PSA: Check your spark plugs

It's not so bad. 70k. I don't know how you got the last drivers side plug closest to the fire wall. I couldn't get to that bracket that held the little heat pad off.

 

this is what the cobra guys used to do too. The car came with the iridiums and we would swap them out for the NGK copper. They were $25 so I did them every other oil change.

 

Nice! I do not. I have been trying to find a need for these, but nothing yet:

 

Nah, it's become a relatively general accepted truth for the boosted dudes now that we are deep into the modding waters. 20K is the general accepted maximum we run ours before pulling a plug to inspect to replace them. That is with Iridiums.

The newest and greatest out there is Ruthenium PSPE square projected tips. I recently switched over to them and these plugs really do rock and are supposed to in theory cause a larger flame kernal resulting in a more complete burn which as a direct effect may result in plugs becoming less fouled. I have observed a much less notable knock factor with these over Iridiums and a much smoother idle as well. Things just seem much happier, but boost is an odd animal which causes pressures in the combustion chamber not previously predetermined, so things must be set up differently. NA engines may benefit from DFE electrode tipped Rutheniums but I can't speak for them.

Obviously you should always ensure that air fuel ratios are right under all load circumstances prior to running brand new plugs based off the condition of your previous ones, but assuming that's all okay swap and go. There's really just no other way around it, even for us with V6s.

 

Here is another PSA

I almost destroyed the engine in our Rav4 because I bought counterfeit Denso plugs off ebay without realizing it. Here are the pics I posted on the Tundra forum. Look at the electrode.

 

That pad was held on by that one nut? Once the nut was off, the foam wiggled out. But yeah, that was the worst one.

I was surprised how there was just enough room to get the packs out on the left side and get a socket and extensions down the hole without using a wobble.

Nice! It made sense to me.

 

Considering what is posted on TW, I have Wednesday Taco. I did have knock on the stock tune, but it was lessened and eventually went away with OVT. The plugs all looked great and my only concern was the dry threads.

We'll see what the future brings.

I do love turbos, but SFOB is rocking it right now.

 

Whoa.

You know, as cheap as plugs are, it's best to spend the extra $4 you would save by going online and buying from your local supply chain or mom and pops auto parts store. They'll get you the real stuff every time.

 

Say that again. I'm going to go prematurely gray thanks to TW

 

I actually had knock on my OE tune myself when I was NA. That was a long time ago and there were other factors in play like my failing fuel pump which happened before 50K. The knock continued until I got my TRD tune for my supercharger. Good old Toyota and their junk tunes. Lol.

Here is some verbiage on the Rutheniums. I'd like to see which of the 3rd gen dudes on here will be the first to run them and report back on what their experience with them is. Since they are DI, there may be some great benefits in switching over.

 

It probably won't be me as I am having good luck and performance with the stock double iridiums. I just started trying iridiums in my bike. Folks said that they performed better and didn't need swapped every 6k. I'm heading toward 18k now and am not feeling the longevity. I will probably switch back to coppers.

The stock knock is definitely tune related. We haven't heard much about the 2nd Gen tune being odd. That is interesting info.

 

It's the later gen 2nd gens where the quality started to decline. 2012-2015. The quality really seemed to be declination evident on the 2015's for some reason.

 

Wow. I don't venture into the 2nd Gen section much. I did test drive a 2007 4.0l and a 2009 2.7l. They both had only about 140k and stood up well. Mine is doing great, but I'm only at 35k. A couple minor issues, but nothing worthy of a warranty visit yet.

Thanks for the real world take!

 

Is this happening to both the 4 cyl. and 6 cyl.?

 

I would not expect it on the 2.7l. This is just starting to get posted for the 3.5l as folks are getting to the plug replacement mileage and the few that do their own wrenching. A dealer shop would never tell you about this issue.

Average mileage is around 12k to 20k per year.

 

I just looked these up and how they separate, that’s craziness, who would devise such a convoluted design

 

Does make you wonder, what other simple tasks are shortcuts being taken on at the assembly plant?

 

Surprised there wasn't a compression leak and throw a code.

So does there seem to be any pattern to this? Year, model, build date, factory?

 

It’s pretty easy, in fact I’ve had more problems with drivers/most front plug than the back one. The back one I removed top bolt from the bracket and loosened the bottom one, this allowed me to get it out of the way. Once that was done, I removed insulation pad, it was held by 10mm bolt, it came out no problems. Once that was done, removing coil/plug was easy.

 

Surprised too. I mean if my logic is correct, there would be little to no compression in that cylinder. Truck seemed to have been running ok, no codes ever, misfires or rough idle. Glad I caught it though.
I’ve got 17 DCLB Sport. I blame skewp on this, always causing problems