Got some new plugs today. Couldn't find any dealers in town with enough stock of the correct Motorcraft plugs for my '03 4.0 so I remembered reading on here that the Autolites would work fine too. Took a few minutes of cross-referencing at Autozone but I ended up with Autolite Platinum 5144s. They (as many have found) list the OHC plugs as what goes in the SOHC 4.0s as the same which is NOT correct. Fortunately the guy at the counter was cool and worked with me. Also stopped by the dealer down the street and picked up a new PCV valve. It was $14, not bad.

AS for doing the plugs, it was much easier than I was expecting. I jacked it up and took the tire and splash guard out from the passenger side and besides having to get a little creative with some extensions and one swivel, I got it all done. The back and middle plug on that side are kind of a pain becuase my plug socket kept getting stuck on the new plug after it was installed with no easy way to get it off. Ended up using a bent nose set of narrow vise grips to grab it and pull it off on both of those plugs but it took a minute to finangle it in there. Heres the original plugs that came out...not in bad shape, but the gaps were not even close to being even. Keep in mind the truck only has 58K on it:



Now, heres some pics and info on the PCV valve replacement if it helps anyone. Heres the Motorcraft part. If you go with aftermarket, make sure it has that "horseshoe" around it for the coolant.




Its located on the back side of the drivers valve cover:



With the engine cooled off, pull the large hose off the valve. Now just twist the whole valve about 1/3 turn counterclockwise and it comes right out...



Now you just slide back the clips on the coolant lines and remove it. Much easier to access the coolant lines and clips with the valve out of the valve cover.

This one was pretty nasty but was still operational. You can tell by shaking it and listening to the "rattle" inside. I imagine you could clean it out and re-use it but I just went with the new one.



I put a drop of oil on the coolant "horseshoe" of the new valve to make sliding the lines back on easier. Now just re-install it, replace the coolant lines/clips and stick the large line back on...easy.

 

While I was busy with that stuff, I also pulled apart the air intake and cleaned the throttle body, airbox, tubing, and MAF. CRC is good stuff and a can will last you forever. I had a K&N filter left from my previous '03 Ranger so I cleaned it up, re-oiled it and stuck it in too.

 

all I can think about is how clean your engine bay is.

 

i wish mine was that clean.

 

It sure wasnt that clean when I first got the truck about a month ago.

 

Hmm how long did it take you to do the spark plug installation? I am going to Ford in the morning to replace the fuel filter and I may have them go ahead and do it while I am there. The last time I changed the fuel filter, I got gas all over me. New age trucks ain't like muscle cars that I usually work on unfortunately lol.

 

Spark plugs took maybe and hour but I wasn't in any hurry. Drivers side takes 10 minutes, passenger side 30 min or so. The Autolite plugs I got seem to be doing fine.

As for the fuel filter, just make sure to pull the fuel pump fuse and run the truck until it dies. That'll de-pressurize the fuel system. But yea, you'll still get some gas on your hands and arms. Make sure to wear safety glasses....you'll inevitable somehow end up with a splash of gas in your eye no matter how careful you are it seems. Gas in mouth & eyes sucks...trust me!

 

The gas only burns for a few mins. Your eye sight returns in 15-20mins.

What really hurt, was the gasoline up the nose.

 

Haha I let Ford change my fuel filters from now on cause I got pissed the last time I changed mine and got shot with fuel all over. However I just replaced my plugs and wires today, and I must say it was quite frustrating but I got it. The arc was at .081. Yeah I'd say it was time for a change since they are supposed to be set at .061 to .065.

 

Nice i should do that pcv valve, sometime...

 

I couldn't locate my PCV...

Am I that dumb? :'(

4.0 EFI

 

^^^ urs is gonna be a bit different since urs is ohc. its still right in the driver side valve cover, just a plug though. it wont have the "horseshoe" this thread talks about.

 

I couldn't locate anything in the vicinity...

=(


http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Where_is_t...98_Ford_Ranger

(Going out to look for it, in the dark, sometimes it's easier to spot with a flashlight at night, lol.)


Ok, I found it.

It was extremely loose, barely had to pull on it for it come out, it's plastic, rattles, and was covered in some sort of liquid.

I may replace it, simply because of how old it is, and try and get a better seal.

 

Any trick to getting the valve off? I was able to pull off the large hose from the back of the valve, but couldn't turn the valve at all.

 

Try hitting it with some WD-40. Sometimes hoses and grommets need to be sprayed with it before they'll let go.