Changing spark plugs, go by miles or time?

Hi all,
Bought my 01 4cyl taco in april this year with 95k miles on it. Got a car fax with it and po had spark plugs replaced @88k miles on 4/2012 by Toyota dealer. I actually called and was able to verify all the service records, frame replacement, etc with the dealer. Truck runs great and starts easy. Was wondering if I should go ahead and replace plugs since they are 4yrs old but only have 7k miles on them? Thoughts? Thanks...

 

Mileage. You can pull them and check the condition and gap but with only 7K you should be fine.

 

Neither.

Until it starts acting up, it's not required.

Wife's '98 has 140,000. Original plugs. It runs fine.

My previous 3.4 had 230,000 on a set of plugs. It ran fine.

 

Running "fine" and running optimal are two different things. Fuel mileage and emissions are two things that will show as plugs age. Did you check the gap of your plugs when you replaced them?

 

Thanks. Think i'll wait then. Changed all fluids except radiator so far. Just getting a good baseline for maintenance.

 

Wife said: "pull & check"





She's always right, just ask her

 

if youre unsure, take your plugs in to be sandblasted clean. then regap and reinstall. done!

 

They still have spark plug cleaning machines? In this age of shitcan and replace I thought they went the way of the dinosaurs.

 

I changed my spark plugs @102k miles and I'd say they were original. The centre electrode was very worn down. Truck still ran great. I didn't notice any difference after I put new plugs in. These 4 cyl aren't exactly a barn burner, I think they'd run the same no matter how much you do to them.

 

Toyota recommends every 15k miles because our engines use wasted spark ignition, causing the plugs to fire twice as normal. I would stick to the recommendation.

If you've ever had a spark plug seize in a head, you'd know it's cheap insurance to replace them

 

Sidenote-the 3.4L calls for dual electrode plugs. I only get my plugs from Toyota cause the parts guys computer at the parts store wanted to sell me single electrode plugs.

 

Anti seize is your friend when putting in new plugs.

 

my parts store still has a bag of the cleaning sand laying around and i think my local community college still has one of those for educational purposes. but throwing them in blast cabinets will probably be more effective.

 

I changed the plugs in my 3.4L at 50,000 miles. Didn't notice any difference in the way it ran. Same story for a 1987 2.7L Toyota truck.

I also had a 1982 Honda motorcycle with a 750 cc V6 engine. I changed those plugs every 4,000 or 5,000 miles and definitely noticed a positive difference in performance. Same for a 1985 BMW (800 cc engine). Every 4,000 miles it received a new set. Also noticed a positive difference in the way it ran.

Go figger...

 

I don't ever change them unless its idling rough, if it idles smoothly then they are fine

 

Im super anal. I replace every 10k miles. They aren't that expensive and they give me peace of mind.

I wanted to change the ones in my IS300 but damn they are hard to get to.....I'll just leave those till she starts acting up...lol

 

How often do you guys change the spark plug wires? I just changed my plugs and not the wires. They seemed fine just curious what you all do.

 

?? What wires ??

 

The 3.4l has wires. Not sure when to replace them though.

 

I go by the moon phases.