First spark plug swap @80k miles

Pulled & swapped 6x plugs yesterday....one of the coil packs came out it two pieces....here goes $125 on a new one

Here's the factory plugs with 78k miles on them


Here's the coil pack in two pieces


Took 2.5 hours to do.
A professional mechanic or someone who has done plugs on the new 3.5l power plant more than once could easily do it in 1.5-2 hours.

Here are all the tools you will need
The baby sockets are 8 & 10 mm
Note- you will need 9/16" magnetic spark plug socket...5/8" is a no go


Additional note- I took 1 plug out 10 days ago to take a peek at plug condition & the coil pack for the cylinder also came out in two pieces.
This was the driver side cylinder closest to radiator. I replaced the coil pack 2 days later to be safe

Yesterday it was the center cylinder on the driver's side that produced the issue (two piece coil pack upon removal, pics above)....
Luckily all the other coil packs, including the one I replaced 8 days ago came out smooth & easy yesterday

Good luck to yall when you swap plugs....toyota did not R&D this very well

& the odo---->

 

You of course do realize that if the dealership had done this then they not you would be on the hook for the damaged coil packs.

Right.

 

I would imagine a spark plug change on this is roughly 200-300 bucks. My STI is a boxer motor and you literally have 2 inches between the frame rails and coil packs and it even states to raise the engine a bit to do them. I have done 2 changes on it and it is a PAIN in the arse with tons of special ratchets and extensions but the dealers charger around 400 bucks to do them. I got it done in less than 3 without having to raise the engine.

This is a v6 so I would imagine it is a lot easier than a Porsche or my STI. Those coil packs I would imagine are 100-150 bucks each.

 

It's a bit more complicated than that....back in Aug (2023)...I had 2 coil packs go bad & the dealer replaced them....so this might be in relation to the service that was performed at that time....sucks not knowing the root cause of the issue, further sucks paying $125 x2 to make the truck road warrior worthy again....I hate letting anyone touch my autos

 

I was gonna guess $500 for labor
So $600 seems on point

 

Yeah, I called the local dealership tuffy and they told me around 19 bucks per plug and 140 dollars per service hour estimating 1.5-2 hours at the most it should not be over 400 bucks. Evidentially your dealership is ripping people off.

Back in my day, haha young yipper snapper

 

Do you drive a lot for work?

 

Lotta miles .. impressive.

 

I've got 185K miles on my 2010 Tacoma, but it took me almost ten years to put the first 100K on it; I've had the truck since new...

 

I will have to look for the $15 ones, everything I have found so far was $22-$25 apiece. That would save me $60 bucks alone. I still have another 5k before I need to do it, but have been researching. @389 24/7 thanks for the post!

 

Much appreciated!

 

Correct me if I’m wrong but the coil pack wasn’t broken. The boot and wire just came off without the pack. You are apparently supposed to replace the boot and wire combo when you change spark plugs so you are supposed to be able to just pull them off the coil pack. I didn’t do that on my 5.7 and it runs just fine but they are cheap enough so I ordered them when I did the 5.7 hemi on my wife’s Durango and they looked exactly like that. Pulled them off, put new ones on, works perfect

 

so you replaced 3 coil packs total? When you replaced the 3rd one (2 days later) it still worked even in 2 pieces?

bad batch of coil packs? I know things break but I’ve never replaced a coil pack.

 

Yup

 

Yes

 

I replaced 2 total
I did reconnect the two bad ones & drove on them for a short distance...seemed okay
But I drive 1000 miles in 3 days very regularly & can't afford the downtome with a breakdown so it was cheap insurance to replace both questionable coil packs for $250

I had a 2013 tacoma, put 395k miles on it & never changed any coil packs,
so swapping 2 of them on the tundra is kinda frustrating....sadly this past summer 2 additional coils went bad on the tundra & the dealership replaced both on the house as i was significantly over factory warranty coverage by over 20k miles

So I have had 2 bad coils causing CEL error last summer & over the past few weeks found 2 questionable coils upon spark plug swap

4 total bad (two dead ones, two separated ones)

 

Interesting. So the spark plugs for the 3rd gen are traditional single ground electrode type; unlike the old T100 for example which requires double ground electrode plugs. I was expecting same, so nice to know in advance not the case. I do know (from experience unfortunately) if you don't use the double ground type on the old 5VZFE engine it can lead to failed coil pack(s). Had to replace two coil packs on the T100 some time ago bc wrong plugs were used. Those plugs look good for having run double distance on TT engine.

 

It took me almost ten years to put the first 100K on my 2010 Tacoma; I got it as a gift from my parents in September 2009 when I finally got my learner's permit at age 20, and it had 20 miles on it (brand new).

I hit 100K in July 2019, and I hit 120K in November 2020. I don't drive a lot for my primary job (I recently got laid off, so I'm not driving there at all now), but I do DoorDash and Uber Eats as a side hustle; I also go to a lot of car shows in my home state of Pennsylvania, I took a roadtrip to upstate New York for a huge car show in Syracuse in July 2022, and I just love to drive for the hell of it. One of my favorite places to visit is the ghost town of Centralia, Pennsylvania.

I just hit 185K last week, and seeing as I would rather save up for a down payment on a house than have a car payment, I'm holding onto my old Taco for a while! My truck got a new frame under recall, so that has influenced my decision to keep replacing things as they break due to old age rather than buy a newer vehicle.

 

You sound familiar....I think we have chatted on tacomaworld.com....I bailed out from there when I got the tundra 3.0 two years ago

I drive alot of miles for work(4-5x the average of most) so I replace vehicles fast
You are absolutely correct, paid off home should be first on one's financial list of 'to do's'
At 45 I can say that's checked off for me (since 36 to be precise) so I can afford to pay for a new whip without financial stress. Also,
It doesn't hurt that autos are a great write off for small biz!

I do miss the simplicity of my gen2 taco.
395k miles in 9 yrs
Wish I could have that truck back with 0 miles & start again

 

Yup; I'm on TW!