Plug wire question.

I'm chasing a very infrequent mis-fire on our van. The plugs are single-plats but (the fronts at least) look pretty new. I haven't poked at the back ones.

However, the Motorcraft plug wires say "1998" on them. They don't look bad though. What are the chances they are that old? I can't imagine them making a specific set for the year.

TIA

Let's see if we understand your question. You have a '98 Windstar with 107K miles on it. The plug wires say 1998. You have a misfire and you want to know if it could be the wires? Of COURSE it could be the wires. Wires are cheap. So are plugs. Change them both.

I did mine on my 96 when I did the intake. They were REAL bad at 105k!!!!!!!!!!!

Do a search for removel of the wiper cowel. Makes the job a LOT easer!!!!

I would invest in a new set of spark plugs, and spark plug wires.
Stay away from anything fancy.....just the higher line wires from your local parts store......and Autolite or Motorcraft double platinumn spark plugs.
Stay away from the Bosche +2 or +4 plugs, as they are not good for the windstar application.
I would consider this routine maintenance......and not worth investigating to see if it is a problem.

I would also put a can of Berryman's B-12 Chemtool into a full tank of gasoline.
The fuel injectors on the Windstar are very reliable....but they tend to build up some crud inside the "cap" over the spray end.....and cause misfire issues.
I have found that the Berryman's works when many.....other cleaners do not work.

There are other things that can cause a misfire....but get on top of the routine maintenance stuff first......and very likely, you will solve the problem.....and certainly not have to deal with this easy stuff in the dead of winter.....

Plugs and wires are cheap, sure. But when you've got two kids starting school in a month and a baby due in 5 weeks; cheap becomes a relative term for the time being. I was just curious as to the possibility of Motorcraft wires being branded with the year they were made.

I've got intake gaskets to replace so the plugs and wires will get swapped at that time too. Berryman's will go in the tank during the next fill-up.

My 96 did not have dates on them, but my 95 Bronco did, so I assume some Ford products had them.

I understand the money thing.
That is one reason I mentioned the Auto Part store wires.....I have Autolite brand on mine.....I think that at the time they had 2 levels....and I got the upper level.
You can get the spark plugs at the local auto part stores as well.
I even had a friend try chasing down a serious misfire for about 6 months....
He did my trick of lifting the hood in the dark when the misfire was happening.....and found that his new....fancy Taylor brand of spark plug wires were arcing out through the insulation....he said it looked like a city in there......the whole problem was his NEW fancy plug wires all the time.....a LOT of time...and some money wasted trying to track down a problem......that he would not have had, if he had done his tuneup with normal (and cheaper) parts.

Many auto part stores have a nice display promoting the Bosche +2 or +4 plugs.......save your money.....the AutoLite and Motorcraft are not only cheaper.....they are much better for the Windstar.

The upper intake manifold gaskets on the 96-98 are very good....and are re-usable....They are a rubber round-ish type....and sit in grooves in the base of the upper intake manifold.
I replaced mine when I was trying to track down a very slight misfire (Berryman's for the fuel injectors), but it was a waste of money.

The lower intake manifold gaskets are a potential coolant leak (as many vehicles have), and are NOT re-usable......it is a somewhat big job to replace them (in my book).
Mine are still doing fine after 2 years.

Of course, dirty EGR ports can cause a misfire....and you have to remove the upper intake manifold to get to them.......but as long as you clean the mating surfaces, the original upper gaskets will be fine to re-use.....

I would not want you to spend money on any number of other parts that can cause a misfire, only to find that it was some relatively inexpensive routine item....that you end up replacing anyhow.