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1A Auto 1 Year Warranty
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1 Year Warranty
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Hi, I'm Mike from 1A Auto. I hope this how-to video helps you out, and next time you need parts for your vehicle, think of 1AAuto.com. Thanks.
In this video, we're going to be working with our 2001 Ford Ranger. We're going to show you how to remove and replace your spark plugs and wires. This particular one is a 4-liter, but this process is going to be very similar on most engines. If you like this video, please click subscribe. We have a ton more information on this truck as well as many other makes and models. If you want these parts for your vehicle, they're available from 1AAuto.com. You can follow the link down in the description. Here are the items you'll need for this repair.
We're going to start with cylinder 6, which is the driver's rear cylinder. Reach down and remove that spark plug wire. Pull that out of the way. We're using a 5/8” spark plug socket here. The difference is it's got this little rubber bushing on the inside that holds onto the porcelain of the plug and makes it easier to remove and install. It's pretty difficult to see these spark plugs because of their position into the motor. We've put an extension on there with the socket to show you right about where it is. You should be able to reach down there and feel for it, once you've removed the plug wire.
The way I like to do this to keep everything in order is to remove the plug wires individually. We just did the cylinder 6 spark plug. We'll remove the cylinder 6 plug wire. You might need a small, flat-blade screwdriver to open up this retainer. We can now remove that number 6 plug wire from the retainer, and the wire itself.
Our old plug wire was the original plug wire from the factory, so it has the number 6 marked on it to designate that this is for cylinder 6 on the vehicle. New wire kits are made to fit a multitude of different vehicles, so we're going to have to match up our wire from our vehicle with one of the new wires from our kit. I like to separate them and lay them out so you can get an idea of which one's the shortest and longest. This number 6 looks like it's probably going to be our shortest wire, judging from the fact that it goes right from the coil straight down onto the plug. Our shortest wire is here. Again, these are meant to be universal, so it is just a tad longer than our original wire, but that's all right. It's still going to go in just fine.
Just in case you don't have any handy, this kit comes with a little tube of dielectric grease. Put just a dab of that onto the connector here. We'll be sure to put just a little bit on the end of our spark plug as well to make sure that we get a good, solid, corrosion-free connection on our wire, as well as making sure it doesn't seize on there.
Here we have our old spark plug that we removed from the vehicle and our new part from 1AAuto.com. We have the same threads and the same porcelain. We have the same connector on the end here. You can see how nice and clean our new one is, with hat nice full electrode on the end, whereas our old one has gotten pointy. There's a bigger gap there from it being worn away. You can also see that we have some ashy build-up here. Looks like our engine might be running just a little bit lean. These new spark plugs are going to go in direct fit, just like our original equipment and make sure that we get a full burn of our air-fuel mixture, restore all that power and efficiency back into our motor, and fix us up right.
Again, we'll put just a little bit of that grease on the end of our plug before we install it into the motor. Try to line the spark plug up by hand first. We'll start to thread it in with the socket just on the end of an extension before we tighten it down with our ratchet.
Install your new plug wire. Remember how it was routed through that retainer. We don't want to close that yet, because we still have two more plugs and wires to do on this side. Locate the end of your spark plug. Install the wire until it clicks. Now we'll repeat these steps throughout the rest of the motor.
The procedure we've just showed you on cylinder 6 is going to be the same for the remaining 5 plugs and wires. The only minor differences maybe the combination of extensions, and/or U-joints that you're going to need to use in order to properly access the plugs. Changing your spark plugs and wires regularly or as needed, is a great way to make sure your engine stays burning fuel properly and running to the best of its ability.
Thanks for tuning in. We hope this video helps you out. Brought to you by www.1AAuto.com, your source for quality replacement parts and the best service on the Internet. Please feel free to call us toll-free, 888-844-3393. We're the company that's here for you on the Internet and in person.
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So now is gonna be time to install the wires. When you first open it up, you might be a little bit worried. The first thing that I like to do is just kind of go through them and I pick out the three longest and I get the three shortest. At that point I would just separate the two just like this. This coil has three wires that come right down along the driver's side here. Obviously, it's a much shorter distance from the coil to here than it is from the coil all the way over there. That tells me that for this side I'm gonna start with the shorter of the wires. The next thing we're gonna need is a nice pocket screwdriver. You're gonna follow your wires and check for all the securing points. We have one here and we have one down there. With your small pocket screwdriver, you're just gonna come right along here. There's a little like a slot there. Come right in between, twist, and separate. This one looks like it's already done. So that's great. I'll just kind of pull it down. There. Awesome. At this point, the wires are pretty much unsecured. This looks good. Let's continue by removing these one at a time. As I look from the coil down to where they're gonna go onto the spark plugs, I can tell that there's two wires that are pretty short and then, of course, there's one that's longer and it goes down here to cylinder four.
So here we are. We've got two wires that are approximately the same and one longer one. I'm gonna grab one of those short ones. Let's start with this back one. Just give it a little twist, pull it off of there. Come right up. It's this one right here. It says number six. Okay. If you wanted to, you could try to match them up. Obviously, the new one's a little bit longer, but that's okay. As long as it's not shorter, obviously. So now I'm just gonna take a little bit of dielectric paste and go right along this area. That's the area that goes onto the spark plug. Okay. And I'm gonna come over to the other end. I'm just gonna put a little bit in there, a little bit on here. This is gonna help keep moisture out of there. That looks great. Awesome. And it's also gonna help it come on and off easier. Next, I'm gonna take this coil wire, press right down on this. And you're gonna see these little clips go over the coil. You wanna make sure both ears are under it. If one ear is sticking up, there's a possibility it could come unclipped and cause major damage and running issues. Bring it down like this. We remember it came through this little securing point here. I'm gonna go right under the spark plug down here. Give it a little push. Awesome. Okay. Now you can take that extra bit of wire and just kind of come up like that. And I'll leave it like that for now, and we'll fix it later. Let's move on to the next wire.
This one's number four, which is the longer one. And you can do these in any specific order you want. Matter of fact, I'll go with the next one in the center there. This one's cylinder five. Disconnect it from that center spark plug. Pull it right up here. You'll notice this wire has this on it. It's a little protector. I like to take them off of there and put them on the new wire. So this one's gonna be another one of the short wires. Just take your spot, slide it in the crack there just like that. Just kinda work it around. It should wanna slide right in. Awesome. Comes under this tube. Make sure you click it in. Okay. I get double clicks. Give it a wiggle. It's gonna come down along here. It's gonna go on that second spark plug, the center one, cylinder five.
Now it's time to get these situated, so they're not a tangled mess. Let's get this on here. There it is. Make sure you have this plastic going along where the bracket is. It's very important. Keep the wires safe. So we've got the passenger side. Let's line them up. This one right here is the longest. That's gonna go to cylinder one. Set that down. And then as we continue, you'll notice that you have one that's a different color than all the rest of the wires right here. That's the center wire. That's cylinder two. Okay. So this is pretty easy to figure out. We're just gonna make sure we lube these with the silicone paste before we continue. One of the first things we're gonna do is just open up all of our secure points here that hold all the wires together. Another one hidden down here. There it is. They can be a little difficult, but with a pocket screwdriver, it's not too hard.
Let's start with cylinder number one, which is the farthest from the coil and the front here on the passenger side. Pull that off of there. It's gonna go between the bracket and the engine. So remember that for when it comes time to re-install. Let's get this up here. Come on. It's a tight-squeeze, but it can be done. You might just need to give this a little bit of a tug, but I wouldn't go too far. This is your coolant tubes. There it is. You've got one of these. It's close to where the spark plug's gonna be. So remember that for when we install it on the new wire. A lot of times what happens is, is with the heat, they get dry and brittle, and they break just like this. You could try to get some new stuff if you wanted to. Probably a good idea. You can get it at probably any hardware store. Nice.
We'll take what I can get from it. There we are. Give it a little wiggle. Make sure both clips are under there. That's super important. I'm just gonna run it right exactly where the last one came from. So it's gonna come down under there. But I remember I have to come in through here somehow. Let's see if I can get it. I can see it coming behind the alternator. Let's see if I can get it...there. Okay. So I came down, I went right through the hole in the bracket here. I'm gonna go right onto my spark plug. There it is. Give it a little wiggle. Awesome. I'm gonna put that down there. Perfect. Let's move along. Cylinder two, which is the center one. Of course, now's a great time to check/replace your spark plugs. Anytime you're doing your wires, why wouldn't you do your plugs? I know that we've recently done these, so I'm not super worried about it. Go right down in here. There it is. Give it a nice wiggle. Perfect. It's gonna come up around through here. Okay. This one's gonna come right to here. Okay. While I'm over here, I'm gonna double-check all these to make sure that every one of them is completely down. That's super important. At this point, it's just making this look like it's all nice and pretty and secured all the way down. Awesome. There's those. This looks great. We're not hitting up against anything. Nothing's tangled. Yeah. All right. Next thing I would do, start it up, make sure there's no check engine light, and go for a road test.
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