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

So on the tools needed list... There were (2) 6" extensions and (1) 3"...

Di you guys find that you needed that 2nd 6"? I am just asking cause otherwise I am all set but dont have the extra 6" extension, and if I need it... I'd really rather pick it up BEFORE starting. lol

 

I'm sure Chris or someone else can answer this better than I can, but I would say yes.
If you really don't feel like buying it, you can try doing it without it. Just make sure you have another car to get you there.

But I found that I needed a longer extension for the driver's side of the engine. Because of all that crap in the way, It made it a lot easier. Hope that helps.

 

Great writeup and pics!

 

I already had the 3" extension and one 6" extension. Instead of gettin another 6" I picked up a 10". Made for alot more different length combinations and also kept me from having 3 extensions linked up at any given time.

BTW... the electrical tape ont he socket wreck is CLUTCH. I'm doin that from now on!

Overall I think it took me about 1.5 hours of on-task time.

 

This is a GREAT post Chris 4x4..really helped me out. They wanted to charge me $250 to do it at the dealer. I said EFF that! Your posting really helped!

 

well chris..you are going to be with me(this thread) on another project. picked up 6 plugs today. perused the previous owner's receipts and found no mention of any shop changing the plugs..EGADS! i'm at 43000 miles. thanks to this thread, i checked.

to late to start tonight. i'll attack it tomorrow afterwork. thanks for laying out all the "gotchas!". i'll report back. oh, same parts counter lady said plugs are pre-gapped. that would be a first.

cliff

 

confirmed! stock plugs on my 43k miles truck. i had the NGK/DENSO mix. none looked to bad, gap was huge tho.

generally PIECE-O-CAKE! took me about an hour, because i didnt really remove anything on the driver's side. i had some swivel sockets, and some long locking extensions. thanks guys. officially, this is the first vehicle i have owned that you can check torque with a torque wrench. nice.

oh, all new plugs were accurately pre-gapped...who would have thunk it!?

again, thanks.

 

i got 29995 miles on my truck but can't do my plugs because of WINTER!!!

what kind of torque wrench are u using?

 

POS craftsman. pretty accurate, but adjusting readings is very notchy.

 

but you just turn it until its snug right?
maybe I should just buy the torque and return it...

 

i gotta do this... awesome write up

 

Just finished replacing my plugs for the first time. I have 56k on my '07 Taco. The old plugs still looked OK. I measured the old ones after I took them out. The Densos seemed to fair better than the NGKs. The gaps on the Densos had burned open to about .046. The Ngks were closer to .050. Also, all of the NGKs had alot of burned whatever on their threads but the Densos did not.

I replaced with the stock Densos. That's what the dealer sold me. They came gapped at .040. I think I'll leave these in till 120k.

Kudos to you Chris for this excellent write up that I followed all the way. The only other thing I found that helped me was when taking off the coil wire connectors on the driver side, I found it handy (basically I was having a hell of a time getting those off) to use two flat blade screw drivers. One to push down on the release and one to pry the connector off.

 

Chris Thank You very much for this tutorial I was come back for the store knowing that I just save some buck`s