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Can anyone tell me what's going on with these spark plugs?

Discussion in '2nd Gen. Tacomas (2005-2015)' started by devldogs55, Oct 21, 2012.

  1. Oct 21, 2012 at 4:19 PM
    #1
    devldogs55

    devldogs55 [OP] Member

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    Well I did a bit of a tune-up today and changing the spark plugs was on the list. It's on a 2007 Tacoma V6 4x4.

    Here's a couple of the plugs I pulled out. All plugs looked like the first two pictures, but the driver's side plug closest to the rear of the truck (don't know the # of the cylinder) was a little wet. It was the only one that was wet though.

    Plugs likely hadn't been changed EVER. They were the typical Denso on one side and NGK on the other which I've only ever seen done by the factory, and the truck has about 80k miles on it. My guess is those plugs have 80k miles on them as well.

    Also it's "interesting" to note that all of the old plugs were eroded away so much that the gap was over .060 on all of them. One was as much as .075 !
    No wonder my mileage was so bad!:mad:

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    And the wet one
    [​IMG]
     
  2. Oct 21, 2012 at 4:22 PM
    #2
    98tacoma27

    98tacoma27 is going full "SANDWICH" Moderator

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    Some stuff. Not a lot, just some.
    Looks like normal wear. Is that oil on the bottom one? Smell like gas?

    [​IMG]
     
  3. Oct 21, 2012 at 4:39 PM
    #3
    dalesrn

    dalesrn Tacoma TSS

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  4. Oct 21, 2012 at 4:50 PM
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    badger

    badger Well-Known Member

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    Was the oily plug loose? I've found 2 things. First, plugs in these trucks and some other vehicles that I've had can come loose over time. I think it is probably the difference in expansion between the aluminum head and the plug causing that. I've never seen it happen in a cast iron head. Second, the recommended service interval is too long for my taste. I pulled mine last time at 40K instead of 30K because I was driving thousands of highway miles and the ODO racked up before I could get the work done. The erosion at 40K was way more than I expected. None of the plugs were at full torque either. I plan to pull mine at 20K this time, and will probably stick with a 20K service interval.
     
  5. Oct 21, 2012 at 4:57 PM
    #5
    devldogs55

    devldogs55 [OP] Member

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    None of the plugs were lose - and it smells like gasoline. Thanks for that chart too! It'll save me some searching next time.
     
  6. Oct 21, 2012 at 5:40 PM
    #6
    Failure2Comply

    Failure2Comply Old HVACR Tech

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  7. Oct 22, 2012 at 7:21 AM
    #7
    devldogs55

    devldogs55 [OP] Member

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    I cleaned the MAF and the throttle body yesterday (same day as plugs). I basically followed the writeup here on this board to the T.

    Big thanks to genxer36 and chris4x4. Doing either job isn't hard but I've never done it on the 4.0 before. I'm still used to the 3VZE, so having those writeups was awesome.
     
  8. Oct 22, 2012 at 7:28 AM
    #8
    kingston73

    kingston73 Well-Known Member

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    That looks like normal wear for a plug with that many miles on it. That's a LONG time to go without changing them, I'd guess you'll see some pretty noticeable improvements after your new ones.
     
  9. Oct 22, 2012 at 7:48 AM
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    Pugga

    Pugga Pasti-Dip Free 1983 - 2015... It was a good run

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    ^^This is what I'm thinking. The plugs in the V6 are supposed to be changed every 30k miles so considering your truck went more than double the recommended interval, it's not surprising they don't look great. To me, for the number of miles on those plugs, they don't look THAT bad.
     
  10. Oct 22, 2012 at 7:56 AM
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    xJuice

    xJuice My spoon is too Big!

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    Based on what I've gathered over the years (many threads and my own plug changes) the rear most driver side plug seems to consistently be the dirtiest on these engines, so I wouldn't be too concerned about that.
     
  11. Oct 22, 2012 at 8:16 AM
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    chris4x4

    chris4x4 With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine. Moderator

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  12. Oct 22, 2012 at 8:18 AM
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    Delmarva

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