This is another tip I got from Autolite’s technical training manager, Jay Buckley. If you own a Ford three-valve 4.6L engine, then you’re probably aware that they use a very heavily projected nose spark plug. What you may not know is that there is a Ford technical service bulletin procedure for removing these plugs without breaking them. Apparently, the nose of this plug is somewhat fragile and just pulling them out of an engine with more than 50,000 miles can easily break the electrode, which then requires removing the cylinder head(s) to retrieve the broken pieces. Ford issued a service bulletin procedure that says to start with a dead cold engine and then merely loosen the plug by only and eighth of a turn. Then soak the plug threads with good carburetor cleaner (not that crappy green stuff that doesn’t work) and let it sit for at least one hour. Then slowly remove the spark plugs. Jay says he’s used this procedure with several Detroit-area Ford engines and has yet to break a spark plug. So now you know. Ford came up with the procedure, but you can thank Jay and the guys at Autolite for passing along the information.