PSA: Always double-check your vehicle

Just a friendly reminder to check everything on your vehicle, and don’t just believe what someone else says.

I had some spare time today, so I replaced my spark plugs with OEM Densos all around (2nd Gen V6 at 111k miles). I was told the dealership replaced them before I bought the truck, but these look pretty bad. Factory spec for the gap is .039-.042 ......these were averaging .071 My guess is that these were the originals, and the stealership didn’t change crap!






And before I get flamed for using calipers instead of a spark plug gap tool, the calipers is all I have at the moment of writing this; and yes, I used a spark plug gap tool to pre-gap the new plugs as soon as they showed up in the mail.

 

Interesting, thanks for the heads-up. I purchased the Genuine Toyota plugs. They’re already in the truck so I can’t look at them, but the fit and finish looked like the OEM. And I remember the terminals being dull, and not glossy like the fakes in that article.

 

the factory copper spark plugs are recommend to be replaced every 30k miles because the copper wears faster but perform better. If you want to know if they were factory or not look at the spark plugs. From the factory one cylinder head was installed with denso plugs and the opposite cylinder head was installed with ngk, i believe because they were produced in different plants but either way that is the true tell if they are original or not.

 

He's got multiple points there. ^^

Besides just because they look nasty doesn't mean they have not been replaced, what if the vehicle is running overly rich or lean? It will foul out the plugs much quicker than if you were running correctly. These are just factors you have to take into account before accusing someone of not replacing things.

 

This is the other reason I’m guessing they were original, and why I said I replaced them with Densos “all around.” The passenger cylinders were Densos and the driver cylinders were NGKs. I doubt the dealership would pay attention to that minor detail, but I could be wrong.

I did check for that. The plugs were a nice “paper bag” tan, but the cores were really worn down. I’ve changed copper plugs at 50k miles before that weren’t THAT worn down. Also, my VTX is carbureted, so I pay very close attention to the color of my plugs because they tell me if I’m running too lean or too rich.

 

A small sidenote that is not of huge importance but should be paid attention to if absolute quality is essential is that not only is NGK cheaper than Denso brand, but it is of higher quality than Denso when it comes to use of materials and overall build quality. Just something I have observed when doing my endless due diligence on spark plugs and learning more about them.

As for your plugs it is possible they got done at a dealer that really is that much of a stickler about making sure that the parts that go back in were exactly the ones that came out. In this case half NGK half Denso.

 

Yep then its pretty same to say they were never replaced. Even though the dealer told have told you they replaced it im sure they dont have any work order on file for it then, so even if you went and complained you would look like you were making it up. If they told you they did another work on it, you might want to go to the service department and ask for all the work order repairs on file for your vehicle.

 

Did they come out pretty easy? I'm at 40k so it's time. Did you pull them engine warm or cold?