Expedition Spark Plugs

[John Costlow]

Hi Everyone,

I am hoping to get some opinions or an answer to this question.

I called the local shop to get a price on replacing the spark plugs on my 1997 Ford Expedition 5.4 as I thought about doing it until I saw how tight the access to the rear plugs are and I don’t want to have the plugs blow out of the cylinder. They quoted replacing the plugs, with Motorcraft at my request, and a gasket. I then asked what gasket and was told it was the valve cover gasket.

Why would the valve cover get removed to replace the plugs? Or are they doing that to alleviate a leak I don’t know about? It has 222k miles and uses a little oil but I just thought it was due to age as I don’t see any leaks.

Thanks for any thoughts/opinions.

Topic

[Cody]

The leak could be in the rear where you can’t see. You might see a little smoke after driving awhile on the highway or smell some burning oil if it leaks enough.

It could also be leaking some oil into the spark plug tube and in that case, the valve cover may need to be removed to replace those tube seals.

[Richard Kirshy]

It may be a leak the mechanic noticed and you didn’t.
Or possibly they want to remove the valve cover to get better access to the plugs.

[Author]

Replies