New Denso Plugs for a 2004 V6 Tacoma!

Today I finally got the time to change out the plugs on my Tacoma with 100,300 miles on her. The strange thing was that the drivers side had Denso iridium plugs while the passengers side had NGK plugs. All the plugs were dual electrode & except for warranty lower ball joints replacement back in 2004, the truck has never been in any shop.

I do all of the maintenance over the years & only take the truck in for tire replacement/repairs/rotating. The truck was bought new by me in 2003 there was no possibility of anyone changing the plugs. This has to be a factory issue, maybe like running out of Denso plugs & substituting NGK?

The original plugs were replaced with Denso platinum dual electrode plugs vs copper or iridium plugs due to costs. If I make it to 150K miles, it will be a miracle as it took 21 years to get this far.

Anyway, has anyone found different plugs in a new truck, not a previously owned truck as the previous owners could have changed the plugs they could reach?

 

If you'd changed at the recommended 30k intervals you'd have found this at the 1st change

Came that way from the factory. Many a thread around about it

 

I have always been under the impression that the first plug change was @ 90K, but I let it go to 100K as I got older. The replaced plugs have a gap of 0.065 on each side of the dual gap & they were still working fine. The new Denso plugs are gapped @ 0.028 & they were all checked before installing them.

It has been stated that if you let them go too long, the spark plug coil pack may be damaged trying to generate voltage to jump 2 spark plugs gap that is excessive.

The copper electrode plugs are supposed to be changed @ the 30k interval & the platinum electrodes are due @ 60k. The iridium states change @ 90k, but that may be just advertising hype.

 

The truck runs fine now after the plugs change & the timing belt is the future project in the que for the Tacoma.

 

Its a wasted spark system. Meaning it sparks twice as much as it should (lazy part on Toyota to save money on 3 more coil packs?) Thats why theres 2 electrodes, to try and reduce wear. I wouldn't wait that long to check or change them. Just a heads up.

 

The "Three and Three" NGK and Denso OEM plugs from the factory are a normal find in a second gen V6. Another clue is a small embossed number on the top spark plug terminal/tip. If they this small number on each of them, they are the actual factory installed OEM plugs that it left with from the factory. I've never heard of anyone coming across factory-installed dual-electrode plugs in the Tacoma.

 

Well, the maintenance schedules I got also said to replace the antifreeze after 90K miles. When I did the replacement, the old antifreeze was as clean as the new. but maybe not as effective. It was replaced last year IIRC.

Anyway, the new platinum plugs are installed correctly, with antiseize & torqued to 14-15 lbs. It took 3 hours to tear it apart & get her all back together in the Florida heat. The heat was a blessing as the mosquitoes & yellow flies stayed away for the most part.

Thanks for the explanation of the system.

I did find a thread on why the cruise control on these trucks sometimes doesn't work, the thread showed what to do, so that will be an added job to complete.

I could take the truck to Toyota & get these things repaired (at highway robbery prices), OR I can come here & read thru the threads on what other owners are doing. This forum is a must for any person who owns a Toyota vehicle & can turn a wrench.

Thanks to all who post problems, repairs & what to do if certain things happen. The Toyota stealership may hate you, but the owners love it.

 

Im not sure if its different on your year truck, but Ive been able to get all my plugs out without having to remove anything. Ive done them several times. I recall the driver side a little tricky but doable.

 

The drivers side required a few steel braces to be removed & a hose or two, but not a big problem. The actual plug boots on the drivers side where hard to get out, but also very effective @ keeping out the dirt. The passengers side required the airfilter container to be loosened & the air duct to be removed to get to all the plugs.

The coil packs power leads plug required a modified pair of pliers I made years ago to remove/replace sights in an AKM. They worked like it was made to do that job only.

After having done this, it was not that hard of a job, just took time for a 70 year old guy.

 

If the plugs you removed were dual electrode plugs, and it sounds like that is the case, then they are not iridium or platinum. Dual electrode plugs are copper and have a 30K maintenance interval.

 

I removed dual electrode plugs, from a truck/engine I bought new in 2003, first owner.

Drivers side..

$18 Denso K16TR11 Spark Plugs, Pack of 4

Denso K16TR11

Passengers side ...NGK R BKR5EK8

Replaced with platinum dual electrode plugs on both sides...

$62 Denso PK16TR11 / 3289

Denso PK16TR11

It is what I researched, bought, installed & am happy with. The only real issue I see, is if the chicoms sold counterfeit cheap plugs & sold them as authentic. There have been instances where this happened & the plugs damaged the engines. I did the research on counterfeit vs authentic & the plugs I bought are authentic.

 

After doing a little more research, the plugs I removed may be copper center electrodes due to the part number, I don't know. The plugs I put back in are platinum due to the part number & the carton which stated that they are platinum center electrode plugs.