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How often do you change your sparks?

Britanica

Member
TTC Chicks
I never really got a clear answer on this.
How often do you change your spark plugs?
Is there even a telling on when they should be changed or how many years?
 

tibadoe

Moderator
Staff member
1000 Posts
Community Leader
I can't give you a clear answer but this is what I do. On my 04 Tacoma 4 banger I had always replaced them each year. Only because they were really easy to get to, cheap, and it kept my gas mileage up there - plus I do all my own maintenance. If you want to stretch it out go by what the manual recommends. On my 14 Tundra the manual states to replace the original plugs @ 120k miles. I won't wait that long since I want to keep my mileage up there as much as possible for a V8 so I'll be cutting the time in half for original plugs. So at about 50k to 60k I will replace them.
 

TDave

Active Member
100 Posts
I remember the "old days" where I think they suggested every 30k miles, but now, a lot of times, they suggest every 100k+ miles. Sometimes they have them in such weird places, I'm not even sure if they can be as easily replaced like they used to. That's probably true for all trucks, not just Toyotas.
 

jazz

Mechanic
100 Posts
You can remove them for a visual inspection annually...Leaving spark plugs in for 100k miles what chance do you think that plug will come out without breaking or damaging the thread in head....then you got a real dogs breakfast!
 

TDave

Active Member
100 Posts
Can you tell anything from them by a visual inspection? Do they need to be regapped at any time? I tend to leave things along unless I can tell something is running afoul.
 

jazz

Mechanic
100 Posts
You can certainly check the gap...most likely if the gap is significant time for new plugs.
 

toyotafan

Toyota Truck Club Founder
Staff member
1000 Posts
That's a good point, if you go to the trouble annually to remove them, when you hit 100k they're less likely to be frozen.
 

jazz

Mechanic
100 Posts
Something to consider when purchasing a vehicle if you intend to do your own maintenance "Can I change the spark plugs?" or "WTF are the spark plugs?" What was once a simple 10 minute job can now entail many hours of labour with specialized tools. I like old autos. Not to mention electronic modules under the hood that are the price of a condo!
 

TDave

Active Member
100 Posts
Yeah, anymore, it's hard to find where the dipstick is. Maybe I'm the dipstick now.
 

TruckOn

Member
I honestly changed mine once on my 06 but I guess it is more of a preference than anything. I would go based on miles not time itself.
 

georgebb

New Member
I saw a post saying that toyota recommends spark plugs to be changed every 60,000miles (at least for toyota). You can check it out here. Guess it also depends on the type of car.
 

tbplus10

Moderator
Staff member
1000 Posts
Community Leader
I normally clean and gap my spark plugs about evert year or 15k miles.
They get changed if I start seeing wear or damage to the electrode or tip.
To combat siezing I always use a copper based anti sieze paste on the threads and ensure proper torque when putting back in, Ive had to remove a head just to get a broken plug out and dont want to repeat that.
 

tbplus10

Moderator
Staff member
1000 Posts
Community Leader
Its not as much of a problem with iron heads, but newer aluminium heads can have big issues.
Fords Triton series engines have had such a big problem with siezed spark plugs theyalmost had to issue a recall.
Ford issued their version of a TSB to make NTSA happy in leu of a recall.
 

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