Motorcraft SP500 platinum plugs after 42K miles

[01rangerxl]

I decided to change the plugs in my truck since I was doing the wires. There are just under 127K miles on the engine and 42K miles on the plugs. They could have been regapped and run longer, but I wanted new plugs with new wires. I will keep these as spares.

They look like they have been run lean because of a PCV hose leak that I fixed about 800 miles ago. Overall wear was very uniform with all of the plugs looking about the same. Gap was .049-.050" across the board. No oil residue on them at all, which says to me the rings and valve stem seals are still nice and tight. These were run with about 50% E85 and 50% regular 87 gas.

 

[OtisBlkR1]

wow, clean ! looks good !!

 

[GumbyJarvis]

I see the Denso box

I ordered the NGK wireset for my ranger, its the best set of wires I have seen for any vehicle, EXCELLENT Construction, made in USA too lol

 

[Bluestream]

42K miles is not much for plugs these days

 

[01rangerxl]

Originally Posted By: GumbyJarvis
I see the Denso box

I ordered the NGK wireset for my ranger, its the best set of wires I have seen for any vehicle, EXCELLENT Construction, made in USA too lol

Yep, I went with Denso Platinum TTs this time. Motorcrafts are $4.99 a plug, so I decided to give another plug a try. The Denso platinums were the best price at $2.99 a plug, and you never hear anyone complaining about Denso parts. I think there were Autolite and Champion plats that were cheaper, but I wasn't really wanting to chance it with either of those. I'll put Champions in some of my lawnmowers, but not the truck.

I was thinking of using NGK wires, but went with Prestolite since they were OEM and Rock Auto had some on sale for $4.24 for the full set.

 

[GumbyJarvis]

Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Originally Posted By: GumbyJarvis
I see the Denso box

I ordered the NGK wireset for my ranger, its the best set of wires I have seen for any vehicle, EXCELLENT Construction, made in USA too lol

Yep, I went with Denso Platinum TTs this time. Motorcrafts are $4.99 a plug, so I decided to give another plug a try. The Denso platinums were the best price at $2.99 a plug, and you never hear anyone complaining about Denso parts. I think there were Autolite and Champion plats that were cheaper, but I wasn't really wanting to chance it with either of those. I'll put Champions in some of my lawnmowers, but not the truck.

I was thinking of using NGK wires, but went with Prestolite since they were OEM and Rock Auto had some on sale for $4.24 for the full set.


I have about 600 miles on em, not so bad. Gives the 4cyl a little more pep, no change in MPG From NGK VPowers to Denso TT's really noticable. Quieter engine than the VPowers, Autolites, and Motorcrafts too.

What wireset did you get? nvm lol

 

[01rangerxl]

Originally Posted By: Bluestream
42K miles is not much for plugs these days


No it isn't, and these are designed for 100K miles in most applications, but like I said I wanted new plugs with new wires. I would have run them longer if the wires were not getting pretty old.

That said, the factory plugs would not have made it to 100K without a significant decrease in performance. The E85 did a number on the electrodes and they were pretty worn looking at 84K when I changed them.

 

[GumbyJarvis]

Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Originally Posted By: Bluestream
42K miles is not much for plugs these days


No it isn't, and these are designed for 100K miles in most applications, but like I said I wanted new plugs with new wires. I would have run them longer if the wires were not getting pretty old.

That said, the factory plugs would not have made it to 100K without a significant decrease in performance. The E85 did a number on the electrodes and they were pretty worn looking at 84K when I changed them.


Pick up a Spectre AF at Autozone, meaning to tell you this lol.
If your truck is anything like mine, Purolator AF dont seal properly, and I tend to avoid Autolite/Fram like the plague, 30$ filter, no real increase in power or HP to me, but a quieter idle, and knowing ford plastic, it rattles

 

[01rangerxl]

Yeah, the Purolators do not work for me either. The gasket is way thin, not sure what they were thinking with that. Even more disappointing, Wix wasn't much better. I have been using Fram since they are $10 and have a huge gasket. I have thought about a cotton gauze filter before, but just end up throwing another Fram in the box. I will say that the air filters are the only Frams I use.