3rd Gen Tacoma Spark Plug Replacement.

That’s a lot of work for some spark plugs my Honda was so much easier to work on .. no wonder dealer charges a lot .

 

I’m an idiot and yanked these 3 wires by accident (passenger side) while changing the spark plugs. Am I in over my head or you think I can fix this? Anyone know what these do? I am pretty good with electrical but don’t want to mess anything up working around the engine. Also anyone got the correct order of these?

 

You may be able to get a new connector harness from dealership and just transplant the little plug ends and wire ends if they are broken. From what I remember the wires are bent in such a way and only long enough so you don't need to force it into the spot.
Hopefully that helps.

I'll see if I have any pics from when I did mine

Edit. Here is the only pic I have of that side.

 

Damn. That’s sucks. In the future use a pick like this to help release the clip.

 

I’m a procrastinator, so I didn’t get fire under my ass until today, 66k on the Odo. Which is more like 70k ish with the larger tires. These things were nasty.



Test drive Butt dyno felt smoother power delivery and not so much clacking noise at idle. Maybe I’m dreaming it.
Anyways, good write up @gsingh, thanks for doing that.

 

Just changed out my spark plugs on my 2017 at 59,000 miles. I'm not the most mechanically inclined, but thanks to this write up the process was fairly straight forward! Quick question though. When I pulled out the coil pack from the cylinder on the passenger side closest to the firewall I noticed some oil residue on the rubber boot and up on the plastic housing, also the first picture is the spark plug that came out of that cylinder (it too had oil residue all the way up to the ceramic portion). Is this related to a leaking valve cover gasket? All the other coil packs were clean. Also the other spark plugs had oil on the threads, is this something to be concerned about? Any advice would be appreciated!

 

I had the same. I don't think it's a concern. But maybe something to keep an eye on in future maintenance. For reference, I changed mine after 5 years, ~120 000 km.

 

It could be a leaky valve cover gasket but doesn't look too critical. Was that plug more loose than the others?

 

It was a bit looser than the rest. I was curious because if it is a sign of a leaking valve cover gasket, I could get it warrantied since I'm sitting at 59K right now. Appreciate the help though!

 

You're welcome!


Some folks, esp 2016s and 2017s, have noted a loose plug or two. It is not widespread, but a handful of posts / threads here had folks checking. The loose plugs would come out looking like that with some residue on the coil pack.

No running issues or error codes were seen for the most part.


That is a tough decision for you though. I would say to run it and check it in 10k or so, but that doesn't work for your warranty. Maybe look back at the pics in the loose plug threads to help make a decision?

 

I would guess that rear right one was installed tight enough and you had some blow-by.

Torque the new ones as per manual. (I dont know what that is at the moment)..

You should be fine from here on.

 

It is really light, like 13ft-lb or 13N-m?

2016 Service Manual to the rescue (240mb):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cx5nnlnCzlhI45D1vbBMj1ni983SKdKf/view?usp=sharing

 

After looking at those old plugs I am not changing mine out till around the 80,000 maybe longer.

 

I was thinking of changing between 80-90k, haven't even checked these originals, OD is at just under 57k, actual is around 60k with larger tires.

 

112k and still on the originals. I have replacement plugs just need to find time to actually do it.

 

How long are the coil packs rated for? I replace coil packs with plugs on my 911, cuz it's such a PITA to do the job.

What about plug wires. Any info on upgraded wires or are they all pretty much the same?

 

The coil packs are lifetime. They are not hard to get out. There's just enough space. Budget a little over an hour for all six.

There are no plug wires. That's one of the big benes of coil-on-plug setups.

 

111,827mi

Passenger side done.

middle one was loose enough to get out by hand.

 

And driver side is done, not the worst job ever but def tight. The right tools make all the difference.

all three were tight

 

This made all the difference, not sure if it was already mentioned or not

$16 GEARWRENCH 3/8" Drive 6 Pt. 5/8" x 6" Magnetic Swivel Spark Plug Socket - 80546

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0014ZVSVK/