I was just wondering what you guys recommend. Thanks.

 

On my 4.0, changing the plugs and wires was a real pain in the ***. Ford made them extremely hard to access.

 

Yeah, I heard the 4.0 is a big PITA! Mine doesn't look much easier. Four of them are easy to get to, but two on the passenger side look a little tricky. What do you recommend as far as brand names, etc.? Thanks.

 

Honestly, I don't know a lot about that. I see Motorcraft recommended a lot however.

 

We have a "waste spark" ignition system on our Rangers & it works the plugs & wires Twice as hard as the old single coil & distributor ignition system.

So we need plugs & wires that are designed to take that extra work load & are of the proper resistance & capacitance range, so their load matches up with the coilpack, so as not to detune the ignition systems spark & to keep EMI/RFI in check, so it doesn't disturb the computer.

The specified Motorcraft fine wire double platinum plugs & ignition wires are of high quality & designed for the exta work load our ignition system puts them through, so they are highly recommended & what I've chosen to stay with on my 94 Taurus & 99 Ranger & the Motorcraft products are cost competitive when I purchase them at my local Motorcraft distibutor.

Others have reported good luck with Autolite plugs & it has been reported that Autolite makes the Motorcraft plugs to Fords specifications.

Others have reported problems with the Bosch multi ground plugs on our Ranger engines, though I've used Bosch single platinum plugs in my 94 Taurus 3.8L distributor ignition system without any problems & they outlasted the OEM copper core Motorcraft plugs 2-1 & without spark gap erosion, BUT this was on a conventional ignition system, not the waste spark ignition system our Rangers have.

However on my recent refurbish of the 94 Taurus system, I chose all OEM Motorcraft parts, BUT upgraded the plugs to Motorcraft platinum.

So on your system, why not consider staying with what it was designed for, as the Motorcraft products are of high quality, don't cost too much, work real good & last a looooong time!!!! lol

 

I always replace plugs in any Ford with Autolights. Fords dont like champions... I know that much.

As far as wires. I use Ford MOtorsport, or NAPA lifetime ones.

NO Twilightzone garbage... Plugs purchased or wires. You dont want to do the job for a few more years. From Twilightzone you will be out there twice a year

 

Thanks for the info. I need to get mine done, too. Once a year job if I use Autozoo junk. I am hoping to not go that route this time.

 

You can get Motorcraft tune-up parts online much cheaper than from a dealer.

http://www.trademotion.com/partlocat...?siteid=215005

 

I was looking at the sticker under my hood and it shows .042-.046 to have the gaps set to. Does this basically mean I can set the gap anywhere in that range or is one end of that range better than the other for an older vehicle? Thanks. BTW, is it important to put some kind of compound in the boots of the wires before installing them? I've watched tutorials on this and haven't seen the guys do that but I've read before that you should. Thanks.

 

I gap my plugs to the low side of spec, as the gap is always growing larger with wear.

This will make for a sligtly hotter & earlier spark, which can help on really cold winter starts.

I also use a little nickel anti-sieze on the plug threads & torque them to the Low side of spec, to allow for the antisieze acting as a thread lube, so I don't over torque them.

I butter on a light film of DowCorning, or GE dielectric grease inside the plug boots & onto the plugs external insulator, as this can help prevent flashover on those wet morning starts, or rainey days.
Use a clean non linty tool (no cotton swabs) to spread the dielectric grease inside the plug wires boots.

I use it on the coil end of the plug wires boot too.

If you have a distributor cap type ignition, you might have to use something like a hair pin under the wires boot to lift it a little to burp air out as you push it on the distributor cap & coil, or it can trap air & it'll act as a air spring that'll expand when warm & push the plug wire up put of the distributor cap or coil & cause a misfire.

 

Heck I didn't think it was all that hard changing wires and plugs on my ole girl and I've done it twice.

 

I literally just replaced my plugs and wires - autozone lifetime wires and the ford recommended plugs. I have a 2000 Ranger 3L V6 supercab 2wheel drive. with 130k miles on it. Whear gloves b/c there's tons of sharp bolts and shtuff to catch your fingers on.

I used same wires and bosch platinums before this. Piece of advice - stick with the ford plugs. My mileage is instantly better and runs smoother. Watch your driver side wire to distributor matching - I label mine to ensure I reconnect the right way.

Rock on brother.

 

So how often should this be done? Every 50K or more?

 

Older trucks like ours arent very hard at all. I changed them in my brother in laws '02 with the 4.0 sohc and that was a job from hell. The drivers side wasnt too bad but the passenger side involved some bloody knuckles and pulling the right front tire. The heater box is really in the way. It still wanst near as bad as a Chevy express v8, ford aerostar, and fiero. Those are the devil. I cussed for a while when tuning up my v6 contour. The rear plugs kind of suck.

As far as plugs go...either motorcraft double platinum or autolite double platinum. The ngks are good to but wear out quicker. Wires: either motorcraft or bosch. The rest are crap.

 

The Napa ones are garbage too. I used the blue one (Napa's better line) on my moms van, and they lasted about 6 weeks before the van started misfiring again. The high voltage breaks down the insulation and causes the wire to malfunction. Stick with Motorcraft. We put Motorcraft in after that, the wires have been perfect ever since.