In case anybody is looking for some more tips from a different perspective
I just did my wife's 2005 V6 last night.. I waited until 42k miles because I just assumed they were 100k mile plugs until I read otherwise on this board!
They still looked OK to me but definitely not pretty.
I got NKG Laser Platinum plus... should be good for 100k miles or more.
Part number was PLFR6A-11. They're $14/each at NAPA or $13/each on Amazon. Yes $80 is pricey but what are you going to pay if you get 30k mile plugs? $30+ right? So in terms of price per mileage the platinum plugs are actually a bit better and that's before attributing any value to your time and effort in changing them.
And on that note I have to say that this job took me more like 3 hours but that's because I read this thread after getting started and didn't realize I didn't have some parts I'd need. Now that I have the right parts and have a better developed feel for the clips on the coil packs, I think I could do it in an hour flat start to finish if I was pushing it.
-You don't need a flexible ratchet extension for any of the plugs though the front most driver's side plug almost needed one.
-I found no reason for the fuel line to thread the plugs... I was able to just put the plug in the plug socket, stick that on the extension without the ratchet itself and just hand tighten the plug... it was plenty obvious if it was misthreaded and I was at no risk of damaging anything when I was only using my hands to tighten... once the plug could no longer be hand tightened I turned them for about 1/2 to 2/3rds of a turn or about 14 ft-lb.
-You DO need a ratchet extension for your spark plug socket that will lock, otherwise good luck pulling your spark plug socket out once you've got the plug inserted. Then again maybe my plug socket was just much grabbier than most but I had no chance of getting it back out without the locking extension I had to go and buy. For some reason this wasn't an issue on my wife's old 99 Accord 4-cyl. Different sized plugs maybe?
-Parts to remove or move out of the way include the airbox from the filter back, the black metal bracket on the driver's side between the middle and rear plug (I was able to remove the top 12mm bolt and leave in the bottom one loosened and just move it out of the way. Also go ahead and just remove the engine cover, it's just two 10mm caps. Also pull the PCV hose on the driver's side out of the way... it's the black rubber black insulated hose with a metal clip that's near the fuel lines that goes from a cast black plastic outlet up low into the block down low. These two things makes clearance on driver's side about 10x more comfortable and will take you an extra 1-2 minutes total to remove and put back.
Issues I had:
Those coil pack plug clips were a PAIN to get off in some cases... especially on the driver's side front-most plug. The best method I figured out was using a very small screw driver to hold the clip retainer up and prying the clip out with a larger screw driver, then once I got the clip back just an 1/8th of an inch or so pull it the rest of the way back with my hand. I was really nervous I was going to crack the plastic with one of the screw drivers though, but I didn't. I wish Toyota had made the coil pack wires attach with something more straightforward, like a screw.
I dropped one of the coil pack 10mm bolts accidentally and wouldn't you know it, it managed to bounce INSIDE the frame cross member running under the motor. I had to remove the mid front skid plate and fish around with one of those magnet wands to find it. Man that was frustrating.
I also forgot to get anti-seize, so I really hope that's not going to be an issue at 140k miles.
