1997-2003 Ford F-150 Spark Plug Replacement

Here is the beast. A 2003 Ford F-150 with a 4.2L V6 engine and plenty of miles on it.

This is what you are looking at when you first open the hood.

This is the driver side of the engine, looking from front to back. One can see the boots from the spark plug cables. 3 on either side. 1 plug per cylinder and 3 per side

Off topic :-) Wonders of nature when you work outside. Incidental finding was a beehive in the roof of my garage. Live bee removal took care of them.

Again, looking at the left side (driver side) of the engine. As you can see, you are working right by the exhaust manifold. Make sure that your engine has sufficiently cooled down so as not to burn your hands etc.

Pull the first spark plug boot off the plug. Sometimes those are pretty tight on the plug. You can use a pair of pliers to remove the boot. Just make sure you don't tear the boot. If so, you'll need to replace the wires.

I used the 5/8" spark plug socket, a 4 inch extension and a 3/8" ratchet. To remove the plug make sure that you turn your socket in a counter clockwise direction. "righty tighty, lefty loosey"

First plug out and it's pretty gnarly. The center electrode is pretty much burned up. That means performance loss and bad fuel mileage etc.

Spark plug face looks good. No oil or soot, engine burns pretty clean.

Old plug on the left, new plug on the right. Yep, there is a difference and when it comes to ignition and combustion, it matters.

New plug reinstalled in reversed order of the removal. The torque for the plug is 132 inch lbs.

Next plug, same way. Remove boot. Make sure plug socket is fully seated remove it in a CCW direction

It'll be easier when using an extension. More freedom to spimn the ratchet and getting by the various obstructions put in place.

Last plug on the left side (#6 plug) Same way, remove boot and remove plug.

This is the right side of the engine. Number #1,#2 and #3 cylinder live here. The wire for #3 is different due to a prior torn boot

Pull the boot off

Use the spark plug socket on a ratchet with extension, and turn in a counter clock wise direction.

Remove the plug. I always replace the plug with a new one so as in not leaving the spark plug hole open and running risk of contaminating the cylinder. You don't want anything to fall in there.

Continue the same way with the plugs. Remove boot, place socket on the plug, turn in a counterclockwise direction, remove plug, replace the plug in reverse order.

Remove boot, place socket on the plug, turn in a counterclockwise direction, remove plug, replace the plug in reverse order.

All 6 plug removed. No damaged boot, no damaged plugs and all 6 new ones installed

This is the replacement I used for this. Bosch 8120 HR8JPP33V Double Platinum Spark Plug