• Welcome to the Contour Enthusiasts Group, the best resource for the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique.

    You can register to join the community.

Orignal Plugs? Look at PICS

ubnpast

CEG'er
Joined
Apr 1, 2007
Messages
148
Location
West NJ
I got this car from the orignal owner back in february this year with 128k miles on it. Right now it has 130,100 miles everything is great no problems at all (except ac recharge), 96 mystique ls, 2.5 mtx.

He kept all records what was done, oil and filter was done every 5k miles, engine air filter every 10k miles, and cabin filter every 20k miles, the water pump was done at 119k, pcv was done at I believe 79 or 89k.
He even kept the orignal window sticker!

There were a few questions I had, the car gets 25 mpg all the time, highway or not, its a flat 25. The car runs like a champ idles smoothly, doesnt leak or burn any oil and doesnt have any hesistation. The plugs look somewhat worn, I didnt see anything in the owners manual about gapping them, can they be gapped? I only took one out, but does it look orignal and am I better off just leaving them as is (if it aint broke dont fix it)?

The car also had a ecu reflash in 2001, not sure for what though, I also noticed that he wrote in "Replaced ECT", what is that exactly?
P1010827.jpg

P1010828.jpg
 
Gap specs on the V6 are 0.052 to 0.056, if you wanted to gap them.. they(it) look(s) out of spec.
 
As in regap a worn plug? Good luck with that and it running correctly. Looks like it's time for some Autolite APP764's.
 
Autolite SUPPLIES most of the motorcraft plugs.. the APP764 is IDENTICAL to the 95 V6 spec plug. it is a VERY similar plug to the 96-2000 plug spec.

All around, a GREAT plug. and made by the MAKER of the motorcraft equal.
 
Autolite SUPPLIES most of the motorcraft plugs.. the APP764 is IDENTICAL to the 95 V6 spec plug. it is a VERY similar plug to the 96-2000 plug spec.

All around, a GREAT plug. and made by the MAKER of the motorcraft equal.

Thanks for the informative info, ill find out tommorow who has them in stock.

Does anyone else know about what the "ECT" could be?
 
Does the electrode look to be too worn? Would gapping them down do anything to change my 25 mpg?

Replace them. They look to have a gap of .070-.080" maybe more.

I use the Motorcraft Fine Wire plugs, its their latest version, # AGSF32FM in my 96.
 
Thanks everyone again for their help, first thing tommorow I will get a set of plugs.

On a side note, I was trying to look for the PCV valve, i took off the front plastic piece off of the engine, and pulled the end of the tube out of the intake, I could blow through and pull air back through that tube, is this a sign of a bad pcv valve?
 
Also consider Autolite XP104 as it is a fine wire plug that more closely resembles your original plug. I have APP764 Autolites in mine and they perform great.

If I understand what you wrote about testing your PCV system, it wasn't much of a test. It sounds like the part you were checking is open. There is no valve in that part. The valve is located a little below the throttle body.
 
Also consider Autolite XP104 as it is a fine wire plug that more closely resembles your original plug. I have APP764 Autolites in mine and they perform great.

If I understand what you wrote about testing your PCV system, it wasn't much of a test. It sounds like the part you were checking is open. There is no valve in that part. The valve is located a little below the throttle body.

The xp104 is a tad bit expensive for my taste, are the motorcraft ones just as much as the 104's (about $7.95 a plug)?

Ill have to take a look tm to see if I can see the valve..
 
Also I was reading and found this
I think it is pretty well documented that big gaps produce more torque. I know they fire a hotter spark, while a small gap will burn longer.

So by getting new plugs with a reduced gap I will get less power :shrug:
 
I pulled the pcv valve out, it works fine. I pulled the one plug out again and checked the gap, i stuck my feeler guages in, it was a tight fit, but they added up to .061. It isnt that far off, and the plug didnt look bad so I just stuck it back in.

3 Ford dealers wanted $8.27 each plug, and another wanted $9.10 each, while the autolites were $5 each with a $1.25 mail in rebate for each.
 
Using OBD II

Using OBD II

Would been interesting to see what counters on the Misfire "low" & "high" count.

Since I've went APP 764's 25k miles now --- no more counts and mileage is been 24-27 around and combine trips this summer 30-34 with a Duratec.
I've been playing with acetone 3oz per 10 gallons.
Paul
 
Would been interesting to see what counters on the Misfire "low" & "high" count.

Since I've went APP 764's 25k miles now --- no more counts and mileage is been 24-27 around and combine trips this summer 30-34 with a Duratec.
I've been playing with acetone 3oz per 10 gallons.
Paul

how would i find out that "count"?
 
Back
Top