The Ultimate Spark Plug Guide

The 2nd Gen first came out in 2017 and ran through 2020 or 2021 on some models.

When changing spark plugs, it’s a good idea to also change the boots, they are cheap at around 8 bucks a piece. This is especially important if the vehicle has upwards of 100,000 miles on it.

You can apply a very light coating of anti-seize, definitely not too much so it’s not oozing down and causing problems. No anti-seize is better than too much.

Give the new plugs a visual inspection before installing them. Make sure the porcelain isn’t broken at all, tip it over and make sure the insulator tip isn’t dropping and covering the center electrode.

It’s always a good idea to make sure the ground strap is not bent and all of the plugs are gapped the same.

If you are changing the boots, put a light coating of dielectric grease to the tips of the boots. This will help to seal them up real nice and will help with removal later on.

When starting, make sure the engine is cool. This helps keep you comfortable and also helps to not strip any of the spark plug threads.

Remove the engine cover, usually held on by two 10mm nuts. On some models you may have to also loosen and remove the oil cap. Once loose, lift up and pull towards you.

Clear any dirt, leaves or gunk out of the engine bay before pulling the coils out to prevent things falling down into the engine. Best method is a little blast from an air compressor but you can also use dust air cans or similar.

For models with the high pressure fuel pump on the passenger side, you may need to unclip the connector. To do this, lift up on the red clip, then squeeze below the red clip while applying up and down pressure until it comes loose.

Unclip the pigtail from the coils, by sliding the white/grey clip away from the coil, then squeeze to remove. Gen2 is much easier than gen1 is to get this clip off.

Unbolt the 8mm bolt holding the coils in. All of the coils are the same, they are not cylinder specific. You only need to keep track if you are troubleshooting a misfire on a specific cylinder. If you are simply changing plugs, no need to keep track of which coil goes where.

Before removing the coils, blow down again around the coil. Make sure the bolts are away from the engine to prevent them from falling down into the engine.

Removing the coils and boots can take a little bit of force, especially if there is a decent amount of miles on the engine. You will likely need two hands, pulling on both sides to get it loose.

Another reason why it’s good to change the boots at this time is they can get worn or torn. If changing the boots simply grab the coil in one hand and the boot in the other, then twist and pull to separate the old boot from the coil.

Then to install the new boot, just center it up, twist a little bit while pushing down until it’s fully seated.

Before pulling plugs, make sure to clean again. With the plug out, there is an open hole to the combustion chamber so definitely don’t want anything falling down in there.

To get the plug out, you’ll use a 5/8 inch socket. Preferably a spark plug socket with the rubber gripper inside it. If you have a swivel spark plug socket, even better. You’ll also need an extension. Should be pretty easy to remove the plug. Once it’s broken loose you can use a hand tool to remove them the rest of the way out.

Best method here is to take 1 plug out and put the new plug in before moving onto the next cylinder.

If you have an air compressor with an air wand, you can stick it all the way down into the cylinder and blast a quick hit of air. You’ll go all the way down, past the treads and into the combustion chamber.

Put the new plug into the spark plug socket and start by turning the plug in by hand, go all the way down until it gets firm and tight. You’ll know when you’ve hit the dead stop point.

Remember if the spark plug is dropped at all, discard it as there may be internal damage to the plug.

Next attach the ratchet to the extension. Then hold the socket extension in one hand so it’s dead center while you use the ratchet to tighten it the rest of the way. Don’t side load the new spark plug, this will more than likely break the plug during install.

It is also very possible to break the plug from over tightening and you will have to do this all over again so make certain you don’t over tighten the plug. Some people with experience can tighten the plug based on feel.

The best way to prevent over tightening is to use a torque wrench. For Gen2 Ecoboost vehicles, the proper torque amount is 133 inch lbs or 11.08 ft-lbs.

Once all plugs are replaced, reinstall the boot and coil. Go straight down with a little wiggle and they should fit nice and tight.

Line them up to install the 8mm hold down bolt by hand, then when confirmed to be installing properly without any cross threading you can finish with a ratchet until snug.

Re-connect the ignition coil pigtail clips until it clicks, then slide the lock.

If the high pressure fuel pump connector was removed, reinstall that, feel the clip and set the lock.

Do a visual inspection to make sure everything is connected and good to go.

For the driver’s side, it’s the same process.

The pcv line may be blocking. If yes, you can remove it from the valve cover. To do that, release the lock and do the push, pull, wiggle method to remove it. If it’s too tight, don’t apply too much force. Just try to proceed without removing it to avoid breaking something.

The 1st Gen first came out in 2011 and ran through 2016 on the F150 models. When changing spark plugs, it’s a good idea to also change the boots, they are cheap at around 8 bucks a piece. This is especially important if the vehicle has upwards of 100,000 miles on it.

You can apply a very light coating of anti-seize, definitely not too much so it’s not oozing down and causing problems. No anti-seize is better than too much.

Give the new plugs a visual inspection before installing them. Make sure the porcelain isn’t broken at all, tip it over and make sure the insulator tip isn’t dropping and covering the center electrode.

It’s always a good idea to make sure the ground strap is not bent and all of the plugs are gapped the same.

If you are changing the boots, put a light coating of dielectric grease to the tips of the boots. This will help to seal them up real nice and will help with removal later on.

When starting, make sure the engine is cool. This helps keep you comfortable and also helps to not strip any of the spark plug threads.

Remove the engine cover by removing the oil cap. Once loose, lift up and pull towards you.

Clear any dirt, leaves or gunk out of the engine bay before pulling the coils out to prevent things falling down into the engine. Best method is a little blast from an air compressor but you can also use dust air cans or similar.

Unclip the pigtail from the coils, by sliding the red clip away from the coil, then squeeze the grey portion above the red clip to remove. Gen 1 clips can be a pain to remove. While squeezing, push down towards the coil, then pull back to remove. Be careful here to not break the red clip.

Unbolt the 8mm bolt holding the coils in. All of the coils are the same, they are not cylinder specific. You only need to keep track if you are troubleshooting a misfire on a specific cylinder. If you are simply changing plugs, no need to keep track of which coil goes where.

Before removing the coils, blow down again around the coil. Make sure the bolts are away from the engine to prevent them from falling down into the engine.

Removing the coils and boots can take a little bit of force, especially if there is a decent amount of miles on the engine. You will likely need two hands, pulling on both sides to get it loose.

Another reason why it’s good to change the wire boot at this time is they can get worn or torn. If changing the boots simply grab the coil in one hand and the boot in the other, then twist and pull to separate the old boot from the coil.

Then to install the new boot, just center it up, twist a little bit while pushing down until it’s fully seated.

Before pulling plugs, make sure to clean again. With the plug out, there is an open hole to the combustion chamber so definitely don’t want anything falling down in there.

To get the plug out, you’ll use a 5/8 inch socket. Preferably a spark plug socket with the rubber gripper inside it. If you have a swivel spark plug socket, even better. You’ll also need an extension. Should be pretty easy to remove the plug. Once it’s broken loose you can use a hand tool to remove them the rest of the way out.

Best method here is to take 1 plug out and put the new plug in before moving onto the next cylinder.

If you have an air compressor with an air wand, you can stick it all the way down into the cylinder and blast a quick hit of air. You’ll go all the way down, past the treads and into the combustion chamber.

Put the new plug into the spark plug socket and start by turning the plug in by hand, go all the way down until it gets firm and tight. You’ll know when you’ve hit the dead stop point.

Remember if the spark plug is dropped at all, discard it as there may be internal damage to the plug.

Next attach the ratchet to the extension. Then hold the socket extension in one hand so it’s dead center while you use the ratchet to tighten it the rest of the way. Don’t side load the new spark plug, this will more than likely break the plug during install.

It is also very possible to break the plug from over tightening and you will have to do this all over again so make certain you don’t over tighten the plug. Some people with experience can tighten the plug based on feel.

The best way to prevent over tightening is to use a torque wrench. For Gen1 Ecoboost vehicles, the proper torque amount is 133 inch lbs or 11.08 ft-lbs.

Once all plugs are replaced, reinstall the boot and coil. Go straight down with a little wiggle and they should fit nice and tight.

Line them up to install the 8mm hold down bolt by hand, then when confirmed to be installing properly without any cross threading you can finish with a ratchet until snug.

Re-connect the ignition coil pigtail clips until it clicks, then slide the lock.

Do a visual inspection to make sure everything is connected and good to go.

For the driver’s side, it’s the same process with a few more things in the way.

Unclip the pcv line and twist it out of the way.

Remove the high pressure fuel pump insulator. Keep this, it really helps with the tapping noise of the hpfp pump. Then remove the connector for the high pressure fuel pump.

At this point, it’s the same as the passenger side.