Spark plug change interval

Seriously? That is friggen insane!

 

Ok men. What you need to check is the gap and overall condition. If the gap and conditions are good then go ahead and keep rocking them. The real issue is your coil pack. The bigger the spark gap (out of spec) the harder your coil pack is working. I'd rather change a $10 plug then a $100 dollar coil pack.
That said, I change mine if needed or not every 30-50k.

 

^^^This...

Worn plugs are what burn out COP coils--in fact if you fire a COP across a 15 mm air gap (click here) you can make the smoke come out of it in 25 to 30 rapid firings.

test setup:


Also there is no such thing as a "copper tip" spark plug--copper would not last 5 minutes as a spark plug electrode. Conventional so-called "copper" plugs have copper cores¹ to assist in heat dissipation but have nickel-chrome fat wire electrodes...

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¹ - 99.44% of all modern spark plugs have copper cores, even fine wire electrode platinum and iridium plugs.

 

30K on copper tip for sure, but the iridiums are not designed for a safe 100K on the supercharged trucks. For N/A, yes 100K is okay.

Given how rich the supercharged units run at anything past light throttle, you will foul up those plugs quickly. Within 25K I noticed a drop in performance in mine. Iridiums for supercharged units should be swapped every 30K miles at most, unless you are very properly tuned otherwise.

AND... if you are going to gap your iridium plugs, (which I see no reason in doing, as they come pre-gapped at .40 I believe from NGK) DO NOT use a spark plug gapping tool for iridiums. You will scrape off the iridium coating from them as you drag the gap along the metal, making your plugs... you guessed it, no longer iridium.

I swapped out my plugs and it took me about an hour start to finish on my supercharged junk without ever removing the the blower. Long extensions, swiveling adapters and fine mechanism Snap-On rachets are your friend if you don't want to pull the blower off.

 

Change now with irridium plugs and then only change every 100K. The Copper plugs are very poor and really don't last long. Toyota uses them for emissions reasons. They get more bonus points with the EPA using the copper plugs and reccomending shorter intervals.

 

Changed mine at 116,000 and the plugs still looked good,put new Denso's in and the truck runs and idles smoother.Easy peasy 1 hour job.

 

I have a 2004 Toyota Tacoma Double Cab SR5 Pre Runner, 168,000 miles, never changed the original spark plugs, car has been running great, no problems. I changed my timing belt at 92,000 miles. Changed my radiator and coolant at 140,000 miles. I change my oil with Mobil 1 synthetic every 5000 to 7500 miles, use Mobil 1 or K&N Oil Filter, whichever I can find at the local Autozone or Pepboys.

 

My 2011 taco is still using the original plugs at 85,000 miles. Should I change them? And what is a good recomendation for a nice smooth ride.
Thanks!

 

id change them. get them at the dealer... densos are best

 

Thanks fixer. Is iridium OE or an upgrade?

 

just use Denso OEM plugs @ $4 each

 

agree on using Denso

 

My dealer wanted $55 for 6 plugs....Amazon is your friend.

 

I thought my dealer was expensive at $6 a plug.

 

Yeah when he told me the price I just laughed and walked out. The only reason I stopped at the dealer is because I had to drive right by while doing other errands.

 

I don't know how to link a thread, but this one has discussed everything you can possibly think about on this matter for a two gen. It is has been super handy for me and I do mine every 30-40k depending on what I'm doing. I'm at 115k now
How To: Spark Plug Change (1 GR-FE)

 

I changed mine at 30K and they are due again as I am just about at 60K. At 30K they weren't bad at all. I put in Denso plugs from Toyota. Cheap and easy. I think I posted here before about some kind of single platinum plug I put in an '07 Jeep 3.8L motor ( listed for it).One morning my son tells me the check engine light came on the night before. Code reader says misfire cylinder six. I removed the plug for inspection. The electrode was totally gone right down to the ceramic insulator. They had about 60K on them. Don't forget long neglected plugs sometimes come out with the threads from the cylinder head attached.

 

Recommend 30k an dont use gas from a sketchy place. Did mine today an also cleaned maf an throttlebody.
I been using sketchy gas not anymore.

 

Holy smokes!!! that's 30K? The jeep plugs looked like that bottom left but not even that little nib was left. My original Denso /NGK oe plugs were nowhere near that bad.