Woo Hoo -- I don't have the nasty V8 plugs!

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Korey Kreiter

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In the past several days, I've done a lot of reading on the nasty 4.6 3V spark plugs. Mine is an '08, with 19k miles. I was fully prepared to attempt a swap to the Champion 7989 1-piece design this summer. Fortunately, I kept reading... I read on the Mustang and F-150 forums that Ford finally admitted to a stupid mistake, and changed the head design in the middle of the '08 model year. I was still worried -- since mine was built in 04/08. Turns out, if your coil boots are BROWN, and have 8L3E part number, you have the new design, and no worries -- they use standard plugs. If they are BLACK, and 3L3E model #, those are the bad design. Luckily, mine are the new design, and I don't have to worry about them anytime soon. They are a 12mm design.



(but --my other ride is a Hemi which needs 16 new plugs every 30k miles. you can still feel sorry for me.) :boohoo:
 
Turns out, if your coil boots are BROWN, and have 8L3E part number, you have the new design, and no worries -- they use standard plugs. If they are BLACK, and 3L3E model #, those are the bad design.
Click to expand...



That's good information, thanks for sharing... unfortunately mine are the old type but at least this helps some people.
 
i'm not familiar with this problem. are the plugs going bad quickly? i have an 07', does this apply to my year or only the 08'. thanks for the info.
 
ricky, the early 3v 4.6L, has a 2 piece spark plug tip. They tend to break off in the head on removal. your '07 might have the 2 piece.
 
Dingo has a (great) detailed thread here:



http://www.mysporttrac.com/shared/msgboard9e.asp?BOARDNAME=MSG&VIEW=1145257&sitename=mysporttrac



Best advice, get them out now, and buy the Champion 7989. Google search for "4.6 3V plugs" for more info. Follow Ford's TSB, or have the dealer do it. I'd buy the plugs on Rock Auto ($12+ vs. $20 locally), and ask your dealer how much they'd charge for labor. I've read elsewhere, that most other shops won't touch them.
 
From what I've read on the F150 forums, the Champion plugs aren't performing very well. The consensus is to stick with the Motorcraft plugs and apply the anti-sieze to the shield (NOT THE THREADS) as per the Ford TSB.



On a related note, I just changed all 8 of my plugs on my 06 F150 with the 5.4 3V last weekend. The plugs were original and had 105K miles on them, but I managed to get them all out without breaking a single one! I had the plug extraction tool handy just in case I broke one, but luckily I didn't need it. I used the original design Motorcraft plugs with antisieze and the truck is running better than ever.
 
I just checked my trac and I have the problem plugs. So is it a problem with heads themselves or the plugs. I noticed kkreit01 stated that ford fixed the heads. Are the coil boots the same? If I change the plugs will that fix any further issues?
 

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