Pain in the rear spark plug change

[AJColorado]

So I decided to change out my spark plugs this weekend. What should have taken an hour or less took most of the day. Thanks to the rusted bolts on the coil packs on the passenger side, I had to take a trip to sears to find a good set of bolt extractors. With those I was able to remove two of the rusted bolts. One still wouldn't come out so I had to drill the bolt head off... slide the coil pack off the bolt stud and then with a pair of vise grips, turn out the stud. Once that was done, the rest was a breeze. Put in some nice Denso Iridium plugs. I also had ordered 6 new bolts for the coil packs before I started.
But what a pain it was. :frusty:

 

[WillK]

How long has it been since they were last changed?
That seems like pretty excessive rust. Was it only certain ones that were rusted or were all showing some rust.

Either way, that would totally suck.

 

[AJColorado]

Just the passenger side bolts. All 3 were rusted. Funny thing was the drivers side was fine.

I don't think they ever changed the plugs. Here's a shot of one of the old plugs.

 

[WillK]

Yeah, those look old, but they don't look 'bad'. How many miles on your Runner?

 

[BlackWorksInc]

Just to let you know, they should be changed every 30k if you're using factory copper plugs.

But that is some nasty rust!

 

[NuclearN8]

[MENTION=94544]AJColorado[/MENTION] , did this today too on mine.... found my 4runner had the originals still installed as well (no rust problems on mine though thank goodness, that doesn't look like much fun). How'd all your plugs look, especially #6 (driver side closest to the firewall). [MENTION=49807]blackmax[/MENTION] has a theory he's working on....
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/[email protected]

 

[AJColorado]

Yeah, those look old, but they don't look 'bad'. How many miles on your Runner?

130k

 

[WillK]

Ouch!! lol I'd say you got your money out of those! lol
I bet you got a smoother throttle by changing those out.

 

[AJColorado]

[MENTION=94544]AJColorado[/MENTION] , did this today too on mine.... found my 4runner had the originals still installed as well (no rust problems on mine though thank goodness, that doesn't look like much fun). How'd all your plugs look, especially #6 (driver side closest to the firewall). [MENTION=49807]blackmax[/MENTION] has a theory he's working on....
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/[email protected]

Here's all the plugs.

 

[WillK]

Yikes. Can't really tell but do three of them have oil on them?

 

[toyo]

If the tip of the plugs have a mark, letter or such on them they are original plugs.

If you ever run into this again, I would spray those 10mm bolts with some SeaFoam or PBBlaster overnight. It will make a huge ass difference.

Glad you got it all handled!

 

[AJColorado]

Yikes. Can't really tell but do three of them have oil on them?

Nah... just carbon... all were dry when I pulled them.

 

[AJColorado]

If the tip of the plugs have a mark, letter or such on them they are original plugs.

If you ever run into this again, I would spray those 10mm bolts with some SeaFoam or PBBlaster overnight. It will make a huge ass difference.

Glad you got it all handled!

Wasn't the threads that had rusted... just the heads were toast.

 

[toyo]

Wasn't the threads that had rusted... just the heads were toast.

Yes, but you have friction between the bolt head and the coil as well as the threads. If these are "lubed" per say, the less force you will need to put on the head, which means less damage.

 

[Brutalguyracing]

op do you know the pitch and size of the bolts
mine are rusted as well....
not as bad as yours i dont think but they look like crap
i might want to grab some today before i attempt the swap

 

[toyo]

6 mm diameter - 1 mm pitch

If you want to take one with you there is a boat load of 10MM bolts under the hood. Just remove one and take it with you to the store. I believe the length you need a just a tad under an inch. I'm going by memory on the length....

 

[NuclearN8]

M6-1.00 x 25mm flange bolts

 

[AJColorado]

op do you know the pitch and size of the bolts
mine are rusted as well....
not as bad as yours i dont think but they look like crap
i might want to grab some today before i attempt the swap

I actually looked up the part number and ordered them from Toyota.

 

[DiskDoctr]

M6-1.00 x 25mm flange bolts

Are these the same size on 2004 (4th Gen) 4.7L V8?

Ironically, I just asked this question before finding this thread

 

[Brutalguyracing]

I actually looked up the part number and ordered them from Toyota.

where are you getting the part #'s from
id like to order some new bolts as well for other things

M6-1.00 x 25mm flange bolts

ty