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

Denso 3381 K20HR-U11 same PN# for SCed V6?

thinking about goin 2 steps cooler Denso 5346

$12 IKH24 Denso 5346 Spark Plug

IKH24

 

Changed my plugs out tonight for the first time. Should have done it at 30K, but I did it at 45K. The pic below shows what the old plugs looked like. They all had a brown/burnt looking ring around the top of the insulator just above the nut. Has anyone else seen this? Is it normal or does it indicate any problems?

 

Normal, mine were like that and other pics I've seen on this thread are the same.

 

Thanks AgentSmith. Good to know it's normal.

 

Awesome write up Chris. I just changed my plugs for the first time and it took exactly 2 hours. The step-by-step instructions and pictures make it a piece of cake.

A couple of comments from my experience:

1. The 5/8" deep socket I used for the plugs didn't have a rubber bushing insert to hold the plugs for extraction from the well. I put a small rare earth neodymium magnet inside the socket and the plugs came right out.

2. Like a lot of people, I've always used a piece of rubber tubing to start the spark plugs into the hole to prevent cross-threading. This is always frustrating because the plug tends to flop around and it takes some fiddling to get it started. This time, I put a piece of stiff wire (#12 electrical wire) inside the tubing to keep it straight. It worked like a charm and the insertion process was quick and easy.

3. Keep on eye on the spring clamp from the vent hose. I left it on the hose and it was gone when I went to reinstall it. After a couple of anxious minutes, I found it sitting on the valve cover. I suggest taking it off the hose and setting it aside

 

Thanks for the write-up Chris. I changed my plugs out this morning. Afterwards, I took your advice and drove to the beer store

 

40,0000 miles after reading this (and using the info) for my last plug change...it was useful again on todays plug change. Thanks

 

Thanks for the post, changed my plugs on my 2012 with 52K. Plugs looked decent, NGKs were at ~.053 gap densos were more like .043. Only difference with the 2012 is the air intake is a pain to get off because the 2nd bolt is hard to get to, I just moved it while working and left it on.

 

Followed these steps and it took about a hour and a half. Thanks Chris!

 

I have finally decided to do this myself tm morning instead of paying the dealer. I stopped by today and got 6 denso plugs. Does the old rule of always disconnect the battery when doing something like this still apply? Or is it not necessary? I havnt changed plugs since I had a 94 5.0 I always disconnected it then. But was never sure if u actually had to do that.

 

Thanks Chris! Easy day.... But confused as to why one side is NGK and the other Denso. Anyone know why?

33,000 Miles Original plugs. Didnt think it make much difference but I can already tell a huge difference in idle.

 

So changed plugs yesterday and ran great. This morning started and running like shit. Like its misfiring but only when in drive. Not noticeable in neutral or park. Any ideas

 

Did a visual inspection... everythings connected. All vaccum lines good to go. Said fuck it and pulled the plugs to check gaps. All at .041 as I double checked them before putting them in.... except this shit! WTF



Hard to see but the solder/weld on the plug electrode is cracked. Replaced it with a new one and good to go!

 

Finally changed my plugs out today and it was super easy following this write up! Some on the driver side was a little bit of a pain though. The denso's looked much better than the NKG's. the NKG'S were also a lot harder to break loose.

 

Got around to it a few weeks ago (July 23rd)... Bought NGK Iriduim IX or something like that. I honestly can not tell a difference. My plugs were the originals with 89K miles on them (NGK and Denso's).



Gas mileage has been relatively the same (the very high and very low MPG is when I stopped monitoring gas mileage and restarted.)

 

Your old plugs actually look quite good - much better than my original plugs did with similar mileage on the truck. How's the gap on the old plugs? The one in the pic looks a bit over, though hard to tell in pics.

If you didn't disconnect the battery when you changed them out you might not see any difference for a while. Give the computer time to re-learn the engine. If you're looking for MPG gains from maintenance at that mileage, it's worth checking your air filter and throttle body as well as I saw some improvements after cleaning mine out.

 

The gap was pretty big in the old ones, That's the one that looked the worse... I didn't disconnect the battery but gave it a few days to re-adjust (~100 miles) until I started checking the MPG's again. The air filter (TRD 1st gen intake) was cleaned not long ago... How ever, I did run it without the filter cover for a while and put it back on the same time I changed the spark plugs so that might be why it didn't get much if any improvement. I'll take it off and run it for a week starting tomorrow and see if there is any improvement. Never checked the throttle body either...

 

At that mileage you should clean the throttle body and MAFS as well. http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/technical-chat/94203-how-throttle-body-cleaning-2005-v6.html
Make sure you disconnect the battery when you do that. You will see a few miles of the computer being confused after that, but it learns itself again quite quickly.

Haven't a clue about the first gen air filters on a 1GR-FE affecting things, so someone else would have to chime in about that.

 

Oh cool, Looks easy. Thanks i'll do that later today or some time tomorrow