explorers? Because if it is, I would gladly do it myself. I like working on stuff but I don't know what is involved as it is my first car and I haven't done anything under the hood yet.

 

[my pos mounty]

It can not be so difficult that it would be worth spending $400 to have someone else do it.
If its like the second gens, it is easy to do it through the wheelwells.
Jack up the truck, take tire off, remove the flimsy rubber inner skirt (it has push pins in it) and after that is removed, your looking at the side if the engine, sparkplugs staring you in the face.
In all seriousness, for $400, even if it takes you 8 hours to do it the first time, you just paid yourself $50 an hour to change them.

 

[NORDFORD]

Do some research

If you search this forum you will find that there is more than just swapping them out involved. These tend to stick into the heads, causing major headaches. There is a TSB from ford on how to address and this and TRY to prevent breaking the plugs as you remove them. Call the dealer, see what their tech says and ask how many hours the book says the job is. From what I have researched, this is a breeze or a nightmare. I'm in no way saying you are not able, I would just do a little more research on this topic.

 

[willied]

If you search this forum you will find that there is more than just swapping them out involved. These tend to stick into the heads, causing major headaches. There is a TSB from ford on how to address and this and TRY to prevent breaking the plugs as you remove them. Call the dealer, see what their tech says and ask how many hours the book says the job is. From what I have researched, this is a breeze or a nightmare. I'm in no way saying you are not able, I would just do a little more research on this topic.

He mentioned them possibly breaking and making it hard to get them out...I don't know if I want to risk getting my car stuck at my house with broken spark plugs...but I also don't want to be ripped off.

 

[edwx]

I've never had a problem with breaking spark plugs in my 3 Ex's, and anyway, I would still take the chance. Even if one does break, which it probably won't, there are ways to get the broken one out, and worst case senerio, it wouldn't cost more than the $400 you were originally talking about. I replaced my plugs several times on my Gen. 2,3,and 4, with no problems. I waited 'til over 100k on my Gen. 3. Yes, it is easiest to get at one plug (rear passenger) through the wheel well. The whole job still took 45min. Get the Motorcraft or Autolite XP plugs, and a little high temp. never sieze.

 

[Bill MacLeod]

Your mechanic (and Nordford) are giving you good advice here. Spark plug replacement on 06 and early 07 V-8 Explorer engines can be a real nightmare.
Do some research on this. Lots of info out there.

 

[seannydeez]

since we're on the topic, how are these to change in the V6? I really haven't spent much time under the hood of it so they could be staring right at me once I look.

 

[willied]

I've never had a problem with breaking spark plugs in my 3 Ex's, and anyway, I would still take the chance. Even if one does break, which it probably won't, there are ways to get the broken one out, and worst case senerio, it wouldn't cost more than the $400 you were originally talking about. I replaced my plugs several times on my Gen. 2,3,and 4, with no problems. I waited 'til over 100k on my Gen. 3. Yes, it is easiest to get at one plug (rear passenger) through the wheel well. The whole job still took 45min. Get the Motorcraft or Autolite XP plugs, and a little high temp. never sieze.

Did you do it on your '06? I think I may do it myself. I got it back from the shop today. The guy said the last three Explorers he's changed the plugs on he's only had either 2 or 3 plugs break in all. He also replaced the fuel filter (quite dirty), replaced the air filter, and cleaned the throttle body as it was gunked up and not working properly.

 

[edwx]

Yes, I did it on my '06 XLS V-6 right after I bought it almost 2 years ago. It had about 35k miles on it at the time. I must say, all I've had are V-6's, and can't really speak for V-8's.

 

[bojans]

My plugs snapped off in the head, not a big deal once you get the tool. My suggestion is if you are going to do it yourself have the tool with you and return it if you don't use it but plan on spending a solid 4 hours doing this especially with the learning curve for the tool. $400 actually sounds like a fair price so long as it includes dealing with broken plugs. FYI my experience was that the tool was junk after removing the 6 plugs that were broken...

 

[Titan08.5]

I'm getting ready to tackel the spark plugs this weekend. How about I take some Pictures for everyone and do a nice write up on begining to end.... haha if I'm Lucky...knock on wood.... I wont have any broken plugs and if I do... well it makes it a better write up.... any thoughts on this.....

 

[seannydeez]

that would be awesome

 

[Bill MacLeod]

I'm getting ready to tackel the spark plugs this weekend. How about I take some Pictures for everyone and do a nice write up on begining to end.... haha if I'm Lucky...knock on wood.... I wont have any broken plugs and if I do... well it makes it a better write up.... any thoughts on this.....

You have the Lisle extraction tool, 9/16" spark plug socket and carb/combustion chamber cleaner?

Good luck, pics and write-up sounds like a great idea.

 

[DavidEBSmith]

Info on plug removal here: http://www.denlorstools.com/autoblo...lug-removal-tool-picture-of-fords-bad-design/

More info and scans of TSB: http://www.denlorstools.com/autoblog/2009/07/changing-ford-spark-plugs-46-54-68-ford-tsb-08-7-6/

Extraction tool here: http://www.denlorstools.com/home/dt..._broken_spark_plug_remover_lis_65600_alt.html

Yuk. Glad we have a Ford mechanic who's a friend of the family.

 

[granadojl]

I can't imagine spending $400 on getting the plugs replaced... I had one coil go out on me and I replaced them all with Accel Coils.... Part Number 140033-8 that I payed $227 from Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/ACCEL-140033-8-Super-Coil-Kit/dp/B001O074JU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=automotive&qid=1280272121&sr=8-1


I figured I was already in the area, I might as well replace the plugs as well... which I bought from Autozone

I replaced the plugs with the engine was a little warm. I blew out the surrounding area with compressed air in order to not contaminate the cylinders when I pulled the plugs out. I soaked the plugs in WD-40 for about an hour or so. then I loosened the plugs as if It were any other engine.... Nothing to it. I did not break any plugs... Being sure not to be cheap with the WD-40. I then installed the new plugs using a good amount of anti-seize and installed the new plugs... Total time including letting the old plugs soak in WD was around 3 hours....

 

[Bill MacLeod]

granadojl:
Interesting method you used, so I'm going to ask some ?'s

- did you break the seal on the plugs by 1/8" to 1/4" turn before soaking them? (as per Ford's TSB)
- the WD-40 was used in lieu of carb cleaner?
- did you limit torque during removal to 30 lb?
- turn each plug back and forth when removing?
- strong resistance (screaching) during removal?

Sorry to ask these questions, but I think when reading the TSB, most are intimidated by what could happen?

 

[granadojl]

As for following Ford's TSB... I did not know the plugs were prone to breakage at the time. I replaced them at around 70,000 miles or so. So here we go.....

- I did not break the seal by 1/8-1/4 and soak. I soaked them first for about an hour while the engine is warm as I figured the aluminum heads would allow the plugs to let loose a little.

- I would have probably used Carb Cleaner if I had a can at the time... But I already removed the coils. I'm sure I could have put them back on in order to buy a can... But i'm lazy and hard-headed.

- I did not keep track of the torque reading while removing the plugs. I did feel a little resistance though. Then I loosened each and every plug very slow as I did not want to break one. I have broken a conventional plug in my 347 stroker and I am glad it was only in the ceramic part. When I would feel any resistance, I would spray more WD in the plug "pocket."

-I did not turn plug back and forth as recommended, but I did spray more WD and turn the ratchet slow.

-As for the resistance causing a screaching sound. I did not hear any as I was not cheap with the WD and limited the turning speed of the ratchet.

Keep in mind if I would have owned the Shop Manuals and or read the TSB at the time. I would have bought the tool in preparation of plug(s) breaking. I would not want to get half way done swapping plugs and then break one.... then realizing that I have to wait for the removal tool to come in the mail, all while my EX is sitting in the driveway. I'm glad that all worked out well and I did not experience any issues.

Am I saying that my process is a good way... Absolutely not... But I didn't realize the complexity, and sensitivity of the plugs while under stress.

 

[xplrluvr]

My word! I would have never known this before reading this forum!! Thanks yall I am just beginning to do any serious maintenance on our '06 EX and I have already learned ALOT about it all. Back in the "day", I would now be up the creek !! But then again, back in the "day" changing plugs was a cake walk