brian2sun

I would swap coil packs and see if the miss moves to another cylinder, then you know it's a coil pack and which one.

pendrag

I thought I'd resurrect this thread todd a couple other hints, in case someone searched the topic.

I started off with a 5/8" spark plug socket with the rubber insert. After 4-5 plug changes, the rubber washer came out and stuck on a plug I'd just installed, and I ended up having to remove the new plug to get the washer off. The washer wasn't staying put, so I went and bought one of the magnetic sockets, which IMO works a lot better.

When inserting plugs, like another poster, I just use an extension with no wrench until it's finger tight, and then wrench it another 1/4 turn.

I use Denso K16TR11 plugs in my 5VZ-FE engine and Denso K16R-U plugs in my 3RZ-FE. I had one of the K16TR11 plugs come improperly gapped, and I missed it because I wasn't bothering to check the gaps first. I experienced a hard shaking (like going over rumble strips) that increased three-fold as I braked - all of this started after driving down the road a mile or two with no real issues. I removed the plugs, replaced the bad one - they're only ~$1.80/ea at rockauto.com - and problem solved.




When I do the driver's side plugs on the 5VZ-FE, I find it helps to unclip the diagnostic box in addition to just the wire as described above. I also unbolt the hose support (upper right arrow) and push another hose (lower right arrow) down and out of the way.

zcruiser

All good recommendations, I did everything you suggested on my recent plug change on a 2000 SR5 I recently purchased. Thanks for the additional pic!

Ron Helmuth

thanks pendrag for the picture that is helpful and the drivers side plugs are a bit tougher to get at than the passenger. Several folks have suggested to use flexible vinyl tubing-take a new plug to the hardware store to find the right size-you use that to surround the top of the plug and hand thread it the first few turns-go counter clockwise first to seat it in the threads and then righty tighty a few threads in and then pop off (pull out) the vinyl tube and use your spark plug wrench from there.

That same vinyl tubing is useful to remove a plug those last few thread-just stick it straight down the plug well and pop it onto the old plug then unscrew the last few threads by hand and the plug pulls out with the tubing.

I use my spark plug socket's rubber inserts on my socket extensions-gives you something to grip when threading by hand for example.

Retrop- that is correct that from the factory the V6s come with NGK in one bank of 3 cylinders and Nippodensos in the other side of 3. Both are good plugs to use-I believe the Nippodensos are favored slightly more but many folks have their opinions on which is best.

13 ft lbs is the correct torque and it does not hurt to check them every so often as some folks have had a plug shoot out when not tightened down properly.

For the driver's side 3 plugs I found a U joint socket adapter 3/8" to 3/8" is helpful to give just a little bit of flex to the the approach angle, also a good selection of differing length extensions comes in handy.

If a plug ever acts stuck-as if it is cross threaded-odds are anti seize was not used on the threads when installed. Do not panic and don't break it with the socket-stick the plug wire back on and let the engine run to warm up 10-15 minutes-that will loosen up the threads a bit and make it easier to back out the plug. You'll of course have to take some extra care not to burn yourself now that the engine is hot-but it sure beats cracking a plug and having to fix that issue.