Im planning on putting new spark plugs on my bird. Is there ones I should stay away from? ones your recommend? It's an 88 5.0. Thanks
General consensus over observation of message boards throughout the years is as follows:
2.3L turbo-4: Motorcraft, Motorcraft, Motorcraft
3.8L V6: Motorcraft, Splitfire (2-way at least, mixed on 4-way)
5.0L V8: Motorcraft, Bosch Platinum, Autolite
You can see the pattern...generally people seem to be very happy with the regular ol' Motorcraft plugs. I have been using Bosch Platinums (not the +2 or +4's) for years with very good results. They clean up well, at least. Note that the above info is for a general tune-up of a motor with the stock ignition system. Once you get into changing the rest of the ignition system, more elaborate plugs (like NGK's, for example) are the norm.
Are Autolite and Motorcraft plugs the same? Shawn has said they are. A quick Google and Corral search leads to differing opinions.
Motorcraft and Autolite are indeed the same, i forgot the source, but it was a rather well knowledged guy i nthe turbo fords was telling me how Autolite made the plugs for Ford, or something along those lines
basically, what i tell everyone, use the autolites that are called for per car, if your car is mostly stock, or even decently modded, generally, the plugs that the factory calls for works best, untill you get into major mods, where you use your spark plugs for tuning and whatnot
What about accel plugs? bad, good? decent?
honestly dude, stick with autolite plugs, theyre cheap, easy to get, and work great
for plug wires, on a 5.0, run anything you want really, as long as theyre good quality
What would be an example of some good wires to use?
Which autolites though? the standard, plantinum or double platinum?
standard autolites im guessing
Wasn't Autolite once a Ford brand, before Motorcraft?
I normally use autolite platinums. I have a set of Taylor wires I am using right now, nice wires!
use the standard
im running standard autolites in my turbo coupe with no problems, and i ran standard plugs in my old turbo dodge, if turbo cars work well with standard autolites, your 5.0's will too
platinum plugs dont offer much more than "longevity", if your plugs die quickly, theres more problems than just the plugs, theres some other issues
as for plug wires, Taylors are great, as are just about any aftermarket wire, many people love to Motorsport wires
Bosch Platinums and taylor wires, works great
To play Devil's advocate I have a set of 1 1/2 year old Champions in my Bird... AND
It just ran the quickest time ever, beating a over 3 year old record that was set on a brand new set(maybe 125 miles) of Autolites. Also it bested the old mark while auto shifting and running a full length belt. It will run a little quicker manual shifting and bypassing the P/S pump. I'm guessing it would have done just as well on Autolites or Motorcrafts though, as we had some seriously high barometric pressure when I made that run.
Mmm, I think I wanna get some Taylor wires for my '85 when the time comes. It still rocks some pretty crusty Motorcraft's.
what was the run? get into 11s yet?
I been layin off the giggle juice, it was a slightly improved 1/8 mi NA run(8.41). Prior my best was a 8.42 the night it went 13.11. Gonna play with the chip I have again, to see if it will go 8.30s. Maybe it has a 12 sec NA run in it... :crazy:
I put platinum Autolites in my white stock 87 XR-7 and it developed an occasional miss.
I put Autolite copper cores and the miss went away.
I used Bosch Platnum in my 87 3.8 and they lasted a few years replaced with Bosch +2's that seem to work well. As far as wires go, I've been through a few sets, apparently the 3.8 is rough on wires. Right now I'm using the best Bosch from Auto Zone and they seem to be the best lasting so far. They run about $40 per set. When these go I'm thinking of going for the Ford Motorsport. Apparently they have a set for 3.8, one the few items they stock for 3.8's
make sure its for your year 3.8L, because the later model stangs use DIS
you could buy a set for a 5.0, and use only 6 of the 8