When to replace spark plugs and with what?

Well shit on me. I am at 46k and haven't replaced my spark plugs.

 

there's a reason that I learned to work on my own shit... I don't trust anyone with my stuff. Half the time I get it back and it's worse or something else is messed up....

I have a shop who half the guys there are really good and the other half... not so sure about... that I take it to if it's really bad.... but I still hate to take it in.

 

I torqued mine to 18ft/lbs but I'm a overachiever

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Which is why I do my on maintenance work. I've got the free maintenance on my truck and FR-S and I refuse to take it in for "regular" maintenance. I would rather spend the money, keep the receipts, and know it is done correctly.

Time to get to work.

 

I'm sorry but I have to go with 'if it's not misfiring, don't bother'. I see pics at 40k miles and the plugs looks brand new. If you have an OBDII scantool you can check for misfires on each cylinder . . . .

 

That's cool man.... I have to go with the 30K that Toyota recommends. Better safe than sorry and it is cheap insurance to me. Plus... Like I said before... I like wrenching on my truck.

The picture I posted earlier the plugs looked good but they were out of spec. so I'm personally glad I replaced them.



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When I had my 1985 Four Runner, it would get plugs, filters, cap and rotor every 10,000 miles. After buying my 2006 Tacoma I had to ask the dealership several times, "when are you going to replace the plugs"? After owning and working on older model cars, it is amazing to see plugs that look like new after 40,000 miles. The new fuel management systems on cars in general regulate the mixture so well that the plugs never seem to foul...

 

The dealer said I needed to change my plugs again, I'm at 85k, so no problem but they also said I needed to flush the throttle body...anyone else do that and is it easy?

 

That is why it is called preventative maintenance and not absolutely required maintenance. Why wait until you're almost stranded.

 

Couldn't have said it better myself!!!!






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My father inlaw was a mechanic for over forty years what you call a real mechanic. He has told me unless your trick is misfiring until it has a lot of miles. He said thats the way dealerships make money.

 

My grandfather owned his own shop from the time he got out of the war until he was 72. I started working on vehicles from the time I was 14 and worked on them until I was hired on the Fire Dept. I have continued to work on them most of my life. He always preached "preventive maintenance" is the key to keeping things running. If Toyota says that you should change your plugs at 30k miles then that is what I'm going to do. The NGK side was gapped at .047 when they were supposed to be gapped at .040. I'm glad I changed them. If you don't want to that is your business and your truck but they put that there for a reason and I'm pretty sure the $3-$6 dollars a plug is not making them that much money. I change my oil every 5k miles and only use Mobil 1 Syn and I'm sure that we could argue the merits of what brand of oil and the amount of miles you can put on a truck before it "needs" a oil change. I will do what the manufacturer calls for simple as that. JMO





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I suppose with that same way of thinking, that a person shouldn't bother to change the engine oil until a check engine light comes on. If the axles are turning, why bother changing the differential fluid. Really no need for a new air filter if the engine runs. New battery? Sure when the truck no longer starts.

I just may try it that way.

 

Hey! You don't need to get your panties in a wad. You do what you need to do. I just trust my father inlaw. Anything I ask about any vehicle I owned he has has been pretty much been dead on. Who said anything about oil this is about spark plugs.

 

I wear boxers.... I wasn't addressing you, but I guess it still applies.

 

Yeah, it was my truck over 200,000 miles w/ the originals plugs. Last week end, I replace the original rotor & cap distributor, just because it suddenly does not start. It was so worn out. I still run on the original 02 sensors.
Replaced original wheel bearing at 193,500 miles
First time alignment done at 198,000 miles and the mechanic said not bad at all. Honestly, I did not know if he was bs about this or not.
I always change my oil at 3000 miles.
Even before I replace the plugs, it cranked a lot better than my 2002 Sienna and 2012 v6 TRD Sport dclb.
May be because this truck is 99% high way miles. I don't know, but I just want to share this experiences w/ you and not recommend you should do the same things. I will not do this on my new truck .

 

Misunderstanding, but I don't wear panties I wear man under wear . So it doesn't apply to me. Please be aware how you write your post.

 

One of the main reasons I can justify changing the plugs at the recommended intervals is that the gap does increase with wear and that increase causes the spark to travel a longer distance, taking just a fraction of a second longer to fire. The reason it misfires is because of the increased gap. Why would you want to wait for your car to misfire and possibly damage your motor, not saying it always will, but i don't like risking things like that. With that being said I'm sure the engineers at Toyota designed everything to work within spec and im sure there is a range of gap tolerances that are acceptable. I doubt that the gap will always be in the same range at the 30k interval, but thats mainly based on driving habits and how hard you run your motor. just my 2cents...

 

Haha.... Settle down sparky. You started the whole panty thing

I assume Dirt was talking to me? Dunno... but for the record I wear thongs, but I like to turn them around and use them as "nut cutters". Try to get that vision out of your head the rest of the day

Well said^^^

I have to believe that Toyota knows a little more about the specs of their vehicles than I do. If they recommend a spark plug change at 30k intervals then that is exactly what I'm going to do. But once again... I have always been a big proponent of "preventive maintenance". If you guys are comfortable with not doing it that is your business. But I will say one thing. If you were trying to sell me your truck and you told me you haven't changed the spark plugs in over 200k miles I would walk away and never look back. If you have neglected that, what else have you decided wasn't really "needed"?





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No, not at all. Your posts were okay with me. But the nut cutter visual....zoikes!

 

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