Spark Plug Removal Experience - 2006-2010 4.0L V6

[vanakular]

Hello!

In the past I've been told that changing the plugs on my 2007 V6 Explorer would be a PITA. This past weekend I decided it was time so I did a bit of digging online. Seems to be a lot of back and forth about the sticking, breaking, thread damage being just a V8 issue or V8 AND V6.

I bought this vehicle at 50k. I'm at 97k now. Best I can tell the plugs were never changed. So, what was the result?

I've seen a lot of comments with people wondering about location, special tools, and access difficulty. No issues there. What made this a pain and incredibly time consuming was the fact that every single plug was stuck. PB Blaster, patience, and lots of beer was required.

All the plugs gave me about 1/32 of a turn, then i laid down some paper towels to minimize getting PB Blaster everywhere, waited 20 minutes, rocked the plugs back and forth, sprayed again. Each plug took 2-4 sprays before I was able to feel like I wasn't applying too much pressure on the wrench.

If you have a lot of patience and don't mind making a bit of a mess you CAN do this yourself. Don't force it, spray and wait.

My V6 could be an exception and I don't know if this was helpful but I still wanted to put it out there.

 

[swshawaii]

Many varied opinions, but many would never replace spark plugs without using a VERY thin coat of copper or nickel anti seize on the threads, especially aluminum heads. Discussion using anti seize often comes up when nickel plated plugs are used, and torque and grounding are affected. A small counter pack is more than adequate for ease of removal in the future. Mine weren't seized, but came out very screechy from a cold engine after 46k . A small coating of dielectric grease inside both boot ends is also a good idea for ease of removal and is also sold in pocket packs. Excessively wide gaps shown are due to Ford's EDIS "Wasted Spark" ignition system that causes 2x faster electrode wear.

 

[Tech By Trade]

Thou art mistaken, anyone with a socket set and 15 minutes of spare time should be able to handle a spark plug change on the V6. Fords infinite wisdom didn't kick in until they fixed the spark plug shooting through the hood on the tritan with a spark plug you couldn't remove without busting it off in the head.

 

[vanakular]

Its one experience and as I said, possibly an exception. I'm sure many or most are fine.

Also, SWS, thank you for those additions.