Service for iridium plugs?

[somick]

I highly recommend doing this.


In the recent Rockauto news letter they mentioned that the spark plugs left in the engine for too long may create a problem in later days. Well they were right.

I have 45,000 miles on my 2004 LE. And as you all know we have iridium plugs installed there that do not need any attention before 100,000 miles or so.
When I tried to remove mine, I had to use quite some force. The threads were rusty at the bottom.

The job itself is not that hard. The biggest problem was to remove the engine cover: the rear of it is secured to the engine by rubber plugs that sit on the 6mm studs. I tried to pry them off but they did not budge. Fortunately I did not use lots of force. Appeared you need just to pull entire cover up.

Unplugged ignition coil connectors (ONE AT A TIME).
Installed anti seize compound and put everything back.



Sam

[warpedrotor]

Thanks for this, my 04 LE has 100,000 km and the plugs have not been changed. They are probably still good for another 100,000 km but will probably be stuck in the head at that point. Using your advice I will change them sooner than later.

[CharmCityES]

thanks for the advice...i have 65k on my camry and ill prob just change the suckers out next time i change my oil, but ill put some anti-seize on the threads of the new ones

[TRD VVTi]

Really?

After seeing thousands of Toyotas at the dealership for maintenance I would have to disagree.

Change the plugs when they're due.

[JSM1284]

Yea, Never experienced a problem on a Yota. I changed the plugs on my 1MZ V6 at 100k with no issues whatsoever.

[warpedrotor]

So the amount of time they're in isn't an issue?

[touringcamry]

I just changed the original plugs on a 02 2.4 with over 100 thousand miles. No problems removing them from the engine. There was some erosion on the ground side, but the platinum chip looked ok.

[warpedrotor]

Come to think of it, the only time I have had problems removing plugs was from an 82 Mazda 626 that had come back from Germany after being driven at around 100MPH (probably it's top speed) several times on the Autoban. The plugs had melted electrodes that damaged the threads when I removed them. That model required the use of colder plugs for extended high speed driving. The owner did not know this. I was still able to work them out and put fresh plugs in.

[TRD VVTi]

Originally Posted by warpedrotor

So the amount of time they're in isn't an issue?

Yes and no.

Replace spark plugs at the recommended intervals. See the factory maintenance guide for time or mileage.

[new echo owner]

Have you or have the engine ever been washed? Water got trapped in the spark plug hole will cause the plug to rust if not a misfire.

N.E.O.

[LoudCamry]

what brand of spark plug is good?? or stay with oem, my car is not going to hit 100k soon but i am planning to do it early.

[new echo owner]

OEM is the best bet, they would be in the right heat range and all the other stuff.

N.E.O.

[touringcamry]

Originally Posted by LoudCamry

what brand of spark plug is good?? or stay with oem, my car is not going to hit 100k soon but i am planning to do it early.

OEM is Denso or NGK. Either brand will work and tend to be the ones that work well consistently on Toyota vehicles from what I've seen on this board.

[warpedrotor]

Originally Posted by TRD VVTi

Yes and no.

Replace spark plugs at the recommended intervals. See the factory maintenance guide for time or mileage.

I can only find a mention of mileage: 120,000 miles
I only put about 10,000-12,000 a year and I only have 60,000 now on an 04, so the spark plugs will be in there for about 9-10 years before I change them, opinion?

[touringcamry]

If you want, you can take them out to inspect and put some anti-seize on there just to ensure they don't seize up. Unless you see something wrong with them, I say keep them until 120,000 miles.