How To: Replacing Spark Plugs and Wires on 5VZ-FE 3.4 V6

Every 60k.

 

140,000 miles on original factory wires LOL. I've been taking care of the spark plug changes religiously I guess I never thought of changing out the wires also.

OP, thanks for the writeup and the reminder to change the wires. Doing it this weekend I guess !

 

Changed plugs & wire set now runs horrible. Gapped the new plugs, checked wiring order multiple times. It's all right. Feels like it's not running all six. Guess I'll pull them again!! . I did put anti seize on the threads. Regretting that right now. Any other thoughts???

 

It has to be something else. I used anti seize on mine too. What plugs and wires you put on?

 

$6 NGK BKR5EKB-11 NGK Spark Plug Stock # 3967

NGK BKR5EKB-11 plugs w dual grounds & NGK wire set #4412

 

Could you have damaged the wires or coil packs when removing or installing the new wires?

 

Pulled and rechecked gap on all the plugs. Cleaned off excess anti-seize. Checked the primary resistance on the coil packs. All in spec but were on the high side. They were hot. Thinking the wire(s) weren't seated correctly were they attach to the coil. Seems to be doing better. Raining and dark when I finished last night so could not give it a good road test. Got me to work this morning, but not the results I had hoped for.

 

Thanks for this write-up.

I had a shop try to charge me $190 to just replace the plugs. I asked how much for each plug. He said $15. I said no thanks. Likely won't be going back. EVER. I ordered the plugs and wire set from Toyota.

A little bit more expensive here in Canada. $4/plug and $104.00 for the wire set.

 

So my engine power is fine, last week i got 19mpg with my 33" tires. But...i have 60,000 miles atleast on my current spark plugs, which is how long i've had the truck. I assume the lady had them changed when she did the timing belt before i bought it.

So obviously i will replace 6 plugs and the wire set.

Do i need to change out the coil plugs etc or any other crap? or should i just leave it. Obviously i know they are more expensive...top change those out.

 

I know this topic is quite old and also beat like a rented donkey! I recently had the pleasure of seeing this issue first hand a friend of mine with a 96 Tacoma very similar to my own was discussing his engine issues, such as stuttering, terrible gas mileage, bogging and flat spots, and now it started dying after getting off the freeway. I asked him what kind of maintenance he had done in the past and he said plugs and wires, fuel filter, air filter, mass air flow sensor, and the usual oil change is around 3000. All these things seem like they could have Ben one of the solutions for these issues. However since they had all been done I left them alone and decided to go straight for the plugs knowing this issue has plagued many Minds! Keep in mind these plugs were 6k miles on the 5vz. the plugs he put in there were recommended by your local auto parts store as factory OE replacements upgraded platinum plugs, or so they say. the center electrode was completely missing from the entire driver side bank plugs, instead of protruding out of the center ceramic insulator it was recessed more than 3 millimeters. this factory OE plug was complete garbage and I could see immediately that this was going to be an issue. I swapped them out for the NGK dual electrode that I have in my Tacoma. Wam bam! LIKE A BRAND NEW ENGINE AGAIN. She ran top notch immediately & not a single symptom was present. moral of this story manufacturer's suggested parts only..


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Very straight forward. Nice write up!

 

I know this thread is old, but it is a good one. Just though I would add my two cents. If you have recently done your plugs and have a bad wire, and want to make this a little easier on yourself, you can avoid taking off the whole intake boot by only removing the little box on the boot (between MAF and throttle body). This won't allow you to access the #3 plug and coil, but you can access all the wires and roll from there.

Not a huge benefit, probably saves 5 minutes, but if you only need to access the wires, or just the #1 or #5 plugs it makes it just a bit easier.

 

Thanks for the original post, I used your diagram to replace my spark plugs and I did a compression check before.

 

Thanks for the great write up! Did this last night and it all went smoothly, almost made me feel like I knew what I was doing pretty sure this was the first time my 2002 with 150,000 miles had the plugs and wires changed

 

Excellent write up! I am waiting on my parts and plan on doing this this weekend. Have this post printed out and will be super excited to see improvement in my 2001 with 165K miles on ORIGINAL wires/plugs!

Needless to say...it is time. Previous owners didn't do maintenance except oil changes, i swapped out the bad MAF sensor yesterday and saw a huge improvement from my hard idle/shuttering/loud engine noise. Problem isn't resolved completely so hopefully it will be after swapping out the ancient parts for nice shiny new ones.

 

That's the thing I hate about 2nd gens and when the new 3rd gen comes out, can't work on them without a degree at nasa pretty much. So much electronic crap in the way of everything. Luckily though Toyotas don't break down much so no need to worry a whole lot.

 

I did my plugs and wires this past weekend, i also replaced the MAF sensor and my truck is running like new again! Thanks for the fantastic work up!

 

Had a random misfire all of a sudden after driving to work, so bought new plugs and put them in. Still a misfire! So.. my next attempt will be to go buy some wires and see if that helps it out. If not then I guess coils will be getting replaced soon.

Also just to caveat on the story, it did throw a code and it was a misfire in cylinder #2, after the sparks changed out no check engine light but still got that pesky misfire. I will keep all informed cause, why not!

*update*
It was my ignition coil for cylinder #2, ended up replacing all coils anyways and now she runs perfect! Also, cleaned the throttle body while it was all opened up.

 

Hey guys, just a word of advisement. I found this thread because I too was confused on using NGK or Denso plugs. I wound up buying some NGK-R DUAL ground plugs and NGK Wire Set. Using this write up at reference, I also saw that the plug grounds each were .021 distance away from the spark tip. Tisk, tisk, I thought. Why don't these guys at NGK sell pre-gapped plugs for us with these engines. Well, my truck (01 Tacoma PreRunner Double Cab) ran a bit better (I wound up finding I had a loose plug and boot as I was doing this job. Plugs were about 7 years old, single ground Autolites and wires were original... shame shame, not the dual ground plugs Toyota recommends, I left them too long and I deserve a whipping for never changing the wires) I noticed that I had a rougher idle once in a while after replacing the plugs and wires. I researched this issue and found another thread were there was lots of discussion about these NGK DUAL ground plugs. One of the members that was skeptical about no need to gap these plugs called up NGK and NGK told him that YOU DO NOT GAP THESE NGK DUAL GROUND PLUGS. Can I guarantee that to be true? No, I can't. Apparently, the total between the default gap amount on these plugs when added together is .043, which is what is needed for these engines. I cheaped out and re-gapped mine as close to .021-.022 each side and the rougher idle went away but I'll probably have to buy some more new ones soon. Also, the exhaust smells a lot less like unburned gas also since re-gapping. Here's the poop: http://www.yotatech.com/f2/spark-plug-question-186032/ Before doing this, I removed, deep cleaned, and changed gaskets on the Throttle Body and the Idle Air Control. I also adjusted my Transmission and Throttle cables to remove slack. My truck performs better and should be more efficient now with all this recent work.

 

Follow Up - Update to my last post (see one up) - So I bought the dual ground electrode NGK's correct for my 01 Tacoma V6 3.4 PreRunner. I followed this thread, gapped from .021 to .043. Truck didn't run great, found that YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO GAP THE NGK DUAL GROUND ELECTRODE PLUGS for this application. Regapped them back down to .021 each side, truck didn't run great. Mind you, I also installed brand new NGK Plug Wires. Coils all are firing as well. Went to the TOYOTA DEALER, bought some plugs from them. They only had DENSO'S part #

$18 K16TR11 Spark Plugs, Pack of 4

K16TR11 (standard oem). The gap on the new Denso's was .025 +/- each side....?????.... WTF? The NGK's I ignorantly gapped were correct - part

$6 NGK BKR5EKB-11 NGK Spark Plug Stock # 3967

NGK BKR5EKB-11, set at default .021. (Also everything I've read states the correct factory reccomended gap should be .044, not .043 as stated in the original post) Why would the correct dealership plug be set at .025 each side and the correct NGK plug be set at .021 each side? The guy at the dealership said "Don't gap these, they are ready to be installed" and the guy from the other forum called NGK and they told him the same thing for the NGK BKR5EKB-11. Very confusing!

Anyway, I think I put too much anti seize on because the truck is misfiring with the new Toyota Dealership Denso plugs. I'm taking the plugs out right now, cleaning them, then re-installing.