'03 4.0L tune up

[bartkowski]

i am giving my ranger a tune up and was wondering what your guys' opinions on the e3 spark plugs on this engine were. Ive been trying to get a little more mpg out the thing its very low, i get 12mpg average which seems low considering my dad has a sport track with the same engine and hes getting an amazing 24mpg, i can't even come close.
i did just seafoam it this weekend through the vacuum hose and added to the gas tank and also the cankcase, sunday morning i plan on the spark plug swap and an oil change.
if anyone has any suggestions on anything else i can do please comment, and again let me know your opinion on those plugs!
thanks guys

 

[Big Jim M]

The ONLY plug that has EVER been tested on your engine is the one that CAME in it! It isn't possible for ANY other plug to do better than the OEM one!! However it is possible for other plugs to do WORSE! Always use the factory plug in your engine. It is KNOWN to do well for over 100,000 miles without failure. Other plugs are just a guess..
Unless the vehicle is bucking and jumping the sparks are doing fine...leave them alone. NEW plugs will NOT give more milage if the ones in there are running smoothly.
All a spark plug does is make a spark!!!! If yours are doing that then they are as good as new..
Big JIm

 

[Psychopete]

Somethings definitely up getting that low of MPG. Larger tires, or any contributing factors? Factory plugs are what I typically use also. Tune up is a good start, but it would be worth while to have diagnostic ran if that does not help. Good to change plugs every so often, you would be surprised the amount of spark erosion that occurs and engine still seems to run "fine", not to mention seasoned plugs can be a p.i.t.a. to remove at times.

 

[bartkowski]

Well I changed the plugs with the OEM ones. The old ones looked pretty sorry with 3 of them missing the platinum tips on the ground, a little worried where they may be. But yeah she did run fine before except the Milagros sceptre one thing which I thought had nothing to do with it. It seemed to never heat up. I don't make long trips very often and usually my regular 5 mile trip would be just enough to warm her up if I didn't try to use the heat. But now that the plugs are changed I noticed an immediate change almost within the first mile she putting out heat. Hopefully the MPG will see similar drastic results.
Has anybody ever heard of this before?
And my tire size are stock.