3rd & 4th Generation (1992–1996 & 1997–2001)Toyota Camry Discussion for years: 1992-1996 & 1997-2001
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I've searched around a little bit, but haven't found a great answer. Does anyone know the best way to get at that back bank of spark plugs? Do you have to take the intake plenum off?
^+1 I can be done without taking the intake plenum off. Just make sure you have the above described tools, and make sure you let the car cool down well. Your going to have to climb right under the hood and do some serious contortions and reaching. Have fun!
I should add that I did it myself, before later removing the plenum to replace the rear valve cover gasket.
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Domesticon Prime
93' LE V-6, 303K Km., fully optioned including Leather Interior. ES300 rear discs, twin piston front calipers, Depo Chromes with HID projectors, 17" OZ' summer's, 96 corner lights, MAF, timing, exhaust and intake mods, 2001 Toyota/JBL sound, + more and always more coming.
Last edited by Silent Runner; 04-08-2011 at 11:10 PM.
The Following User Says Thank You to Silent Runner For This Useful Post:
How do y'all get the spark plugs out w/ the intake plenum in place?
That's where a good spark plug socket is your friend. It needs to have a rubber gripper inside that grips the plug firmly. It'll come up stuck inside the socket.
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1992 Camry LE, V6 (3VZ-FE), ABS brakes, 330k miles, dark emerald pearl, owned since new.
1996 Avalon XLS, ABS brakes, moonroof, white, acquired w/ 139k miles, now at 261k.
2001 Yamaha FZ1, Ivan's jet kit, resprung all around, Ohlins in the rear, Race Tech cartridge emulators in the forks, 45k miles.
does anyone have any pictures of this? I just replaced the front 3 plugs no problem, but I'm not 100% sure what I'm looking for to replace the rear 3.
The rear bank looks just like the front bank does, once you've pulled the plastic cover off of it. To be clear. the rear bank has no cover over the valve cover. You just have to reach behind it and feel for the tops of the spark plug connecters, or follow the wires to their source. Its pretty tight in there, so yanking the spark plug tubes out can be a son of a.... Then you take your handy, dandy spark plug socket a with rubber gripper, the right size extension, and battle them out a few clicks/degrees at a time with your rachet. It ain't pretty, but its possible.
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Domesticon Prime
93' LE V-6, 303K Km., fully optioned including Leather Interior. ES300 rear discs, twin piston front calipers, Depo Chromes with HID projectors, 17" OZ' summer's, 96 corner lights, MAF, timing, exhaust and intake mods, 2001 Toyota/JBL sound, + more and always more coming.
Last edited by Silent Runner; 04-13-2011 at 09:27 PM.
I'm not sure if your motor has the PCV valve on the back cover/passenger side, but if it does, then remove the PCV valve and the hose and that gives you a little bit more room to slide your hand back there.
Another thing is that when you loosen the spark plugs, maybe 3 or 4 turns, remove the spark plug socket and extensions, but leave the spark plugs threaded loosely in the holes. Then blow some compressed air in the tube. Anything crud that came loose when you loosened the spark plugs will be in the bottom of the cavity, and when you remove the spark plug all that crud will fall directly into the combustion chamber. Whatever does fall in the combustion chamber will be blown out the exhaust pronto, but might do some damage before it gets spit out the tailpipe.
I started doing the front set today, only to find that the plug wires are all original from '92. I get the feeling getting that back set off is going to be a bear.
Yeah, it's a bear. But it beats taking off the intake plenum. That's what I did the first time.
That reminds me, when I pulled the boot off the rear middle plug that time, the plug wire broke off, leaving a little pigtail of wire stuck on the plug down there. The gol durn plug socket wouldn't drop down far enough to engage the hex on the plug. And the plug well is so deep, I couldn't get a long needle nose plier down there to pluck it off/out. I think I ended up busting the ceramic top of the plug off with a screwdriver & fishing out the chunks with one of those cable-parts-fisher-outer thingys. Talk about a PITA!!! An extra deep plug socket would've been just the ticket, but at the time I didn't know they existed.
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1992 Camry LE, V6 (3VZ-FE), ABS brakes, 330k miles, dark emerald pearl, owned since new.
1996 Avalon XLS, ABS brakes, moonroof, white, acquired w/ 139k miles, now at 261k.
2001 Yamaha FZ1, Ivan's jet kit, resprung all around, Ohlins in the rear, Race Tech cartridge emulators in the forks, 45k miles.
That's where a good spark plug socket is your friend. It needs to have a rubber gripper inside that grips the plug firmly. It'll come up stuck inside the socket.
Doh, I meant spark plug wires. Well, the ends/tubes anyway. When I tried pulling them w/ the plenum still on it felt like they would snap before they popped off.
Last edited by thaharlequin; 04-14-2011 at 01:11 AM.
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