Spark Plug Change? Do it...

Just an FYI for anyone thinking of changing the plugs on their 3rd gen Taco.

I finally got around to mine last week. I changed the plugs myself, dealer wanted 2 hours labor. No way...

I put in the stock Toyota Denso iridium plugs, so the same ones that were in it new.

My 2016 TRD Off Road was just shy of 60K miles. It is an automatic transmission but I use the manual mode a lot off road, and for steep downhills in city driving.

It was stinky on startup (fuel exhaust smell), and loud during the warm up. Idle was not that great either. It had a lot of hesitation and delay when downshifting on steep hills. For example, drop it from 4th to 3rd, and it would take a few seconds before it shifted down. This was repeatable every day on the same hills I drive. It has the latest software upgrades for the transmission.

Otherwise, the truck drove fine. I have had it close to 4 years (it's used) and it has never stalled or done anything odd outside of what I noted. Other than that hunting and pecking for gears these are known for.

It has been several days since I changed the plugs, and it has made a huge improvement.

The idle is bang on, steady as a clock.

The truck is quiet now on startup.

The automatic mode upshifts and power are so much better. The acceleration on the highway is a night and day difference.

Most surprising, is that the delay on the manual downshifts is gone. Completely. It switches to the next lower gear as soon as I downshift. That really surprised me.

So yeah, if you are at that point (close to 60K) miles and thinking about it, do it.

I wish I had changed them much earlier. I have changed all of my gear oils, transfer case, transmission fluid, brake fluid, and all much sooner than what the manual recommends. The truck does get driven pretty hard on a lot of offroad trips.

I have also done that for every vehicle I have owned over the last 45 years. I never wait for the mileage or months driven spec to roll over.

On all of my older vehicles, I would change my plugs every 20K miles. If you want your vehicle to last, don't delay on the maintenance. I wish I had changed my plugs at 40K instead of the recommended 60K.

 

Okay.

 

60k seems early for plugs…and certainly not in the service interval.

 

if you have the V6 then that's correct, direct injection is bad for spark plugs life by spraying fuel directly on them especially if you drive frequent short trips the fuel might not get a chance to burn off completely and form carbon deposit on the plugs

 

I did mine at 100k

 

Did you leave the battery connected for the plug change service?

 

I'm curious if you disconnected the battery while changing the plugs?

 

No. This is the 8th vehicle in the past 40 years where I changed the plugs myself. I have never disconnected the battery.

Just did the same on my wifes 2013 RAV4 the other day. It only has 65K miles on it. Also a noticeable improvement in how it drives. Especially a smoother acceleration.

Will be checking my fuel mileage on my next fillup to see if that improved or not.

To the fellow who said 60K is soon, no that is the spec for the third gen 6 cylinder.

I would have done it sooner if I knew there would be so much improvement. I will do my next plug change 45K miles from this point.

 

Yep the manual in the glove box says 60K for spark plugs.

 

so regardless of performance degradation, everyone should just change them every 60k? That seems a little impractical.

 

Could be worse, it was every 30K on the previous generation Tacoma's

 

any good recommendation for a torque wrench that's good around that torque spec? 15 pound feet if I remember correctly for Toyota

 

Put a piece of hose on the plug and use that to get it started threaded. You wont cross thread that way..

Finish with a socket by hand. When it get snug, turn very slow and then feel the crush washer collapse.

Add about 1/4 turn.

 

Have you cleaned the maf sensor too? Never thought it made a huge difference on mine. Never been cleaned for 68000 miles since new . Now I plan to do it after every other oil change . It only takes a few minutes to do.

 

That is good to do also. I had an issue with an older Mazda B4000 that ran poorly, misfiring and pinging. Called for 87 octane, but had to use 92 to fix that.

No shop could find the issue, was like that for several months. I removed the MAF valve, used a bit of electronic cleaner spray on the thin metal filaments, issue was fixed. Went back to 87 octane after with no issues

 

Torque values are least accurate at the far ends of the range for a particular wrench. So use a wrench where your torque value isn’t near the high or low end if possible. If you’re going to torque to spec.

 

Ok I have a 2.7 with 69k. Plugs? Clean MAF? It’s spring a good time to do that sort of thing. Just got the hose out so clay bar, polish,wax time.

 

I do not know if the 2.7 needs plugs at the same 60K mark as the 3.5. Check your owners manual.

Still surprised at the guys who say 60K is too early. If the dealer is doing the work I can see that opinion as they charge a bundle for the work and not all have the cash.

In the last 45 years I have changed plugs on all of my trucks and cars every 15-20K miles. Low cost maintenance that keeps things running. These long waits between service on some newer vehicles is a good way for dealers to make more money on major repairs.

 

I use park tools torque wrenches, meant for bicycles. They are perfect for the lower end torque stuff.

 

I'm sure Toyota accounts for all that when deciding on intervals.