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

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Going to do mine tomorrow at 48,000 which I believe will be the first time. Anybody know the inside diameter the hose needs to be to start the plugs back in.

 

Just did my 90,000 maintenance this past weekend. The engine feels like it runs better with some fresh plugs in. The gaps on the old plugs were nearing .048 so every 30,000 is a good idea to change them.

 

Thanks for this great write up Chris! When I first bought my truck this was one of the 1st threads I saw and it was intimidating. I completed the job today in a hour and 45 minutes and didn't have any problems.

Here's the plugs as they came out of the truck with 48,400 miles, they are the originals.

 

Holy crap, 200k on the original plugs!?! I changed them yesterday and it had the typical Denso/NGK setup and the gaps were all off the charts on my gapper. Looked like about twice what they should be and the electrodes were all worn down to a nub. Fairly simple and straightforward procedure thanks to this wright-up. She's a little easier to start and runs a bit smoother now. I can't wait to see what else the previous owner neglected.

 

just changed mine out yesterday (105K) .
solved a couple of problems...frequent auto trans up/dn shifting around 30 to 40 mph and normal lack of power stuff.

took about an hour..biggest pain was the front driver elec clip on the coil.
barely enough room to slide it off. had to kind of rotate the coil and slide clip off.
had to put it on the same way

 

it had been so long since i had changed any plugs on any vehicle that i learned the hard way on the first plug ...... TAPE THE SOCKET TO THE EXTENSION!!!!!!

 

That was one thing I was really careful about. I figured dropping something into the valve cover could turn it into a several hour job.

 

I'm going to change mine for the second time this weekend. This time though, I plan to clean the throttle body too while I have the air box out of the way. Also I am going to start with the driver side plugs so the hard stuff is done first Thanks again for the writeup.

 

Socket Extension that lock are a God-send.

 

Who offers these? I have all craftsmen tools (I am not a professional mechanic, but a locking extension would be great)! Do they also lock onto the spark plug socket? That is where I run into problems sometimes...I tighten the spark plug and the extension comes and the socket stays in the hole...

 

Mine are from Sears.

There is a small plastic knob you slide to lock on the socket. I have two 3" and one 6" that covers everything

Let me go find a link. here..similar to mine. looks like Craftman doesnt sell mine. i've heard the collar ones are not as good. so careful, plus the collar takes up precious real estate in tight spaces, and hooks on things. my knob is more flushed than these pictured.

http://www.sears.com/gearwrench-3-p...p-00992808000P?prdNo=2&blockNo=2&blockType=G2

 

Wow - many thanks. I am going to pick up a set of these extensions before I change my plugs next...I didn't even know these existed!

 

and all the lock/tape has to do is over power the grip on the head of the plug.

 

Just did mine and my girlfriends focus. Never changed spark plugs before. Tacoma took a little over an hour and about 20mins for the focus. Her plugs were right on top and no hoses or anything to move. Thanks Chris!

 

Agree!

On my old vintage car, the tape complicated the job. I have to insert tool thru a hole. Easier with the slimmer locking extensions.

Besides I hated cleaning off tape residue. I have crap tape. Very tacky.

 

OP Thanks for this post, I followed your instructions, everything came out very easy.!

 

Finally did this today. Had a friend help - took about an hour. Truck seems to run very smoothy now - not just my imagination. The old plugs were very worn, so had obviously gone far, far beyond the 30K interval - potentially even original, but there are 150K miles on the truck, so that probaby would have been even worse. As is, the electrodes were worn at angles and all had different gaps - I did not take pictures though...should have I realize now. Could this have a positive effect on my gas mileage as well? I hope so. Thank you for this thread. I did not realize that the plugs were a regular maintenance item on this truck until I read it here.

 

Since I've replaced my original plugs on 11/3 with 48,000 miles on them I've lost about a gallon per mile. It's not a huge loss but I would have expected to maintain my old mileage or see an improvement. The new plugs were all densos were gapped at .041 the old plugs were gapped .047-.049 on the densos and the other plugs were .051-.054. I recently changed the air cleaner, cleaned the mas air, and the throttle body.

Anyone have any ideas?

 

SUB'D