Mondeo MK4 spark plugs

spratley

Just a quickie - spark plugs? How often to replace & what type/make to go for?? Car is Mondeo MK4 2.0 - haven't had a petrol car for many years, so bit unsure on servicing. I used to change the oil (+ filter) twice a year on my diesels, and fuel and air filter about once a year - would this be about the same for a petrol car, or is this overkill? Mileage is around 8k a year.
Cheers!

fivetide

Probably slight overkill to change every 4k - an annual change should be fine.

Regarding the plugs, if you don't know when they were done then it might be worth changing them. Best to draw a line in the sand so you know when everything was changed and you can keep on top of it yourself then (that's what I find at least).

Plug type should be in the book. alternatively if it is running fine, whip one out and see what it has in there at the moment.

5t.

Strider590

Should last 4 years at average mileage in a normal family car..... Long life plugs are rated at 8 years.
Modern cars don't get through plugs anywhere near as quickly as previous automotive generations.

forgotmyname

I replied to this, Where did my post goto?

Modern cars can have 60,000 plug change intervals.

Changing the oil and filters every 8000 miles or yearly will have the engine
running like new to 150,000 miles.

jase1

My garage replaces the plugs every second service (25k).

They cost very little, so why not overservice?

Notmyrealname

spratley wrote: »

Just a quickie - spark plugs? How often to replace & what type/make to go for?? Car is Mondeo MK4 2.0 - haven't had a petrol car for many years, so bit unsure on servicing. I used to change the oil (+ filter) twice a year on my diesels, and fuel and air filter about once a year - would this be about the same for a petrol car, or is this overkill? Mileage is around 8k a year.
Cheers!

Spark plugs OTTOMH are changed every 40k on those although I'd change them around 30k. Do oil and filter annually, fuel filter every 3 years, same with air filter.

FWIW the Ford intervals for the fuel and air filter are 37,500 miles/3 years.

Notmyrealname

jase1 wrote: »

My garage replaces the plugs every second service (25k).

They cost very little, so why not overservice?

Because its a waste of money and materials.

Strider590

Notmyrealname wrote: »

Because its a waste of money and materials.

And every time they're changed, you run the risk of cross-threading them into the engine. Not as hard to do as one might think, especially if you get c0cky.

jase1

Notmyrealname wrote: »

Because its a waste of money and materials.

So is replacing tyres at 3mm -- but I'd still advocate it.

Strider590 wrote: »

And every time they're changed, you run the risk of cross-threading them into the engine. Not as hard to do as one might think, especially if you get c0cky.

Any garage that makes a habit of this needs to go away.

Notmyrealname

jase1 wrote: »

So is replacing tyres at 3mm -- but I'd still advocate it.

However there's a large difference between something that affects how well you stay on the road and therefore your safety and something which may result in nothing more than a bit of a misfire and drop in power.

Strider590

Notmyrealname wrote: »

However there's a large difference between something that affects how well you stay on the road and therefore your safety and something which may result in nothing more than a bit of a misfire and drop in power.

I changed mine last week, turns out it had never had them changed since leaving the factory in 2004.... despite having a full dealership service history before I bought it. They were very well worn, but still going "OK", car now feels a little more responsive and smoother at idle, odb says I've got around 5 bhp more.

I struggle to see any point changing them at every service tbh.... imo, the old ones would probably have been fine if I'd simply regapped them.