Why not use 100k mile plugs to replace the 30k mile plugs in the V6?

Threxx~

New member
I see a lot of people here say they change their V6 4runner's spark plugs every 30k miles. I realize that the plugs from the factory are 30k. But why aren't you guys changing them out to 100k mile plugs? I replaced mine with 100k mile plugs and it seems to be doing well. Is there some reason why I'd still need to change them at 30k miles?

I understand the 4runner maintenance manual says they should be changed every 30k for the emissions warranty to remain, but I took this to assume they meant when 30k mile plugs were used. For legal purposes they have to assume you'll continue to use factory spec plugs, because that's what the 4runner's emissions, etc were rated with.

Am I wrong?
 
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I see a lot of people here say they change their V6 4runner's spark plugs every 30k miles. I realize that the plugs from the factory are 30k. But why aren't you guys changing them out to 100k mile plugs? I replaced mine with 100k mile plugs and it seems to be doing well. Is there some reason why I'd still need to change them at 30k miles?

I understand the 4runner maintenance manual says they should be changed every 30k for the emissions warranty to remain, but I took this to assume they meant when 30k mile plugs were used. For legal purposes they have to assume you'll continue to use factory spec plugs, because that's what the 4runner's emissions, etc were rated with.

Am I wrong?

What manufacturer claims their plugs are good for 100K? I installed Denso Iridiums this past weekend and there is nothing on their website about their lifetime.

Please quote a source, not here-say please.

Bob
 
I see a lot of people here say they change their V6 4runner's spark plugs every 30k miles. I realize that the plugs from the factory are 30k. But why aren't you guys changing them out to 100k mile plugs? I replaced mine with 100k mile plugs and it seems to be doing well. Is there some reason why I'd still need to change them at 30k miles?

I understand the 4runner maintenance manual says they should be changed every 30k for the emissions warranty to remain, but I took this to assume they meant when 30k mile plugs were used. For legal purposes they have to assume you'll continue to use factory spec plugs, because that's what the 4runner's emissions, etc were rated with.

Am I wrong?

Exactly, many do use the Iridiums for the V6 with good results.

Threxx's point is taken too. The plug manufacturer doesn't specify a mileage but using deductive reasoning I come up with a long interval in the 100k mi range is correct for an Iridium plug. The car manufacturers that install this technology plug generaly claim 100k interval. There's nothing magic about a 1GRFE that would cause it to 'consume' an Irridium plug any faster than any other engine.


:cheers:
 
Personal opinion, iridium plugs suck.i did an experiment with my wife and her 02 celica gt manual tranny. I had been running the platinum plus 4's against what the manual said and they made horsepower. One night i put iridiums in and didnt tell her. The next day she came home and said " why have i been stalling out all day? Feels like my car has no power." i said i'll fix it. I replaced with plus 4's and she said wow the difference. I am also curious what the best plugs are for the v6 in an 07 sport.
 
What manufacturer claims their plugs are good for 100K? I installed Denso Iridiums this past weekend and there is nothing on their website about their lifetime.

Please quote a source, not here-say please.

Bob

Denso are good for120k on the V8. Have been since '98.
 
Personal opinion, iridium plugs suck.i did an experiment with my wife and her 02 celica gt manual tranny. I had been running the platinum plus 4's against what the manual said and they made horsepower. One night i put iridiums in and didnt tell her. The next day she came home and said " why have i been stalling out all day? Feels like my car has no power." i said i'll fix it. I replaced with plus 4's and she said wow the difference. I am also curious what the best plugs are for the v6 in an 07 sport.

Iridiums make the V8 smooth as butter.
 
What manufacturer claims their plugs are good for 100K? I installed Denso Iridiums this past weekend and there is nothing on their website about their lifetime.

Please quote a source, not here-say please.

Bob

There's no questioning the fact that iridium plugs are designed for higher mileage than non-iridium plugs. Basically every iridium plug box or description you read is going to mention that. However for liability reasons, no plug manufacturer is going to specify a mileage. That way if you drive a 400k mile hoopty on its last leg that's running incredibly rich and you foul your plugs in 10k miles... they're not held liable.

But with that said, virtual any time a car manufacturer puts iridium plugs in their vehicle, they list the plug interval in the range of 90 to 120k miles.

As mentioned, deductive reasoning should help guide you through the rest.

I don't know if that's hearsay to you since it's not flat out spelled out on the plug manufacturer website, but it's good enough for me to consider them '100k mile plugs'. It seems they're regarded similarly on most other forums I visit.

However I would not at all fault anyone for checking their plugs every 15-30k miles. And that's really exactly why I made this thread. I want to know if anyone has run iridium plugs in the V6, and if so, when they found the plugs to require replacement. Maybe (doubtful, though) the V6 just likes to eat spark plugs of any variety.

I think what's more likely is Toyota found the standard plug type or interval gave them an advantage in emissions ratings.

Personal opinion, iridium plugs suck.i did an experiment with my wife and her 02 celica gt manual tranny. I had been running the platinum plus 4's against what the manual said and they made horsepower. One night i put iridiums in and didnt tell her. The next day she came home and said " why have i been stalling out all day? Feels like my car has no power." i said i'll fix it. I replaced with plus 4's and she said wow the difference. I am also curious what the best plugs are for the v6 in an 07 sport.

Iridiums alone wouldn't cause an engine to stall. Maybe one wasn't fully threaded into place or the plug gap was not ideal. Granted I used to have a 100k mile 95 Maxima that was very 'picky' about the brand and model of plug installed, even if the plug gap was otherwise identical. So it may just be one of those circumstances.
 
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Interestingly, I just checked the 2010 4Runner V6 and it has a 120,000 mile plug interval listed for the V6 and 4-cyl. I'll bet they switched to iridium plugs.
 
Personal opinion, iridium plugs suck.i did an experiment with my wife and her 02 celica gt manual tranny. I had been running the platinum plus 4's against what the manual said and they made horsepower. One night i put iridiums in and didnt tell her. The next day she came home and said " why have i been stalling out all day? Feels like my car has no power." i said i'll fix it. I replaced with plus 4's and she said wow the difference. I am also curious what the best plugs are for the v6 in an 07 sport.

Sounds like something else is the problem here. Maybe a bad plug, bad gap, or pilot error during the installation. I replaced mine and it running perfectly. I cannot say I notice a difference, but my originals were in decent shape before replacing anyway.
 
very confident that the plugs were all the way in and the gaps were perfect. they were the original plugs that i changed at 20000 miles and reinstalled at about 22000 for the test and wife said she had to use more pedal to get it to move. i may be wrong but that was my 1 experience with iridium.
 
Until recently I had no idea Toyota "recommends" changing out the spark plugs at 30,000. I'm at 89,000 miles on my 05 V6 with the original spark plugs. Still getting 19-20 combines MPGs.

Is it just me or is that necessary? Emissions warranty be dammned!
 
I might be totally off here, but my neighbor down the street used to be a Toyota mechanic and I think he told me once after he replaced my 4Runner plugs that the reason the V6 doesn't use 100K plugs like the V8 had something to do with engine heat. Again, I didn't get into a detailed discussion with him over it, but I seem to recall him saying something like that. Not sure if it makes sense...
 
Until recently I had no idea Toyota "recommends" changing out the spark plugs at 30,000. I'm at 89,000 miles on my 05 V6 with the original spark plugs. Still getting 19-20 combines MPGs.

Is it just me or is that necessary? Emissions warranty be dammned!

ha.. same here. Have an 08, V6 with 72k, and it gets 20-23 in city. (I drive it very conservatively though.. no hotdogging unless I got icecream to get home. :driving:)
 
Here is an article about spark plugs. hope this makes things make sense. I got this from Cars Direct

"Many people come to the point where they are forced to change the spark plugs on their vehicle and face a difficult decision; copper spark plugs or those of another type? You can find spark plugs in a variety of different metal combinations, including aluminum spark plugs, iridium plugs, platinum and more. Copper core spark plugs are still the most commonly seen, however, and many people agree that they are the best. However, the advertising that accompanies the different types of spark plugs is potentially misleading, so it's important to recognize the real difference between the spark plugs in question. In order to do that, it's necessary to first learn about what the metal in the spark plug is used for.

Purpose of the Metal
The metal in a spark plug serves a single basic purpose: to channel the electric energy from the plug wire through the spark plug so that it can be forced to the engine block in the form of a spark. Therefore, any metal that conducts electricity at all could potentially be used for a spark plug. The metal should also not get too hot; one of the main problems with some metals is that they overheat quickly, causing the electric charge itself to be compromised and the spark plug to not operate as smoothly.

Copper Spark Plugs
Copper spark plugs are generally considered to have the best performance of any spark plug type. This is potentially different from what advertising companies suggest, but the other metals are, unfortunately, not as conductive in general as copper is. Platinum and iridium plugs are more likely to overheat, which causes damage to the plug components and can compromise the delivery of the spark to the engine block.

Platinum and Iridium Plugs
Platinum and Iridium plugs perform at a lower level than copper spark plugs, because they are less conductive and they tend to overheat. However, the overall longevity of these two types of metal is better than copper plugs. In reality, copper has the best performance of all three and the worst longevity. Platinum has good longevity and the worst performance. Iridium has good longevity and a performance that is decent, which is why iridium plugs tend to be more expensive than any other type. Still, the difference between these plugs in terms of overall quality is minimal, as there is a trade off for each.

Most copper plugs need to be changed every 20,000 miles or so. Platinum and iridium plugs can often go for twice that before they require changing, but the overall performance will not be as good and you may have to deal with overheating of the plugs. This is potentially not worth the added cost of both platinum and iridium spark plugs, although the decision will depend upon your preference.

If you have any other questions about spark plugs and which are right for your vehicle, consult with a mechanic for more advice."

I give full credit to cars direct for this story and not claiming that I said any of this for copy right issues.

Different engines run at different internal temps when they are going though there cumbustion cycle. The plug goes with the motor and it is always best to use the plug style that came with the motor. The 100k irdiums wont last as long in a V6 becasue they wont fire as hot. I know there are people who know everything on here that will dispute this info so have fun with your theories.
 
What manufacturer claims their plugs are good for 100K? I installed Denso Iridiums this past weekend and there is nothing on their website about their lifetime.

Please quote a source, not here-say please.

Bob

I also installed these plugs and not only could I tell a difference on how my engine ran, but the change time should be a lot longer.
 
Here is an article about spark plugs. hope this makes things make sense. I got this from Cars Direct.

Very good info, thanks for sharing. I have no idea if my plugs have been changed since I bought used at 65k, but it has all OEM parts on wear and repair items, must have been dealer maintained.
 
Generally speaking platinum can give you the longest life plug and copper, the shortest but I disagree with some of the other points that the article has.

Conductivity has little to do with making Cu better than Pt or Ir as you can design an ignition system to work with whatever resistance you want(within reason). Also, the "temperature" (usually described as "heat range") of the plug is something that the plug is designed with to match the operating environment and is specific to each engine, compression ratio, volumetric efficiency of the cylinder, fuel, tune, and on and on. If a plug is too "hot" then it doesn't conduct enough heat out of the plug and can cause preignition. If the plug is too "cold" then it conducts too much heat out of the plug and can cause misfiring and will foul in time.

Simply stated I could install a Cu plug that's too hot for my setup and I could install a Pt plug that's too cold. I totally disagree with the article's take on the theory that "Platinum and Iridium plugs perform at a lower level than copper spark plugs, because they are less conductive and they tend to overheat."

NOBODY I know uses copper plugs in their Civic Si's. Everyone I know uses NGK or Denso iridium plugs with excellent results and the little K20Z3 motor sees much more heat than the our 4Runners even in it's totally unmodified form, let alone when guys push over 400 hp out of that engine.
 

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