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

Those gaps are about what i had when i changed mine at 46k

 

I just changed my spark plugs for the first time using this write-up on my phone as I went and I must say, I couldn't have done it alone. It took me like Chris suggested - about 4 hours including a trip to the auto parts store, but if I were to change them again I bet I could do it in about an hour. My truck has 105K as of right now and we bought it from the dealer at 58K so I am about 15K overdue for the plugs. Little did I know, the previous owner nor the dealer had changed the plugs, so these Denso and NKG plugs have 105K miles on them!!

As you can see, they were gapped at 0.090 to 0.10 which is way out of spec! Strangely enough, however, my truck ran great and gets awesome mileage with the right driver. Below are pics of the 105K used plugs. Big thanks to Chris for this write-up.

 

Did mine today. Awesome write up. Front driver's side is indeed difficult - tough to unfasten the harness on. Took me 1.6 hours.

 

First picture shows original spark plugs after 41k miles. On left side is Denso and on right side is NKG. Denso plugs were in decent shape.
Second pic shows really nice spark plug socket, it is magnetic and longer so don't need worry it will fall down in spark plug hole. I got this one few years ago for spark plugs replacement on audi. It is perfect for Tacoma too.

 

Some people replace them and put some sort of product on them to prevent that. Squeezing them, they just plain won't come off. I have to pry the clasp up with a small flathead screwdriver.

 

DIY plug change went flawlessly thanks to your post. Saved $170 because of you! Thanks

 

Also did mine yesterday and it went great. Thanks for the write up and tips - made me comfortable in doing this and saved me a boat load of money like jmich above!

 

Be glad our engines are longitudinally mounted. Certain Toyotas with the 2GR-FE transversely mounted need the intake manifold removed to get to the rear bank plugs:

 

I know Hyundai does things like that too.

 

I'm sure this has been covered but forgive me, I searched in the thread and found some talk about it but not a definite answer.

I have a '13 V6 and when I went to O'Rielly the guy looked up the truck and insisted that I needed double platinum. I had seen this thread briefly and told him I thought copper was best and he said "oh, no. you need these. Copper would be no good"

So, I have 6 Autolite double platinum plugs (APP 5325) but I have not put them in yet.

Should I return them and get something else or will they be ok?

Thanks.

.

 

Yes, return them, go to dealer and get OEM Denso copper plugs.

 

Thanks. Will do.

.

 

HELP!!!! I followed the instructions word for word, everything felt great. Now when I go to accelerate the car I get a clunk feeling like it misfired. All coil harnesses went back to the coils because i did one at a time. Please help me I'm afraid to drive it anymore..

 

I checked all the harnesses and they are all snugly onto the coil packs.

 

did you gap the plugs?

are the coils seated properly over the plugs?

It is also possible you got a bunk plug.

 

Hope it works out. Curious to know the outcome.

 

Thanks for all the help, it was great that Chris was able to call me and talk me through some trouble shooting.

I ended up taking the coil pack from the #4 cylinder, and putting it in the #2 cylinder (with a new plug, gapped to .040) in hopes that the #4 cylinder would throw a TC and I would just replace the coil pack. Well that didnt go as planned. The #2 cylinder threw the same code again and I wasn't sure what was going on.

So... I put all the ORIGINAL plugs back in. NGK on the drivers side and Denso on the Pass side. Reset the TC and fired the truck back up. PERFECT!!!!

I can't explain what made this happen but I think I am going to have Toyota change the plugs on the truck and see what they find.

Once again, thank you all for the tremendous amounts of help, this community is one of a kind!!!!

-Zach

 

Start the engine after you replace each plug, then you can figure out which of the new plugs is a bum plug.