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Wow... my F150 started acting up. Had the codes read and it was misfiring so I bought the stuff to do a tune up. Man, it was hotter then heck and trying to climb in that cab to find the plugs was not fun. I'm sure it might have been easier from underneath, but regardless it was hot and not my normal cup of tea. My hats off to all you mechanics out there that do this for a living

texanjoker wrote:Wow... my F150 started acting up. Had the codes read and it was misfiring so I bought the stuff to do a tune up. Man, it was hotter then heck and trying to climb in that cab to find the plugs was not fun. I'm sure it might have been easier from underneath, but regardless it was hot and not my normal cup of tea. My hats off to all you mechanics out there that do this for a living

Most people don't appreciate a mechanic until they need one. P.S. Owning a set of tools doesn't make a mechanic.

texanjoker wrote:Wow... my F150 started acting up. Had the codes read and it was misfiring so I bought the stuff to do a tune up. Man, it was hotter then heck and trying to climb in that cab to find the plugs was not fun. I'm sure it might have been easier from underneath, but regardless it was hot and not my normal cup of tea. My hats off to all you mechanics out there that do this for a living

What year model F150 and engine size do you have? Some of them can be very difficult.

How many miles? Over 100k the individual coils start going out.

tomtexan wrote:

texanjoker wrote:Wow... my F150 started acting up. Had the codes read and it was misfiring so I bought the stuff to do a tune up. Man, it was hotter then heck and trying to climb in that cab to find the plugs was not fun. I'm sure it might have been easier from underneath, but regardless it was hot and not my normal cup of tea. My hats off to all you mechanics out there that do this for a living

What year model F150 and engine size do you have? Some of them can be very difficult.

Sounds to me like my Expedition - 2001, 5.4 - plugs, coil on plug buried under fuel rails etc. Dealers will charge upwards of $500 labor to do a "tune-up" and then the coil packs are $60 a piece. Kudos for doing it yourself, you saved a boatload of cash..

MeMelYup wrote:How many miles? Over 100k the individual coils start going out.

I have 200k on mine, and the reason I find for the coils crapping out is the plug gap over time ends up at .080, which is just about too much for the coils to handle and then they eat themselves.

texanjoker wrote: My hats off to all you mechanics out there that do this for a living

I agree. I work on a lot of my own stuff, some just because I have the tools and enjoy a project, and partly because one of the cars is a little older (a '67 Skylark) and it just seems wrong to keep a classic and "have it worked on." Well, that, and not too many shops are prepared to work on such a beast these days, and the ones that are are pretty spendy.

I don't think I could do it professionally. I'll do a lot of work for friends, and with friends, and I do it for free...but I'm not sure anyone could afford the rates I'd want to charge if I were a "pro."

The guys that work on modern cars have a level of patience I could never develop--especially with the engineers that design these things...if I worked on modern cars for a living, there's a very good possibility I'd end up in Detroit, and shortly thereafter on the news...

I replaced the radiator, thermostat, hoses, and coolant in our Infiniti last weekend. Dealer wanted around $1600 to do it. I think I spent $250 total and a few hours, but gosh is it miserable. I was feeling lazy and didn't want to mess with it so I got a price on the work, but that quickly motivated me to kill a few hours and do it myself.

I had a good mechanic in BCS that did my work when needed. Wish I could find that here.

cbunt1 wrote:

texanjoker wrote: My hats off to all you mechanics out there that do this for a living

I agree. I work on a lot of my own stuff, some just because I have the tools and enjoy a project, and partly because one of the cars is a little older (a '67 Skylark) and it just seems wrong to keep a classic and "have it worked on." Well, that, and not too many shops are prepared to work on such a beast these days, and the ones that are are pretty spendy.

I don't think I could do it professionally. I'll do a lot of work for friends, and with friends, and I do it for free...but I'm not sure anyone could afford the rates I'd want to charge if I were a "pro."

The guys that work on modern cars have a level of patience I could never develop--especially with the engineers that design these things...if I worked on modern cars for a living, there's a very good possibility I'd end up in Detroit, and shortly thereafter on the news...

Have a car that beautiful and not wanting to get your own hands dirty with it is like letting another man fool around with your wife.

I used to have this identical car in these colors. I did all the work myself. She was a runner:

WildBill wrote:

texanjoker wrote:Wow... my F150 started acting up. Had the codes read and it was misfiring so I bought the stuff to do a tune up. Man, it was hotter then heck and trying to climb in that cab to find the plugs was not fun. I'm sure it might have been easier from underneath, but regardless it was hot and not my normal cup of tea. My hats off to all you mechanics out there that do this for a living

Most people don't appreciate a mechanic until they need one. P.S. Owning a set of tools doesn't make a mechanic.

I do agree. I do most of the work on my old jeep including the lift, ect because I enjoy it. Not saying it is easy, but something I am learning. Climbing into the engine on 05 f150 6 banger to change the plugs was brutal. I guess I was lucky as the 6 has regular plus vs the triton engines. Got it done and it's running great again, but something I would not want to do daily. I think if I were under neath on a rack it would have been a little easier, but not much. I changed the back brakes a few weeks ago. Place that does work for me wanted $339...???? I did it for under 100 with new rotors. Having 2 teens driving means I gotta save $ whenever I can.

20 years mostly spent as a ford tech. i can tell you that it doesnt get easer.
doing plugs on a 4.2L from the bottom... i just cant see that. there pretty easy all in all.
I got out last year and now work in oil/gas field, not sure its any better though

I'm an amateur mechanic. I've spent all day today under my girlfriends s10 changing to motor mounts. I'm still not done. I enjoy working on cars, but i'm definitely not a fan of working in this heat.

i do a good bit of mustang work, along with some various stuff.

f-150 4.6/5.4 plugs are among my least favorite jobs.