Well, I'm one of those overly-scared, timid, always-a-bit-leary type DIY'ers and I figured I can't be the only one. While I found many walkthroughs for a spark plug change, I figured I'd do a "for dummies" version that will hopefully benefit others that approach car maintenance as I do.
So.. here we go! I'll add notes here and there of stuff I did/should've done/shouldn't have done, tips, tricks, etc. along the way.
Tools used:
5mm allen head
10mm socket (for fender plastic covering)
19mm socket (for lug nuts)
2x (two) 3" socket extensions for the front-most plugs
5/8" socket for the plugs themselves
Your beverage of choice (mine was a Rockstar)
Torque wrench (small one will be needed)
Anti-seeze (yea.. I decided to use it anyway)
I don't know how the forum will actually display the pictures so they might all end up at the end of this post...
First thing to do is jack up the driver's side of the vehicle. Jack stand it if you feel the need. Safety first remember!
Get that rear wheel off and continue on by removing the plastic fender covering using the 10mm socket. There should be two and they are plastic, not on tight at all. Pop it off and you should then be able to clearly see all 3 coil packs!
Grab your 5mm allen-head wrench and pop each bolt loose on each pack. Once loose, they're easily removed by hand the remainder of the way. I did the plugs one at a time, so that is the approach I'll take in this DIY. Once the two bolts are removed for the rear-most coil pack, give it a little tug outwards to break the suction and with a little clockwise motion, it should pull out of the tube. The tips are bendable and the whole thing is rubber so don't be too 'careful' when removing them, you shouldn't hurt anything unless you're really trying to.
Once the coil pack is out of the tube, just set it to the right of the hole and get your 5/8" socket out and remove the plug. The way I did it was to break it loose with the ratchet and once able, I removed the rest by hand, being mindful to reduce as much "wobble" as possible. Now, you'll read a LOT of back and forth about whether to use anti-seize on the new plugs.. and to be honest, to a novice DIY'er, it stresses you out more than helps.. so.. I used it.. albeit very little, but still used some. I'm not opening a debate here, decide what you'd like. I just know that it was an extra 3 seconds of my time and I felt it was worth it at the time of replacement... /endrant (like the brylcream commercials say "a dab'll do ya"... just a little on the tips is good)
Put the new plug in, again, being mindful to reduce "wobble" and making sure it's in straight. Here is where I'm supposed to say "torque it to 22ft lbs", but /flamesuiton I don't own a torque wrench that small so I hand-tightened and then "felt" for the washer seating. "snugged up" basically. /removessuit
Now put the coil pack back in after visually inspecting it for any cracks, discoloring, toyota-part numbers etc. Retighten the coil pack screws. I didn't torque these either. I snugged them up until they were tight.
Now guess what? You get to do it 5 more times! Yay! The only caveat is with the 2 closest to the front of the car. While not difficult, they aren't as easy as the others as you'll have two large hoses in the way. They're merely an inconvenience, not a show-stopper. Slow and steady wins this race! Take your time to ensure they come out easily and go back in easily.. think "wobble".
I hate seeing "Installation is reverse of removal" so... once all 6 are replaced and all coil packs have been tightened again, go ahead and re-install the fender cover. I found that they are still installable if you accidentally put the wheel back on first (ask me how I know. This is the kind of stuff us "dummies" need to read about, that other DIY guides don't mention)
Lower the Box back down and make sure to torque the lugs (or don't?) to 96ft lbs. That's about it. Now go start it and cross your fingers
Remember that beverage? Well if the car is running tip-top after you're finished, then crack it open and take a victory swig.
Note: I was able to do the whole thing sitting indian-style (yea I'll admit it!) next to the car without using jack stands. The whole process took about 2hrs which included printing walkthroughs, bathroom trips, staring at the blonde neighbor and cleanup. Definitely a "finish by noon" type job and not hard at all. A 3 on a 1-10 scale.
Note: I ordered Bosch plugs from Pelican, but removed Beru from mine. They are interchangeable supposedly. We'll see.
Note: Lay out the old plugs and mark which cylinder they came out of. This is will help diagnose any issues after you visually inspect the old plugs for fouling, etc.
Hopefully this helps those out there that haven't been mechanics for 20+ years and are a bit leary to do their own work, simply because it's a P-car. Go get em!
Hybrid Mode
