Wires, Plugs replac. dilema on 1MZ-FE

[fj40supraman]

Here's my dilema,
Car has 185K on it on original plugs and wires. Go to dealer and ask them how often should I change them, believe it or not, he asks me "How does it run?". I say fine and he says then wait till it runs shitty before you mess with it, we no longer change them on interval.
So I took the initiave and looked the stuff up online to see what it would cost to replace them [for peace of mind, as coils aren't cheap, ($1K for all of them)] Come to find out manual says use only dual ground plugs (Denso) which are $11 apiece. There are many other plugs that are listed, however why would Toyota say that if it wasn't important.
I'm only gonna put NGK or Denso plugs in it as I've read on here that Japenese designed cars run best with Japanese designed plugs. I just hate to spend $66 on just plugs for something I might not need (I'd rather go out to dinner for $100+). I'm not run-to-failure with my car, and I've changed the plugs on all my other Toys. What do you think I should do??? Thanks for your opinions.

[Cyorke]

well theyh used to tell you replace them at 6ok miles then it went to 100k miles or something like that. As far as coils go, there is not reason to replace them at any particualr interval. You jsut run them til they quit working which will probably be long after you get rid of the car. As for the plugs definitley go witht eh Dnso or NGK. They come with NGK from the factory but the replacements that you get at the dealer are Denso. There are many threads on here about where to get the least expensive plugs online. You may want to search for some of those threads adn see what you can find. I have 77k miles on mine and they are the original but am about to do a full tune up so will be replacing them soon and am going to do the search also.

[fj40supraman]

Let me know where you get them from. Ebay is prolly a good place to look for OEM. Shit at these prices I might as well spend the extra $10 and get Iridiums!

[kenny1773]

these guys have good prices on NGK plugs (and good service as well)

http:\\www.rockauto.com

Search this forum for a 5% discount code, I saw someone post one good until oct 30th or so (helps with the shipping charge)

Iridium plugs are about $6-$7 each

You can look up specific part numbers here

http://www.ngk.com/default.asp?KID=171

Then search rockauto by part number instead of by car make/model. Some times the plug you want does not show up in the make/model type of search.

Leave the coils alone, they will probably never need replaced. The plugs should be replaced somewhere between 60k to 100k depending on the year of your car. In my 1995 V6, I replaced them every 60k

[Gary_602Z]

185k and you are worried about 66.00? If you had changed them every 90k you would have been out twice the money! If they were only 5.50 ea. you would only be saving 33.00. Just change them out they need to be, I don't care how good of plugs they are.

Gary

[Eye8Pussies]

???

just change the plugs...plugs have to be changed periodically
the wires, just leave unless you're having a problem with them

[zoni]

yeah just change the plugs, the wires and the coils almost never go bad.
at 185 k you should be concerned with the spark plugs, belts, hoses, and seals.

and you dont need awesome plugs... just go to the autoparts store and pick some up... platinum plugs are fine, you dont need iridium unless you supercharge or turbo.

[touringcamry]

http://www.sparkplugs.com has Denso dual ground double platinum for $7-8 each.

If you have an Autozone nearby, they might be slightly cheaper. I bought my Denso plugs at AZ for about $6-7 each.

[fj40supraman]

They specifically say use dual ground plugs, this is an Avalon, but I believe Toyota specifies this for all 1MZ-FE. Toyota pitches quite a bitch in the manual about this, however I wonder how important dual ground plugs are compared to regular (ie. 1 ground)
I guess the cheapest dual ground plugs is the Denso 3253's at $7.50 apiece, and they have them at the local Autozone. Step up to the NGK and prices start at $11 apiece. I'm gonna put in a set of Densos and hope for another 185K . I bet I'm gonna have to use a pneumatic to get them out. I'm also gonna lube the new ones, with some recommended metal based lube. Thanks for the insight. Now hand me the breaker bar

[touringcamry]

I think the 1MZ-FE engines have a system where the spark can go from the ground to the center electrode on some cylinders and from the center to the grounds in others. That is the reason the plugs are dual platinum, platinum on the ground and center electrodes. I think the dual grounds is just to prolong the life of the plug, ie each ground electrode erodes slower because there are two of them.