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Re: Replace spark plugs - best gas mileage? #1478281 01/22/06 03:30 PM
Joined: Sep 2002 Posts: 1,788 St. Louis, MO P projectSHO89_dup1 Hard-core CEG\'er
projectSHO89_dup1 Hard-core CEG\'er P Joined: Sep 2002 Posts: 1,788 St. Louis, MO	Originally posted by SquareHead: I bought some Champion DP's a few months ago as a part store I frequent had a big sale. What's your take on these plugs? Put them in your lawnmower. Then hire a lawn service. Myrosia: "OEM TYPE" does not mean that they are OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer). It means they are intended to replace the OEM part in fit, finish, and function. Autolite makes the Motorcrafts anyway so the point is moot. Use either. Steve 98 Contour SE Sport 2.5 Duratec ATX The wifey's car 89 Taurus SHO - 246K miles 94 SHO ATX - 190K 1997 F-150 5.4L ATX - The Workhorse 150K. ANY THREAD WITH "OMG" or "WTF" ETC IN THE TITLE WILL BE IGNORED!

Re: Replace spark plugs - best gas mileage? #1478282 01/22/06 09:25 PM
Joined: Nov 2005 Posts: 410 Winnipeg, Canada S SquareHead CEG\'er
SquareHead CEG\'er S Joined: Nov 2005 Posts: 410 Winnipeg, Canada	How bout an honest reply Jerk-Off. 95 Contour GL. Bought new. BAT Sway Bars/Pioneer CD/Koni Rear Struts/Mobil Fluids. Looking for 15" alloy rims-PM me. 180,500km's so far.

Re: Replace spark plugs - best gas mileage? #1478283 01/23/06 02:08 AM
Joined: Dec 2001 Posts: 460 Rowland Heights, Ca. 9 98SVTC CEG\'er
98SVTC CEG\'er 9 Joined: Dec 2001 Posts: 460 Rowland Heights, Ca.	The subject of what plugs to use has come up probably a hundred times since I've been on this site. In every case, Motorcraft or Autolite or "what the manufacturer put in" has been the recommended answer. What brand not to use has been every other type known to man. Some members disregard the sage advice from the experts here and say they notice no difference. Well, that's fine. But if you ask a question about plugs, especially one that's been asked many times before, you might not get the answer you were expecting. For what it's worth, on small maintenance items, you can never go wrong with what Ford uses from the factory. Be it air or oil filters or plugs or batteries. In many cases, there's hardly any difference in price. In this case of plugs, there's absolutely no excuse for using anything else but Motorcraft or Autolite. I can't tell you what Champions will do in these engines. I've used them in my Ranger and they were okay. But that's a whole different type of engine than what we have in the Contour. Karl * It's all about consistency! * * Previously 88SVT * 06 F150 Supercrew 5.4L FX4 98 SVT Contour #4362 Born 1/6/1998 86 Ranger GT (For Sale) 69 Fiat 850 Sport Spider (For Sale) 67 Formula-S Barracuda

Re: Replace spark plugs - best gas mileage? #1478284 01/29/06 07:08 AM
Joined: May 2003 Posts: 63 M Myrosia OP CEG\'er
OP Myrosia CEG\'er M Joined: May 2003 Posts: 63	Originally posted by projectSHO89: Do yourself and your car a favor. Use either Autolite double-platinum or the new Motorcraft finewire plug. Skip the conventional single platinum plug as it won't last very long. The finewire is a new style that makes the double platinum electrodes unneeded. You can look up the correct Motorcraft replacement part at www.motorcraft.com AutoZone sells them for about $4.60 each. Changing Mobil 1 at 3K miles is like throwing away 1/2 of every bottle of Jack Daniel's. You're wasting up to at least half of it's useful life (depending on your driving patterns). Steve I just put in the Autolite Platinum Pro/Extreme Perform. APP5344 today! Fist issue: The reach on the plug was about 1/4 inch longer than the Motorcraft and I was concerned with that. Second issue: I notice a decrease in gas mileage....it's aweful. I just came back from driving a distance I drive all the time and notice I used almost used a 1/4 tank of gas when I normally ony use about and 1/8. Any idea why...could it be the Autolite plugs?? I am considering putting in the Motorcraft Finewire AZFS32FE. Perhaps I should stick with the Motorcraft....maybe my gas mileage will return to normal. This is so frustrating! -Mary

Re: Replace spark plugs - best gas mileage? #1478285 01/29/06 02:36 PM
Joined: May 2003 Posts: 63 M Myrosia OP CEG\'er
OP Myrosia CEG\'er M Joined: May 2003 Posts: 63	Edit: I just put in the Autolite Platinum Pro/Extreme Perform. APP5364 today! First issue: The reach on the plug was about 1/4 inch longer than the Motorcraft and I was concerned with that. Also, the guy at the store said the gap should be 0.52 and the pugs were at set. BUT, at http://www.autolite.com, they say it should be at 0.50. Second issue: I notice a decrease in gas mileage....it's aweful. I just came back from driving a distance I drive all the time and notice I used almost used a 1/4 tank of gas when I normally ony use about and 1/8. Any idea why...could it be the Autolite plugs?? Maybe the gap being set at 0.52 instead of 0.50? I am considering putting in the Motorcraft Finewire AZFS32FE. Perhaps I should stick with the Motorcraft....maybe my gas mileage will return to normal? This is so frustrating! -Mary Last edited by Myrosia; 01/29/06 02:39 PM.

Re: Replace spark plugs - best gas mileage? #1478286 01/29/06 05:57 PM
Joined: May 2003 Posts: 63 M Myrosia OP CEG\'er
OP Myrosia CEG\'er M Joined: May 2003 Posts: 63	OK...I returned the Auotlite out back in the Motorcrafts. I noticed that the OEM Motorcrafts are two different ones. Plugs 1 & 2 are Motorcraft part # AZFS32F and 3 & 4 are part # AZFS32FE. They told me that's why the Autolites didn't work and gave me bad gas mileage. That I have to resinstall the OEM's with the two different part #'s.

Re: Replace spark plugs - best gas mileage? #1478287 01/29/06 06:02 PM
Joined: May 2003 Posts: 63 M Myrosia OP CEG\'er
OP Myrosia CEG\'er M Joined: May 2003 Posts: 63	Originally posted by zgendron: Originally posted by Myrosia: Originally posted by bigMoneyRacing: How often do you change that Mobil 1? Every 3,000 miles His point was that this is a complete waste of money. If you're running Mobil 1, you should probably run it every 5000 miles as recommended by Ford. Also, you may want to research Spark Plugs in the Zetec Mainintance forum. It appears as if the 4 cylinder (Zetec) comes with 2 Double Plats and 2 Regular Plats from the factory. I would absolutely recommend sticking with service manual recommendations. If it came from the factory that way, there's probably a reason for it. Yup, you are right on! Read me last post. I had issues with the Autolite and they said I must replace my sparkplugs with 2 Double Plats and 2 Regular Plats from the factory.

Re: Replace spark plugs - best gas mileage? #1478288 01/30/06 05:16 AM
Joined: Sep 2000 Posts: 4,693 Thousand Oaks, California, USA B Big Jim_dup1 Hard-core CEG'er
Big Jim_dup1 Hard-core CEG'er B Joined: Sep 2000 Posts: 4,693 Thousand Oaks, California, USA	Originally posted by Myrosia: OK...I returned the Auotlite out back in the Motorcrafts. I noticed that the OEM Motorcrafts are two different ones. Plugs 1 & 2 are Motorcraft part # AZFS32F and 3 & 4 are part # AZFS32FE. They told me that's why the Autolites didn't work and gave me bad gas mileage. That I have to resinstall the OEM's with the two different part #'s. Last I knew, Ford does not sell replacement plugs identical to the factory installed plug for your engine. The reason for the two different factory installed plugs is because two of the cylinders fire in the conventional manner from the center electrode to the side wire, and two cylinders fire in reverse, from the side wire to the center electrode. Single platinum is all that is needed, but the platinum tip is on the firing element only, so two factory installed plugs will have a platinum button on the center electrode and two of them will have the platinum button on the side wire. Motorcraft replacement plugs for that engine are double platinum, with a platinum button on the side wire and the center electrode. This does two things, 1st, they don't need to stock as many part numbers, and they are "idiot proof" so the installer doesn't get them mixed up. I have installed Autolite double platinums (I don't remember the part number) on that engine, and they were identical to the Motorcraft replacement plug and the engines ran fine. One of them, my son's car, the plugs were still fine when he sold it 80,000 miles later. Jim Johnson 98 SVT 03 Escape Limited

Re: Replace spark plugs - best gas mileage? #1478289 01/30/06 05:36 PM
Joined: Oct 2000 Posts: 4,149 on the rolling plains of Dixie B bigMoneyRacing_dup1 Hard-core CEG'er
bigMoneyRacing_dup1 Hard-core CEG'er B Joined: Oct 2000 Posts: 4,149 on the rolling plains of Dixie	Originally posted by Myrosia: Second issue: I notice a decrease in gas mileage....it's aweful. I just came back from driving a distance I drive all the time and notice I used almost used a 1/4 tank of gas when I normally ony use about and 1/8. Do NOT estimate fuel mileage by using the gas gauge! Fill the tank and drive normally. When the tank is low again (~250+ miles later) refill to full as before. Divide miles driven by the number of gallons of fuel (~10.2 galllons) you put into said tank the second time to calculate fuel mileage. -- 1999 SVT #220 -- In retrospect, it was all downhill from here. RIP, CEG.

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