ToolmanJohn
New member
If any are contemplating wether to have the stealership do the plug change or doing it themselves, do it yourself and save a lot of money.
Just changed the plugs on my 2003 V6. I went with the exact OEM NGK plug. They were only $4.67 each. I couldn't justify the outrageous price for the stealerships 30K mile service ($389 plus tax), and they skip some of the things that Toyota recommends. I considered it a huge ripoff, and decided to do it myself.
I also had the foresight to take a look at what I would have to do by removing one plug last week. I realized I would need a very long 3/8" extension, and a way of preventing the extension from coming off of the plug socket.
I found a set of locking 3/8" extension bars at home depot. They lock together, and onto the plug socket. Worked perfect.
The only challenge (barely) was the need to remove a bracket (2 bolts, 12mm socket) on the drivers side bank of the cylinder head. It interferes with removal of the middle and rear plug. Also on the passenger side, I removed the air filter and the rubber intake hose so it's completely wide open for service. Real easy, loosen one bolt on the hose clamp.
The electrical connectors on the plug coils are easy to remove. Push a clip and pry off the electrical connector with a screwdriver.
Then remove a 10mm socket head bolt holding each coil, and pull while twisting, the whole coil assembly pulls out of the cyclinder head straight off the plug.
This is where I needed those extensions. The plugs are very deep inside the head cover. A minimum 10" extension is neccesary. I used 14" worth of extensions to make it easy.
Removed old plugs, installed new ones. Gapped the new ones to .043" before installing they were fairly close out of the box. Followed the torque recommendations on the plug boxes.
Reinserted each plug coil, bolted down, reconnected the electrical wire, reinstalled the bracket and the air filter hose. The whole this took just under 50 minutes. I could probably do it in under 40 next time, if I arrange all my tools beforehand, and knowing exactly what to do next time.
BTW, the electrode tips on the standard plugs were definitely worn. There is a small v-notch in each plug tip. Compared the the new ones, there was almost no V left on the old ones. So, 30,000 miles seems to be the limit.
Just changed the plugs on my 2003 V6. I went with the exact OEM NGK plug. They were only $4.67 each. I couldn't justify the outrageous price for the stealerships 30K mile service ($389 plus tax), and they skip some of the things that Toyota recommends. I considered it a huge ripoff, and decided to do it myself.
I also had the foresight to take a look at what I would have to do by removing one plug last week. I realized I would need a very long 3/8" extension, and a way of preventing the extension from coming off of the plug socket.
I found a set of locking 3/8" extension bars at home depot. They lock together, and onto the plug socket. Worked perfect.
The only challenge (barely) was the need to remove a bracket (2 bolts, 12mm socket) on the drivers side bank of the cylinder head. It interferes with removal of the middle and rear plug. Also on the passenger side, I removed the air filter and the rubber intake hose so it's completely wide open for service. Real easy, loosen one bolt on the hose clamp.
The electrical connectors on the plug coils are easy to remove. Push a clip and pry off the electrical connector with a screwdriver.
Then remove a 10mm socket head bolt holding each coil, and pull while twisting, the whole coil assembly pulls out of the cyclinder head straight off the plug.
This is where I needed those extensions. The plugs are very deep inside the head cover. A minimum 10" extension is neccesary. I used 14" worth of extensions to make it easy.
Removed old plugs, installed new ones. Gapped the new ones to .043" before installing they were fairly close out of the box. Followed the torque recommendations on the plug boxes.
Reinserted each plug coil, bolted down, reconnected the electrical wire, reinstalled the bracket and the air filter hose. The whole this took just under 50 minutes. I could probably do it in under 40 next time, if I arrange all my tools beforehand, and knowing exactly what to do next time.
BTW, the electrode tips on the standard plugs were definitely worn. There is a small v-notch in each plug tip. Compared the the new ones, there was almost no V left on the old ones. So, 30,000 miles seems to be the limit.
