Platinum plugs in my Taco a no go!!

[scalder]

Was at the dealership and they said my 05 4x4 needed new plugs at 60,000 km and that I had to stick with the original which are just regular cheap ones....He said that the Platinums would mess up the engine...what do you guys think
scott

[msibille]

I'm not sure what he means by "mess up the engine", but it is not out of the range of possibility that performance might suffer.

I changed to Bosch Platinum plugs on my 1994 Suzuki Sidekick 1.6litre 4 cyl at the first change I had back then. Very different engine, but nevertheless, performance and fuel economy went DOWN. I pulled them, went back to the conventional plugs, and life was good again.

So, if the mfr (Toyota, not a dealer) lists platinum or iridium as an option for THAT engine, I'd consider them. Otherwise, I would just avoid the potential hassle and stick w/ conventional plugs. (See PB's posts w/ pics and other's ppostings for more info.) Changing every 30k isn't that much hassle -at least for me. That's 3 yrs of driving or more for me.
But even at 15k/yr, that's once every 2 yrs. Not so bad. (I remember changing points, plugs and condenser on my Dad's cars in the 1970s every 12k. At the time, that was every 4 to 6 months. I got a lot of practice during those years...)

[flyman767]

Yes, I believe the mechanic may be somewhat misinformed here. From what I understand, Toyota does list an iridium plug(not a platinum) available for the 4.0L. Additionally, there are a few members who have installed them with no performance issues. Also, several have stated changing the plugs are a real pain in the a** and therefore, when the time comes, I think I would go with the longer lasting iridium vs replacing the stock copper at every 30K.

[mhillsing23]

I wouldn't say that the plugs are a pain by any means. Could they be a little bit more accessible?...Sure. But they are not bad. I have never changed plugs in my life, or worked on autos much at all - but I just did my plugs yesterday and it was quite easy.

[flyman767]

Personally, I have not changed the plugs so I can't say whether the plugs are difficult to change or not. However, I based it on what some others have said:

A post from over at TS that I thought was quited detailed if anyone's interested:

http://www.tundrasolutions.com/forum...2005-tacoma-2/

Here is the write up:

One tip I have is: take some 3/8" rubber hose and cut off about half an inch or so. Insert this piece into your 6 point socket. If need be, take your socket with you to a store to make sure it'll have some what of a snug fit. This works for removing or installing the spark plugs, no more fishing the plug out of the well, or carefully dropping the plug in which could change the gap.

I changed my plugs today... oh joy! Id like to bitch slap the idiots that designed the way the air intake bolts on. On the left bank of the engine (right side if you are standing in front of the truck), all plugs are a chore and a half to get to. First you have a bunch of hoses and tubes. Personally, i dont like having to disconnect things, the more you have to the more chances you have of breaking a connector or something else. I need to look to see which cylinder is which... until then, hopefully you can follow...

The forward plug... no way to sneak in the left hand, and the right its practically impossible to squeeze the connector hard enough to release it. You need to disconnect the connector, which is a RPITA by itself, then rotate the coil assy to clear the intake and everything else. The middle plug.. freaking idiots put a support brace right where you need to put your wrench. The assy sits too high for a combo wrench to get onto, so I had to use a ratchet wrench, socket, no extension and go one click at a time. The rear one... not much easier. None of them have enough slack in the wiring or room to pull up the assy, so you have to unplug the connectors. In Toyota world this means more chance of it breaking which translates you into having to purchase a ultraexpensive wire harness, or go through the headache of having to change out the connector body, if they even sell them separately which I doubt.

Since my truck has the K&N intake installed I found I had to unbolt, loosen and pivot the thing out of the way to get to the front right bank (closest to the air filter). Another lame design, this time the fault of K&N. But, Id imagine all of the intakes would have to be removed or at least loosened enough to shift out of the way.

From this experience I really miss my MR2 (Id almost rather change the water pump in it then change the spark plugs in the Tacoma) or even work on the 5.0.
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Originally Posted by mhillsing23

I wouldn't say that the plugs are a pain by any means. Could they be a little bit more accessible?...Sure. But they are not bad. I have never changed plugs in my life, or worked on autos much at all - but I just did my plugs yesterday and it was quite easy.