Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting how hard to replace own plugs and wires?

how hard is it to replace your own plugs and wires? (id have to get a shop to set the gap)

i know this involves removing the intake manifold... is this hard or dangerous or easy?

i wana clean my throttle body while im in there too

ford wants...
89$ for tune up (plus cost of fuel filter)
80$ to change my wires
80$ to change my plugs

wires and plugs shoul dbe part of your damn tune up, ive got my own parts as well

if you've got normal fingers, you can change your spark plugs and wires without removing the upper intake. you'll see the 3 boots on top near the throttle body, and the other three are under the plastic cam/heat shield.

like philip said, not hard at all

you are going to have a hard time with 3 of sparkplugs(the ones by the firewall) but otherwise it's no problem whatsoever

ha ha...don't drink and post kids..did i say 3 boots near throttle body?!!

but seriously, just have a friend help, and it only takes an hour to change spark plugs (in my case, %80 percent of that time is spent taking off old wires and boots, wires are SUPER simple, just be sure to arrange them right!). Then, you'll probably want to clean your throttle body (its 6 bolts 4 10mm on the actual body, and two 8 mm for the accel and cruise cables ). Next, just run a tank of redline or REGANE fuel injection cleaner (although redline has been shown to decintegrate the nylon sock in your fuel pump ...its that powerful) I recomend regane, it seemed to work wondors in my car even with only 43k. After running around with the fuel injector cleaner, (then and only then) replace your fuel filter and air filter. The cabin air filter is nice to change too. Check the belts, and hoses for cracks, and if you can afford it, change out your water pump!

oh and...

thats just not true..autolite douple plats (part app764 or similar?)(what i got from orielly's) come pre gapped to factory specs.If anything, its the old plug gaps that get messed up. DO NOT USE BOSCHE PLATINUM 4's!!! Chris hightower, or some other smart guy can explain why they don't work well... OOH yeah! reset the computer after tuneup and let it idle for like 10 minutes.

so I shouldnt even bother to let ford to my wires and plugs then

the fuel filter im gona let them do i think

I got bosch platinum plugs

just normal ones, not +4

hmm, not sure about the normal bosch plugs. AS for the fuel filter, dont even let them do that, they will overcharge you, and its simple. The filter is held on by two plastic snaps. All you have to do is pull the fuse for the fuel pump, start the car, let it die, then crank it a few times. Then you go under the car, pull the snaps, take old filter out, put new one in (it tells you which way it goes on the filter), and replace with new snap clips.

Most plugs DO NOT come pre-gapped!

Autolites do not come pre-gapped!

It takes but a few minutes to gap your plugs. It is a very simple and necessary step when changing them. Do not skip this step.
Even for plugs that specify a pre-gapped setting. It is always a very smart idea to check them. A lot of them are off right out of the box!

Stock gap for the Duratec is .054
Don't forget the anti-sieze either...

The gap is posted on the emissions decal under the hood. In years past, they also posted the spark plug part number. I believe that .054" is correct. If you look it up in a manual it will probably say .052" to .056". It is usually best to set it at the wide side of the spec, but don't go beyond that. .060" would definitely be too wide.

You don't even have to pull the fuse and all to do the fuel filter. I did mine and I'm stupid when it comes to doing stuff to my car. The hardest part was tightening the clamp back on since it was so old it was very hard to turn, took me less than 30 minutes. Get either puralator (works fine) or motorcraft. Can some1 tell me how to do spark plugs on zetec? How do you set the gap? I know I need to buy a gap tool but then what? Any special way of removing wires(I know to remember which is which)? What socket size do I need for spark plugs (3/8?)? Why does removing the wires take an hour? Do I need a special tool for the wires?

One more thing, what is this about torque? Do I need a torque ratchet to put plugs in? How tight are they supposed to be? I don't have a torque ratchet, so I need to know by hand tight plus one turn or whatever.