30K Service - Spark Plugs?

Still WAAYY easier than a lot of cars out today... takes about an hour going slow and steady for our trucks. Now my wife's Impala, jeez... I may just take that in to have a shop do it. Remove plenum, disconnect motor mount, rotate engine forward slightly with a strap... ugh

 

+1

What he said and use a torque wrench.

 

For shizzle????? What kind of fooked up desing is that? More money for the shop when is out of warranty? Thanks for sharing this. Now I will avoid that model...hell, I do not buy more American crap after my wife's GMC. POS
It forced us to buy a 2011 HL

 

Thanks to all who replied to my post, looks like it would be best to replace them myself.

 

Yeah I knocked mine out in 30min, its cake just take your time!

The 15lbs of torque felt like wayyy to much at first, the 2nd didnt feel as bed but the 3-6 felt like it was just right. So dont worry.

 

Well if you guys are changing them at 30k miles then I best get mine changed FAST cause I'll have 130k miles on my plugs my next oil change.

 

Its what the service says every 30k

 

I just got the factory Denso's. This weekend is gonna be fun. ULK and now plugs too...YAHOOThey haven't been changed in 117,789mi. Gonna do the TB and MAF cleaning too. Throttle response and mileage!!

 

Great suggestion, I really wish I had read this before doing my change out. The hardest part of the job was keeping the plug socket on while pulling off the installed new plugs.

Recommended tools:
1. portable drill with phillips tip
2. Air Wrench (saves on knuckles in tight spaces.)
3. Electrical Tape to tape extensions and plug socket, (wish I had thought of that.)
4. Patience.

To get to the 2 center plugs had to remove the Air Filter to Intake Tubing.
2 bolts under the metal canister, 2 bolts for the stand-offs.
2 wire clamps.

 

Just performed a 10 minute fix for the Check Engine Light.....don't know how long it will last but knock on wood. My 03 Toy has 106,000 miles on it, and the engine light would come on and then go off, and finally just stay on. First change of plugs, (that's right 106,000 commuter miles,) because it was time. The plugs took a little longer. I pulled the Mass Air Flow sensor, filled a shot glass with acetone, dunked it for a few seconds, let it dry and put it back in. Reset the check engine light with my odb meter. I live in the foothills so testing is was, let it warm up for 5 minutes, rev it to see if I could hook the check engine light once more, (didn't happen,) then took it for a ride up a steep grade, (no engine light.) I will let it set a hour or two and repeat the test. So far....good results with this 10 minute fix. 2 Phillips head screws and pull straight out. The sensors are well protected from accidentally touching.

 

I changed mine at 29k and 62k and plan on it at 90k, 120k, etc., I don't see anything wrong with spending $30 every 30k miles to keep up on maintenance.

 

Good preventative maintenance never hurt anything.

I just replaced my front 02 sensor, and would love to share how I got to it. There is a small bracket attached to the transmission housing. A number 10 MM box end wrench loosened it and I removed it in a very tight space the rest of the way by fingers.

Once I got that down far enough I pinched that rear of the connector and it detached easily. In my case the two bolts holding the sensor in place came loose without a problem. (I've seen the nightmares others have had with rust.)

My changes at 106,000 ... a new MAF sensor, new plugs, and a front 02 sensor. (Still testing.) The quick fix I mentioned before failed after 15 minutes of drive time. Knocking on wood this fixes the check engine light warning. So far so good.

 

What did you need an air wrench and an electric drill for?!?!

It took me 30 minutes with basic hand tools, no power or air tools required.

You also forgot a torque wrench.

 

thinking of doing mine today after work..

this would be my second go around..i have about 40k on this set..and a long drive coming up.

i dont remember having that hard of a time last time..less than one hours..i dont remember using anti-seize. i typically dont, and never have any issues. with the anti seize, your torque values are probably a tad off...probably slightly over torqued. jus sayin.

my toyota guy told me not to use any..but i will this time. i have a lifetime supply..that jar never goes any lower..like it is magic.

 

oh,,just go out and buy a locking extension..

it is way better than taping your socket onto your non locking unit.

 

30k is pretty standard for copper plugs and it's a good idea. People have gotten pretty complacent with maintenance these days with 100k mile tune up intervals and 10k mile oil changes when you have factory platinum plugs and synthetic oil. It's not like the 'good old days' where you had to be under the hood every 5-10k to do plugs and wires, points, and a carb adjustment. Still and all the longer intervals can create other problems like the plugs that fuse into the heads from corrosion and pull the aluminium threads out of the heads when you do finally need to change them after 5+ years.

If you're doing maintenance at the suggested interval you shouldn't notice any performance change, that's the idea. It just stays running good all the time. Another thing to consider is even if it seems to be running good but you're way past the interval you could be having misfires that you might not notice but are hurting fuel economy and putting raw fuel in the exhaust which is hard on the cat convertor and can burn them out prematurely.

In a stock engine I would just stick with stock plugs and leave the heat range alone. If you're worried about the interval or paying to have it done maybe go to iridium/platinum, but make sure they get some anti-seize and aren't gorilla-torqued so they come out hassle free down the road.

 

Done. Took me an hour. I remove less than the instructions tho. My plugs looked great. Gap was at 45.

 

btw..the torque value feels like alot..i took one back out, and it was about the right "feel"

last time i didnt use a torque wrench (this is my only vehicle you can actually get a TW on it!)..and all my sparkplugs were obviously undertorqued..i also antiseized them this time around.

 

Not necessary but nice to have. Electric drill for the same reason as air wrench. BTW, the front O2 sensor was really all I needed. I'm sure I would have gotten plenty more miles out of the plugs I removed and the Flow Sensor. Titanium plugs are sweet. Toyota is still my preferred mode of transportation.

 

I have always thought the iridiums were the best plugs out there but I may be wrong on that.....I am surprised that toyota doesn't use 100k mile plugs like other manufacturers.