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

My sons truck is a 2002 Tacoma SR5 Prerunner, he stuck it in a water- mud hole and drowned it out, after pulling out it wouldn't crank. His friends told him the starter was bad, after I went and got the truck I pulled the starter off and had it checked and it's fine, but after putting it back on it still does the same thing, makes a loud clank at the starter and flywheel, almost sounds like the flywheel is locked. the oil looks good, and suggestions would be greatly appreciated, thank you in advance...

 

Did he make sure that the cylinders were dry before he tried to start it up??

 

Pull the plugs out and crank it for a few secs.

 

Changing the plugs because of the gap going out of spec is good, but better than that is, making it easier to take the plugs out when you do change them.

Taking factory installed plugs after 100,000 miles could present a problem I would never want to deal with.


Jim

 

I'm sorry but my brain is not processing "TB". All I can come up with is Turbo. Is that what you are talking about? Just wondering if there's something on my 2006 to which I haven't paid proper attention. I don't have a Turbo on it...

 

throttle body

 

^^^^This^^^^

If you've never cleaned yours, you'll be surprised what kind of crap is on there. I took mine off the housing, but left the hoses still hooked up, then sprayed the shit out of it with cleaner and used a ton of Q-Tips. If you do it at the same time you do the plugs, it's easier since you have the air intake mostly out of the way.

Here you go my man....
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/technical-chat/94203-how-throttle-body-cleaning-2005-v6.html

 

64,000 miles - recently bought the truck... replaced as per your guide... SWEET - great easy procedure... just over 1 hour, start to finish... initial test drive seems much smoother running both at idle and at speed.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/277937-1gr-fe-4-0l-motor-misbehaving.html

 

I'm at 76,000 miles and I've had the plugs sitting in my garage for so long. I'm going to finally change mine now too. I've always wondered what would happen to the truck if they never got changed. I figured it'd just start running poorly. I hope I can get a noticable change in performance.

 

AHHHH! Pictures, Pictures, Pictures, I love em! Really helps stoopid people like me in figuring out what's being discussed! Thanks for the reply and the great "reference" (link). Also a big thanks to GenXer36 for the excellent tutorial!

 

Great post I was wondering if this was difficult. The stealership wanted $110.00 to change my plugs. They told me the last 2 plugs were hard to get to.

 

Just make sure you have a 15" extension or two extensions that you can double up. On driver's side bank, the front and rear are a bitch, but not impossible. Take your time, or if you have elf sized hands you should be GTG.

Passenger side bank is a breeze.

 

sub'd for later reference

 

I finally replaced mine today at 76,000. The measurements of the worn plugs from back to front:
Passenger side
.055, .066, .054

Driver side
.071, .071, .071

Pretty worn out. I hope I get some better fuel mileage. Thanks Chris!

 

Worth pointing out that you don't have to remove the Surge Tank Stay or the Intake Hose (Just take off the intake filter housing).

The lower bolt connecting my Surge Tank Stay was rusted on there really freakin' tight, so rather than risk shearing it I managed to get by just fine leaving all that in place. Sure wish the dealership/factory used antiseize when they put the plugs in - not pleasant to take them out without it.

 

I'm debating on trying this. I'm for sure going to do my front/rear diff oil change and transfer case. I always changed the plugs in my 94 5.0 GT but this looks so much more complicated. All the clips and stuff to take off. That and the fact that I don't have a torque wrench never used one before either. I've always been good about not stripping bolts but this would be a more costly fix than a stripped oil drain plug. Any first timers with this modern stuff have any problems ??

 

First props for the op. Follow this thread and you can have a cold one in your hands in 90 minutes.
09 DCSB with 38K and switched them out to NGK iridium IV after experiencing some pinging after going up a tire size (265/70-17 Geolander ATS) Gaps were all between 50 and 60 and plugs looked decent but I notice immediately quicker startinf and smoother acceleration. Big props to OP.

 

I'm used to just a plug wire and a plug, no deeply recessed plugs or coil packs, so I was a little concerned before taking this on. It isn't that bad, Chris 4X4 takes you step by step.

I don't usually need a reason to buy tools, but for this job I sprung for a 5/8 magnetic spark plug extension set

$53 GEARWRENCH 3 Pc. 3/8" Drive 6 Pt. Magnetic Swivel Spark Plug Set - 41740D

http://www.amazon.com/KD-Tools-3-Pi...66&sr=8-4&keywords=spark+plug+socket+magnetic

and I poked around on eBay and found a Sturtevant-Richmont deflecting beam torque wrench from 0-25 ft lbs. for less than $20. My other torque wrench is for up to 250 ft lbs and wouldnt work on this job.

So, for less than the cost of the dealer changing out plugs, I bought my 6 plugs, got two sets of tools and did it myself

 

I used some electrical tape on the spark plug socket and the extension (kept coming off since due to the rubber washers) and it worked great

 

Any issue with changing the plugs when the engine is cold?