spark plug gap | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

  • Register Today It's free!

spark plug gap

2000co

Well-Known Member
Joined
April 7, 2007
Messages
249
Reaction score
38
City, State
Englewood, co
Year, Model & Trim Level
'05 Mountaineer V6 AWD
Im confused, I have 2005 mountaineer v6 flex fuel. I got motorcraft spark plug. Chilton recomends spark plug gap 0.061-0.068. Mountaineer owner manual recommends 0.052-0.056. I use the owner manual gap and the truck runs amazing but I'm not sure if that's the correct gap. What's the correct gap?
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





Im confused, I have 2005 mountaineer v6 flex fuel. I got motorcraft spark plug. Chilton records spark plug gap 0.061-0.068. Mountaineer owner manual recommends 0.052-0.056. I use the owner manual gap and the truck runs amazing but I'm not sure if that's the correct gap. What's the correct gap?

0.052 is the gap that I used on my 4.0 SOHC Flex. The Factory plugs I pulled out were wore down to 0.086.. It makes me wonder how they got that way.. would the spark or pressures within the engine do this?

I say 0.052 to start out because the gap is going to increase over time... does this make sense?
 






The gap on the old plugs was 0.080 also . I went from 13mpg to 16mpg. For the 2003 Chilton recommends 0.052-0.056 gap but for the 2005 they recomends 0.061-0.068, not sure why.
 






I search the Internet today and all the website i found recommend 0.052-0.056 gap. The only place i found 0.061-0.068 is in earlier member post and Chilton manual. I'll try the dealer tomorrow to see what they recommend.

If my gap is wrong how would i know by the way the truck is running?
 






I called several dealers today. 2 told me 0.061-0.068, the rest told me 0.052-0.056 or strictly only 0.054 if I'm using motorcraft plugs.
 






I called several dealers today. 2 told me 0.061-0.068, the rest told me 0.052-0.056 or strictly only 0.054 if I'm using motorcraft plugs.

I would ONLY use motorcraft plugs. Our engines seem to like them better for some reason!

and isn't it crazy how far gaped ours were when we pulled them out?
 






I'm going to start changing the plugs earlier to avoid the huge gap. It's crazy that Ford recommends changing plugs at 100k miles.
 






I'm getting better gas mileage and the truck feels happier after the spark plug change so I’m keeping the 0.054 gap. Not sure were Chilton got the 0.061-0.068 gap.
 






The 0.061-0.068 gap comes from the Ford OEM Service DVDs for 2003, 04 & 05, for the 4.0L Explorer, Explorer Sport-Trac, Mountaineer & Ranger, originally equipped with the Motorcraft AGSF22PM plug. Interestingly, in 2005, the Mustang started using the same 4.0L engine. In that application, the engine was equipped with the AGSF24N plug (a hotter plug). The gap on the DVD is shown as 0.052-0.056 in.

Through 2002, all 4.0L SOHC plugs, according to the Ford DVDs, are gapped at 0.052-0.056, using AGSF22PP plugs as replacement plugs.

The 4.0L SOHC is a waste spark engine, which uses slightly different plugs on the left & right banks.

Replacement plugs are usually double platinum, suffixed PP so they can be
used on both banks.

On the 2006 and later Ford DVDs, all 4.0L SOHC plugs are gapped at
0.052-0.056 in.

On the Ford OEM parts site, the AGSF22PM plug isn't listed. The replacement
plug for 2003-05 4.0L engines is the SP400, which is shown as having a gap
of 0.052-0.056 in.

The sites for Autolite, Champion and Bosch all list replacement plugs, for
those years as having a gap of 0.054 in.

Bottom line, it looks like the original plugs in the 2003-05 engines, except
for the 2005 Mustang, were gapped at 0.061-0.068 in. Replacement plugs,
regardless of manufacturer, are gapped at 0.052-0.056 (0.054), regardless of
electrode type (iron, copper, platinum, double platinum, or iridium.
 






I guess by your username you work at chilton. I'm the guy that called about it and I want to thank you for checking it.
FYI - spark plug sp-400 is no longer available the replacement plug is sp-500 and the gap is 0.054.
 






2000 Explorer 4.0 SOHC spark plug gap

I have a 2000 Explorer XT with Yamaha 4.0L SOHC. Since purchase, I have modified the exhaust-- MaxFlow Muffler with 2 1/2" pipe from the muffler aft. I also added K&N filter for max inflow. Performance in terms of mpg and acceleration were vastly improved. Earlier in its mileage, I would get 18-20 mpg highway and 16 in town (I calculate mpg EVERY fuel stop). The SUV now has 230K miles. Still no oil consumption, still no head gasket issues. About 20K miles back, I put it on a dyno, and the shop suggested new spark plugs. Gas mileage has been down, including most recently in-town mpg is about 11 mpg?!? I changed plugs yesterday. Old plugs were Motorcraft AGSF22N. New plugs are NGK TR55GP (platinum). Gap on old plugs was ~ .050", and they looked OK. But since changing plugs, performance is way up, based on the first 50 miles (only), and accelerating onto freeway. Any thoughts about plug use? How should computer be tuned for air/fuel mixture based on K&N and exhaust mods??? Is MAF sensor OK?
 






Im confused, I have 2005 mountaineer v6 flex fuel. I got motorcraft spark plug. Chilton recomends spark plug gap 0.061-0.068. Mountaineer owner manual recommends 0.052-0.056. I use the owner manual gap and the truck runs amazing but I'm not sure if that's the correct gap. What's the correct gap?

Hi buddy,
The chilton manuals/Haymes manuals etc almost always alow for an element of wear on the engine internals, post bedding in etc so sometimes their Gap settings are averaged to get the best performance out of an engine that already has miles on it. If you go to Rockauto and find your model/year/make i their listings then they always provide pre gapped plugs for garages/workshops to provide optimum performance. For you Mercury Mountaineer V6 flex Fuel the plug are all preset to 0.054 thou of an inch. Check out the link below. Hope this helps.

http://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/ford,2005,explorer,4.0l+v6,1430688,ignition,spark+plug,7212
 






Back
Top