Factory GT spark plug gaps

After reading about inconsistent spark plug gaps on a I4 car, I went ahead and checked the gaps on my new '16 GT this morning.

Big waste of time, they were all set correctly at the factory at about 0.051". I gapped them to 0.48 because I read 0.45 somewhere and it doesn't specify on the sticker under the hood or anywhere in the factory idiot's manual. I need to get a shop manual for this car immediately.

Man, that last plug on the passenger side nearest the firewall is a mean SOB to get a wrench on (it took an angle joint and just the right length extension or no dice). At one point I contemplated drilling a hole through the battery box metal to get direct access to the damn thing.

Only 1080 miles on the odo and I just did the first oil change with penzoil full synthetic 5w20 and a motorcraft filter.

Oh man, when anyone says spark plugs I just recall my 05 GT's plugs... I wonder how many broke overall.

Spark plug brother! :cheers:
I feel your pain....took a different approach.
I removed the coil pack, dropped in the socket, followed by the extension. Paired them in the hole and had just enough room to loosen the plug.
Removed my ratchet, brought up the extension with the socket, using my finger I separated the socket from the extension (no room to fish it out in one piece) letting it fall back down into the cylinder.
I then used a flexible magnet to fish out the socket /plug.

A lot of GT guys have also noticed inconsistent gaps from the factory. Seems to be really hit or miss.

http://www.mustang6g.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34869

You guys don't have any plug-specific sockets with o-rings in them?

BmacIL said:

You guys don't have any plug-specific sockets with o-rings in them?

Click to expand...

Yeah, that is what I used to bring the plug in and out of the cylinder. I also used this bad boy to fish it out.
There is no room to bring out the extension and the socket together.

Laztug, that's exactly what I did down to having to separate the extension from the socket while still in the tube and using a magnet to fish the socket out. Separating the parts ended up being pretty hard cause I had used an extension with a locking tab.

Yes of course I used a spark plug socket with the o-ring etc.

So I just regapped all my plugs. They were all within spec, but were not the same across all cylinders.

#1 - .052
#2 - .052
#3 - .052
#4 - .051
#5 - .050
#6 - .050
#7 - .052
#8 - .051

Not much of a difference there, and probably doesn't affect anything, but I like knowing now that they are all the same.

For the #4 cyl (rear passenger), I used a stubby extension with a wobbly on each end. Slipped in and out no problem.

I checked my plugs a few months back. They we're about .55 to .58. Car seamed to run a little smoother after it was corrected.:shrug:

Just checked all of mine. They were all .49-.50. I set them all to .50 and added some antisieze to the threads because of bad flashbacks on my 07.

I use the drop socket technique too lol

Magnet user here as well... Re-gapped all my plugs to .048. They were all at .054 and up :doh:

I tried googling a guide to remove the plugs in a coyote engine, surprisingly really didn't the results I wanted. Starting to think google is just an ad agency as of late. Either way, anyone have a bit of a write up on how to remove the plugs? I would like to check my gaps. I picked up a gap tool with the different sized bars, but then I read that that type of tool isn't good for our type of plugs. This true?

Varekai said:

I would like to check my gaps. I picked up a gap tool with the different sized bars, but then I read that that type of tool isn't good for our type of plugs. This true?

Click to expand...

The wire gauge gap checkers are the best to use.

Getting them out is not as bad as trying to thread them in...