countourkid98 Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 my friend says the motor has to be unbolted and tilted or removed to get at the plugs on the back of the motor.....bullshit......right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrewChiefPro Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 my friend says the motor has to be unbolted and tilted or removed to get at the plugs on the back of the motor.....bullshit......right? Wrong. Piece of cake with an extension. Just need to clear the coil pack. 10 min. job on mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spridget Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 I prefer to remove the UIM. I can inspect for gunk build up at the same time. Yes, removing or tilting the engine is BS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SVTDEMON Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 You can remove the coilpack and with the right extension the plugs become accesible. With the amount of miles though I would suggest removing the UIM Upper Intake Manifold and cleaning it and optimize you TB at the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Haines Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 ..all I have ever removed is the spark plug wires. A spark plug socket with a built in U/J, 3/8" drive,Snap-On does one, with an extension is all I have ever used..with the coil pack in place.He want's to change the plugs not rebuild the top end! Main point is never remove plugs from a hot engine with ally heads,it will damage the threads due to the expansion of the ally and always smear a bit of anti-seize on the threads of the new plugs. always use double plat plugs on these and Zetec engines due to the 'wasted spark' ignition system.No trick or 'novelty' spark plugs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countourkid98 Posted January 17, 2010 Author Share Posted January 17, 2010 actually terry i think i am gonna pull the UIM because im gettin a code p1151 so i wanna clean everything and replace all the gaskets so i might as well do it all at the same time. thanks for your advise tho......always much appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SVTDEMON Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 ..all I have ever removed is the spark plug wires. A spark plug socket with a built in U/J, 3/8" drive,Snap-On does one, with an extension is all I have ever used..with the coil pack in place.He want's to change the plugs not rebuild the top end! Main point is never remove plugs from a hot engine with ally heads,it will damage the threads due to the expansion of the ally and always smear a bit of anti-seize on the threads of the new plugs. always use double plat plugs on these and Zetec engines due to the 'wasted spark' ignition system.No trick or 'novelty' spark plugs. It has 180,000 on the clock,I would think that the UIM would be really dirty? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SDK Posted January 19, 2010 Share Posted January 19, 2010 (edited) I did a how to on this over at contour.org if you feel like taking a look. Basically, pull the plastic covers, pull the IMRC, remove the coil pack for easy access (not mandatory but makes life 1000x easier and takes 2 minutes), and then just change the plugs like normal. Gap is .052-.056, plugs should be DOUBLE platinums. I use autolite APP 104s and they work great. As mentioned, never change the plugs on a warm engine with aluminum heads and also make sure that you don't crossthread anything which is REALLY easy to do with aluminums. Edited January 19, 2010 by SDK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98SVT Posted February 12, 2010 Share Posted February 12, 2010 I'd be happy if I could just get the plug wires off of those back three plugs without destroying them or anything else around them. The ones on the front bank were pretty hard to get off but at least I was able to get hold of them. The back ones are just far enough below the intake to barely get fingertips on them. Not much strength in fingers - tips or otherwise. Karl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SVTDEMON Posted February 12, 2010 Share Posted February 12, 2010 I'd be happy if I could just get the plug wires off of those back three plugs without destroying them or anything else around them. The ones on the front bank were pretty hard to get off but at least I was able to get hold of them. The back ones are just far enough below the intake to barely get fingertips on them. Not much strength in fingers - tips or otherwise. Karl Did you remove the coilpack for better access? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SDK Posted February 12, 2010 Share Posted February 12, 2010 Did you remove the coilpack for better access? Yeah seriously, with the coilpack out of the way it is easy to get at them. Ppl posted in my thread over at ceg that you don't have to remove the coilpack. I'm not sure if they have super narrow wrists or magical powers or what. My plug wires came right off, although they looked pretty new and are Ford Racing wires the PO installed (or had installed, the longer I own this car the more I realize how inept the PO was mechanically). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98SVT Posted February 12, 2010 Share Posted February 12, 2010 Yeah seriously, with the coilpack out of the way it is easy to get at them. Ppl posted in my thread over at ceg that you don't have to remove the coilpack. I'm not sure if they have super narrow wrists or magical powers or what. My plug wires came right off, although they looked pretty new and are Ford Racing wires the PO installed (or had installed, the longer I own this car the more I realize how inept the PO was mechanically). I'll remove it as a last resort. I can't even get to the number 1 plug wire to grip it well enough to pop it off and the coil pack isn't in the way for that one. The boots seem to be stuck on from being on there so long I guess. I just don't want to break anything by forcing stuff. I wonder if there isn't a "special tool" that the dealer guys use to get these off. I would imagine that they've seen enough Contours by now to warrant one. They are stock Ford wires by the way - probably the originals - but I've had no problems with them (misfiring) and don't want to break any of them wrestling with the boots.Karl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SDK Posted February 12, 2010 Share Posted February 12, 2010 I'll remove it as a last resort. I can't even get to the number 1 plug wire to grip it well enough to pop it off and the coil pack isn't in the way for that one. The boots seem to be stuck on from being on there so long I guess. I just don't want to break anything by forcing stuff. I wonder if there isn't a "special tool" that the dealer guys use to get these off. I would imagine that they've seen enough Contours by now to warrant one. They are stock Ford wires by the way - probably the originals - but I've had no problems with them (misfiring) and don't want to break any of them wrestling with the boots. Karl Why are people so against removing the coilpack? I am totally baffled by this and you are not the first person to have this opinion either. It is literally 4 bolts and takes 2 minutes tops. Makes life 1,000,000,000,000 times easier when getting stuck plug boots off. You go from having like no room to manuever to a ton of room. The bolts are 7mm, use a 1/4" ratchet and a deep well 7mm socket and it comes right out. To get stuck plug boots off I usually just take a normal size flathead, slide the shaft of it between the dust boot and the 90 degree piece where the wire goes into the actual boot. Push down with one hand to keep it from bending and use the screwdriver to lever the boot up and off. Honestly if your boots are stuck on that bad it is time to replace them anyway so if you break them it isn't a huge deal. Spiros or FRPPs are good. MSD 8.5s are great too but not sure if they make them for our apps. I have them on my Cobra and they are the hotness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98SVT Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 Why are people so against removing the coilpack? I am totally baffled by this and you are not the first person to have this opinion either. It is literally 4 bolts and takes 2 minutes tops. Makes life 1,000,000,000,000 times easier when getting stuck plug boots off. You go from having like no room to manuever to a ton of room. The bolts are 7mm, use a 1/4" ratchet and a deep well 7mm socket and it comes right out. To get stuck plug boots off I usually just take a normal size flathead, slide the shaft of it between the dust boot and the 90 degree piece where the wire goes into the actual boot. Push down with one hand to keep it from bending and use the screwdriver to lever the boot up and off. Honestly if your boots are stuck on that bad it is time to replace them anyway so if you break them it isn't a huge deal. Spiros or FRPPs are good. MSD 8.5s are great too but not sure if they make them for our apps. I have them on my Cobra and they are the hotness. Well, I'm against doing anything unnecessary unless there is some tangible benefit and also because the less you do, the less that can go wrong. I've already removed one of the bolts off the coil pack to move that condenser thing out of the way so I guess I'll remove the others and see what happens. Karl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98SVT Posted February 14, 2010 Share Posted February 14, 2010 Well, I'm against doing anything unnecessary unless there is some tangible benefit and also because the less you do, the less that can go wrong. I've already removed one of the bolts off the coil pack to move that condenser thing out of the way so I guess I'll remove the others and see what happens. Karl I removed the coil pack and guess what? Still couldn't get those plug wires off as I figured would happen. The problem is getting a grip on them. Fingers, at least mine, don't have the power to pull them off. I searched through my roll away and found a long plier like tool that is used on drum brake cylinders that had the little bent ends that I could grip the plug wire boot "wings" without tearing them up and viola, I could pull them right off. I just needed to transfer the pulling effort from below to above the level of the UIM where I could get some leverage. That's why I wondered if there was a "special" Ford tool for this job. The rest of the job was as someone described, cake. Karl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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