So, as I continue to give the old 97 Ford Ranger with 2.3L SOHC, that I purchased recently, some much needed TLC I decided to check the spark plug/wires today and am I glad I did. The very first plug wire I first pulled off I was like, hmm, the end of that plug looks kind of weird. So, I look inside the plug wire where it makes connection with the plug and was like, hmm, that looks weird too. So, I remove the plug and it's missing it's tip. I tried to pull the tip out of the spark plug wire, couldn't, and cut it down the side to get it out. It looks like it's been that way for a while and the plug gap is way, way too wide. So, new plugs and wires are need to be had, which lead me to this thread...

Are there any plugs that might be recommend in these 2.3L SOHC Lima motors over others?
I'm looking at:
1 - Motorcraft Original Equipment Finewire Single Platinum plugs, and
2 - Autolite Double Platinum plugs
3 - Autolite Iridium XP plugs
All from the local advance auto parts. I won't be driving the truck and don't want to wait on shipping time to do the job.
Should I use one or the other of these or something else?

Hoping to get a response and get the plugs quickly so I can drive my truck

 

Ford used a Waste Spark system, this means 2 spark plugs share 1 coil in the coil pack and are wired in Series.
And that means 1 spark plug fires "normal" center to tip, but the other fires "reverse" tip to center.
This is why you will often see TWO spark plugs listed as factory installed, one set of 4 has platinum tips, the other set of 4 has platinum centers.
(or on V6 there would be 3 and 3)

When buying thousands of spark plugs, like Ford does every year, it costs less to buy single platinum tip and signal platinum centers, than all double platinum.

But for you.........you should only get regular copper or Double platinum, because all single platinum tips would mean 4 of the spark plugs would wear out just like regular copper.

Because some of the 2.3l spark plugs can be very hard to change I would bite the bullet and get double platinum or double iridium.

Check with local Ford parts departments, free to call.
I have two local dealers near me and they often run "Tune up specials", and I get Motorcraft spark plugs and wires on sale cheaper than discount brands at local parts stores.
And most will give you the discount even if "sale" is over or not on yet

 

Thanks for the info. I knew about the plugs firing in series, but I didn't know about the center to tip and tip to center firing. I ordered the Autolite Double Platinum spark plugs for this round. Advance Auto Parts is about a mile from me, so it makes it a little easier/quicker to get too. Again thanks for the info, the VERY important info to understand how the plugs in this little motor are firing...

 

Yes, there is also some misinformation about the 4cyl 8 spark plug systems out there.

Both spark plugs fire in each cylinder each time its piston is at TDC, compression stroke and exhaust stroke.
This gives the engine better performance and also better MPG and lower emissions.
The exhaust stroke firing doesn't do anything, it's not for better emissions, lol, its just easier to setup this type of spark system, a Waste Spark system, that uses crank timing.

If you have a single cylinder lawn mower it uses Waste Spark, crank has the "points" that fires the coil every TDC, compression and exhaust stroke.

You can unplug 1 of your coil packs(3 wire connector) and you will notice a loss of performance, ain't much but ain't 0 either.
This is also a good way to make sure all 4 spark plugs on the "working" coil park are firing, if you get a misfire then one of the spark plug is not firing, which you wouldn't notice with both coil packs on-line.
Won't hurt anything to run on 1 coil pack, but you may get a CEL(check engine light) while coil pack is unplugged, the computer monitors feedback voltage caused by a coil firing off a spark
CEL will go off when coil pack is hooked back up.

The firing order on the coil packs are done the way they are so each cylinder gets a center to tip spark and a tip to center spark, this covers a series wiring failure which can prevent a driving misfire.
The Coil pack "mod" makes 2 cylinders center to tip only and the other 2 tip to center only, so ???, not really a good idea IMO

 

One thing for sure between having to perform some TLC on the truck and this forum I am gaining a lot of info on this little motor/truck. I'm not doing a plug-mod on it. But, I should probably double check to make sure no one else has done or attempted to do the plug mod. Any chance I might be able to pick your brain on just how to insure the plug wires are connected correctly/stock?

 

Coil packs should be labelled

But pretty easy to see it
To balance any multi-cylinder engine they run pistons in "matched sets"
In 4cyl engines its usually 1-4 and 2-3
So 1 and 4 are at TDC at the same time
2 and 3 are both at TDC 180deg later

So on the coil pack 1 and 4 share the 1 coil on that side
2 and 3 share the coil on the other side

So on one coil pack you will see
[1 4]
[2 3]

On the other coil pack
[4 1]
[3 2]

So just reversed, doesn't matter which is which as long as they are not the same


The coil pack mod was just making them the same

 

Got my Autolite Double Platinum plugs that are supposed to be have a pre-gap of .044". I've check the first box of 4 and every one is more like .05'ish. The gap for these plugs are supposed to be .044" aren't they? Just making sure I haven't missed something and under the wrong about the gap size. Is there a gap different than .044" that is better for a general use truck (town and highway) ?

 

Yes, .044 is spec

Spark plug gaps can be changed for use, you can go as much as .01 +/- but .005 +/- is best unless there is extreme specific use.

Larger gap is better for cold starts and lower RPM usage, under 4,000rpm, it will be a "longer/hotter" spark but gives the coil less recovery time, so it will start to misfire above 5,000rpm or so

Smaller gap is better for higher RPM, above 3,500rpm, i.e. track racing, it gives the coil longer to recover so there are less misfires at high RPM

The .049 would be fine to run as is, but...........spark plug tips and centers do where down regardless of coating, so .044 will get wider as the miles add up, when they get above .052 or so you will start to get mid to high RPM misfires

 

Sorry to sort of butt in here but is there a reason not to use iridium plugs like autolite xps on this type of ignition and only use double platinums?

 

I have had an unexpected thing happen. A vacuum hose came unconnected and I can not find where it goes; even had the wife help looking for it. I'm attaching a picture in the hopes some one can tell me where it goes. It's laying across the plug wires in the picture...

 

Do the high priced Plugs really work ?

Most of my driving is under 3500 rpm and short distance trips.

3.0L... 90K miles... now !

 

If thats a grey hard plastic vacuum line its attached to then it goes to the Heater hose by-pass valve, below it in the picture

 

I not sure myself. I bought the cheapest platinum doubles do to the way the little 2.3L SOHC fires. It's running better now that I've got the worse plugs I've ever pulled from a vehicle out and new plugs/wires on it. Seems to be idling higher to no though. See what happens over a couple fill ups and a can of seafoam...

 

That what it was. Thanks for the info...

 

The truck seems to be idling faster. It's not racing, but is faster than than it was. I can't know the RPM's though. Mine has an automatic transmission and RPM gauge on the cluster.

 

Looking under the hood, my coil packs are configured like this:

Exhaust side
2 1
3 4

Intake side

3 1
4 2

 

So I just was gifted in 96 for ranger. It failed emissions for 2 reasons 1 was a cylinder one misfire detected.
Which exactly is cylinder one just to be sure? It set up like this..(facing vehicle)
31
24 (further back) which is the 1-4,
and which is the 5-8?
42
13(closest front)

and is the number order as follows?
4 8
3 7
2 6
1 5. (Front closest)

 

????

4 cylinder engine

4
3
2
1
front

Coil packs are numbered like this: https://www.fixya.com/uploads/images/zeevert_40.jpg

There is no 5 to 8

A 1996 2.3l can run with either coil pack unplugged, and its a good test
So unplug the 3 wire connector on either coil pack and start the engine
If you have a steady misfire then a spark plug on that side of the engine is bad, or wire, if engine barely runs then could be bad coil in the coil pack
Then test the other coil pack the same way

There are only 2 coils in each coil pack, NOT 4
Each coil sparks TWO cylinders, 1/4 and 2/3 are the matched pairs that spark at the same time