Alternative spark plugs?

Advertise with us
shop deals on amazon
Shop deals on ebay
Ford SportTrac Forum

Help Support Ford SportTrac Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
T

Trevor Partington

Member
Joined
Mar 7, 2013
Messages
70
Reaction score
0
Location
Pittston, PA
Hi I'm making a shout out to see if anyone knows if there's a different type of spark plug I can run in my 4.6 3 valve . Other then champion or auto lite . I want a performance plug but don't know the specs of the stock plugs.. Help me out friends
 
Most spark plugs that claim performance gains usually end up being worse than the originals. There are no spark plugs out on the market that are going to "improve" your performance over the properly functioning plugs that Ford put in here. You may end up putting in a different set of plugs and saying to yourself...dam that does feel better but I guarantee you that if I could put in the same set of plugs in your vehicle without you knowing it you wouldn't be able to feel a difference at all. Now if you had modifications that warant different plugs that is a different story. For the record an intake, exhaust and tuner are not mods that warant ignition changes. You are going to have to add soem squeeze or do some major internal modifications before you get to the point of needing new plugs. Aftermarket coils are also a waste of money unless you have big performance mods and also have the tune written for it.



 
Just replaced plugs in my 08 STA. I went with Motorcraft SP509 purchased from RockAuto. I also bought an OTC spark plug socket (Amazon) that was very helpful. The plugs are 9/16".
 
I'm trying to get away from the 3 pce plug .. There junk just saying so putting the plugs that are made and original is a waste of money .. Ok so motocraft or champion . Also the coils on the 4.6 are to weak for the engine . Ford has even told me that so yes upgraded coils are a good investment . But I would still like the specs of the plug in my 4.6 like length threading and gaping and such
 
I searched my year and then the 08 year and there's only 3 to choose from my 07 and a large verity on the 08 so I don't think there interchangeable I have a 3 valve if that does anything
 
All 4.6L engines in the Sport Trac are 3 valve. OEM plugs in my 08 were not the dreaded 3 piece ones we've heard about. They were a cinch to change. Gap is .045 on mine, so yours should be the same.[Broken External Image]:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
One of the many jobs I have held at Ford Motor is in use vehicle audits, we would bring in low mileage vehicles from customers.. We would run emmission and fuel economy tests as received and after doing a factory maint. to the vehicle. Every ford that came in with off brand spark plugs failed emmissions. You can take that for what its worth... good luck Bob
 
Why stray from OEM plugs when they have been time proven to run well? The issue is breakage when removing. Use nickel anti seize per this TSB and sleep well.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I think you should get some Pulstar plugs and MSD coils to replace those "junk" spark plugs and weak coils that Ford told you about.
 
I don't know that the coils make any difference, but those and fresh plugs seem to give me a little more pep. No difference in fuel mileage. Picture in prior post is of the original plugs with 33K on them. Guy who was working with me said they were due for changing - but what do I know? I'm not a 100K plug life guy, think 50K is plenty. My big relief is that my engine didn't have the 3 piece plugs that earlier Ford 3V engines have been plagued with. This job ended up taking 20 minutes; I did use anti-seize on new plugs and dielectric grease on the coil boots.
 
Well unfortunately I have the 3 pce plugs in mine so to go OEM plugs witch would be 3pce plugs again are out of the question ... And motocraft for my year are sp-514.. Not sp-509. I tink my plugs are longer or somthing stupid like that
 
O'Reilly lookup shows a Champion plug that's not the 3 piece design. The Motorcraft SP-514 is listed but there's no picture of it. You might go to your local Ford dealership's parts department and ask what they're using on these engines. All I can tell you is that my 08 did not have the 3 piece plugs installed and the SP-509s work fine.
 
Zabteck sells the COP Screamin Deamon coils for the 4.6 V8. Been running them in my 2010 since day one. 40K miles so far no issues.



Todd Z
 
Vic said:
Picture in prior post is of the original plugs with 33K on them. Guy who was working with me said they were due for changing - but what do I know? I'm not a 100K plug life guy, think 50K is plenty.
Click to expand...

IMO the plugs themselves will last for 100k but the problem is removing plugs that have been in there for 100k.

I have a V6 but I changed mine at 50k just so they didn't rust in there and seize.

NGK Iridiums, no problems passing emissions in the three years they've been in there.
 
Did ford change the heads in '08? I see that Vic's plugs have more thread and less non theaded area.
 
Eddie, I think the heads are the same; it looks to me Ford went to a different plug design to solve the problems with previous modular (3 valve) engines. The spark plug removal issue is notorious on the the 5.4L engine - see Google and YouTube searches. That issue is what prompted me to change plugs earlier than normal - boy was I relieved when I found out my engine didn't come with the "problem" plugs. That special spark plug socket was $20 well-spent I'll tell you - if I ever sell this truck it'll go with it.
 

Latest posts

Top