I'm venting....

I'm a small guy, 5'6" ~143 lbs. But I'm no weakling. The engineer who designed the engine bay for these 4.0 SOHCs needs to be shot. I've been trying to pull boots for the last 20 minutes and I'm still at 0. My old 93 4.0 OHV took me about 45 minutes to change out all the plugs and wires. AND that was the first time I'd ever done such. HOLY CRAP!

 

I love having a bl, i just reach through the bottom of the fender and they are right there, perfect angle

 

yea the OHV is super easy to change the plugs and wires in.....i sit on top of my OHV to change the passanger side

 

That's how I did my 93....I was sore for sitting there, but I just sat under the hood and changed all 6.


Wire 1 off, now getting the damn plug out.

 

its not that bad...

with or without a BL...

go through the fenders on most of them its the easiest way.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/8-25i...QQcmdZViewItem this might help FYI...

 

Hell I pulled the passenger tire and wheel well shrouding. I can reach everything now.

However, I have a slight panic...

I was checking torque numbers for the plugs (7-15 ft-lbs FWIW) and noticed the Haynes manual says gap to 0.061 - 0.068!!! I gapped the plugs to 0.054 which is what both autolite and the auto stores here list.

So which is it? LOL

EDIT: hahaha sticker on truck says 1.32-1.42mm gap

 

Hey Lefty,

Totally off topic but its funny I just noticed WHEN you got your truck...almost the same time I got mine just a year later.

I got my truck March 31, 2004...its an '03 FX4 level 1 :(

 

I'm a OEM design Engineer... and I AGREE! The problem is that not too many of my peers have EVER turned a wrench. Oh they got the "degree" from xxx university. But let them turn a wrench and they run for cover.

To make matters worse.. your cars of tomarrow are being designed (to some degree) by people who don't own cars and live in huts. Think I'm kidding?

There is this unspoken mentality in my realm of work. And that is one of obselence. People who service vehicles and the hardships they go through *are not* taken into account until after the design is done. Sure they protect for oil filter and draining it. But there is not much else that's given thought up front.

I should know.. I put up with this every single day.

All I can do is protect for service when and where possible.

Rich

 

Sounds like me too, most of the people I work with will sit and talk about a 69 mustang all day long, but ask them to do an oil change, and huh??

 

What a PITA! I've been done for about 45 minutes now, but good god!

So grand total:

-I pulled both front tires and wheel well shrouding.
-Craftsman 150-something piece tool set will get the job done
-need a smaller torque wrench for tight places or a longer extension.

Parts that went in:
- Autolite AP5143 (x6)
- Autolite Professional Series Wire Set 97051

Apparently Autolite has discontinued the Pro-Fit wire sets for our trucks. I went nuts looking for both it and the Professional Series wires. Through talking to Autolist Customer Service it seems the 97051 wires are a new item, which is why I was having difficulty locating them. Makes sense and yet it doesn't.

Anyhow, 50,411 miles and new plugs and wires. Manual (Ford and Haynes) calls for 100K, but recommends changing between 60-100K. So I'm a few thousand miles short, oh well. With the elements out, high temps and low temps I figure it was something due. Plus she kicks down to idle faster now. I'll see how long that lasts and if not then it's off to play with the MAF and IAC.

 

I'm glad you could see a difference. There is nothing like doing work like that only for it to have no percievable effect. Been there done that..

Rich

 

yea odds are that some damn china men over in bum ***** egypt...thats what my dad always says..haha..but its really true...its a pain the ace!!!

 

Since I cut all that frame out a few months ago my next spark plug change should be very simple. :)

glad you got it done tho.