How To: Spark Plug Change (1 GR-FE)

Very well... Thanks guys!

 

The srevice department will recomend either Denzo or NGK but of course they only sell their Toyota Denzo Plugs. Unlike 99% of people posting on here I have better things to do than replace my plugs ever 30K.
I switched over to NGK Iridium 100K (I believe called platinum lazer-not sure what the lazer does but for .70C more a plug I figured what the heck)) plug from NAPA. The service department had a chart on the wall stating they could be used and I was talking to the serviceman who was suppose to do the 30k plug change intervals on his Sequia SUV. He was happily driving it with 118k NGK Iridiums. I was sold. My truck runs like new still. I spent about $65-$75 for the plugs and my mechanic to do it in 45 minutes. Don't have to think about or again until I hit 172K; doubt I'll even keep the truck that long but that depends on gas prices and maintenance until that time.

Or you can change the plugs 3 times, continue to buy new plugs at the dealer and it seems to take most people 1.5 to 2 hours to change. Lets just call it 6 hours for 90K; buying & changing the plugs 3 times. I still have 10K more miles before I have to change mine, saved 5hours and 15 minutes, plus the cost of rebuying plugs 3X. You do the math. Good luck.

 

I have done this twice now, and am almost to my 90K change. Both times I have not used a torque wrench. I don't own one and have heard that using a cheaper wrench or one that is for 0-80 ft. lbs isn't all that accurate as most wrenches are more accurate in the middle of their range(for a 0-80fl/lbs wrench I guess 25-65ft/lbs would be more spot on than the 15ft/lbs these plugs require). Is this true?

BTW, when I have done this I used the extension to get the plugs finger tight, then turned them 1/4-1/2 turn more or until they felt snug keeping in mind the "15ft.lbs" they require. No problems so far in two changes, but I have wondered what kind of harm could be done by not torquing them enough or too much, besides stripping the heads. I feel that you would have to REALLY have to crank on them to strip them out, it has always felt pretty obvious to me when they were good to go and not to apply any more force.

Is my technique flawed? Obviously a nice T wrench would be better but I would say %99 of the time you have this done at a shop they would not use one, even with access to a good T wrench...

 

finger tight, then turned them 1/4-1/2 turn more or until they felt snug - sounds good 2 me

 

Right.. finger tight and 1/2 a turn. Did mines today with denso and took me 35 min. Saved me $175 from the dealer. Also installed the k&n cold air intake. I couldnt pass up $202 for those and free shipping and no tax. Taco is running very smooth and cant wait for the scangauge to come in the mail.

@Chris.. very true to change them out at the correct intervals as you see how the engine is performing.

@Gary.. Yes, I did the math. Pay little now or more later.

 

Chris thank you so much for the write up. Did this today and it was a breeze. I never would have tried this but the instructions really simplified it for me.

I asked the guy at the parts counter if he knew why Toyota used three Denso's and three NGK's to which he replied that Toyota absolutely does not do that. Further solidifying my plans to never have the dealer work on my truck unless absolutely necessary.

 

Ha! My dealer had a very sensible answer straight away.

dp

 

Well? What was it?

 

Thanks for the great instructions! Took care of mine last week, and discovered that at 83K my previously owned Taco still had the original plugs. Densos weren't too bad, and NGK's were a bit worse.. Passenger side was a breeze, and drivers side wasn't bad other than the front plug (closest to radiator) had zero slack in plug wires and took a great deal of patience (and a quick beer break) to get accomplished.. Ran one tank of gas through and picked up some MPG.

Just dropped in a new AFE air filter today. Thanks for all the info TW members!

 

You guys think that something I need to replace sparkplugs on my 3UR-FE this weekend. Wish me luck.

 

dont ever use the coin gapping tool on modern sparkplugs. it can mess up the prongs and electrode and you would never be able to tell. use a wire gauge to gap the plugs. My old teacher from wyotech couldnt stress that enough and hes been building engines for over 40 years...

 

Coin gappers are only dangerous to precious metal plugs, which really shouldn't be used in the case of the 1GR-FE.

If you're a sucker and use the platinums or iridiums or any of that other overpriced stuff, then yes, you could wear the metal off the electrode tip.

 

"If you're a sucker and use the platinums or iridiums " Aren't iridiums required on the 2.7 ? If so am I still a sucker ?

 

What is the title of this thread?

 

Thank you for this write up. I did this today along with the rest of the 30k service. By far one of the easiest vehicles I have ever worked on. Had an 08 5.7 tundra before my Taco and never wanted to mess with it and was at the dealers mercy for that. Saved a boat load of money, got the satisfaction of doing it myself and knowing it was done right. Thanks again

 

The front plug (farthest away from the firewall) on the driver's side was by far the most difficult to change in my 2005 PreRunner. There is very little room behind the wire harness that goes to the coil, making it very difficult to remove the harness or to re-attach the harness if the coil is still bolted in place. The trick I discovered to deal with this was to first remove the 10 mm bolt holding the coil to the valve cover and then lift the coil up slightly so that you can tip it toward the firewall. This creates a little more room behind the wire harness to make its removal easier. After you change the spark plug, then do everything in reverse and attach the wire harness before you bolt the coil to the valve cover. Otherwise, all of the other wire harnesses can be removed and re-attached with the coil bolted in place. Hope this helps you all. Mike