Spark plug replacement ruined my car
05-25-15, 05:51 AM
#16
As all posters said, go with Denso. They are OEM for Toyota. In fact, Denso is one of Toyota's group company but independently operated (http://www.toyota-global.com/company.../toyota_group/ ).
I always go with OEM when it comes to parts. Designed by Toyota/Lexus and build for Toyota/Lexus. That being said, I personally wont trust those ebay sellers. There is no way to identify what one get is genuine Denso from ebay sellers. Burnt once with brand new ipod and won't do it again (came with Apple box!).
Denso 3473 FK20HBR11 plugs are available at Walmart for $10.22 each Link : http://www.walmart.com/ip/42396183?w...524128&veh=sem
Edit : Amazon has it for the same price :
I always go with OEM when it comes to parts. Designed by Toyota/Lexus and build for Toyota/Lexus. That being said, I personally wont trust those ebay sellers. There is no way to identify what one get is genuine Denso from ebay sellers. Burnt once with brand new ipod and won't do it again (came with Apple box!).
Denso 3473 FK20HBR11 plugs are available at Walmart for $10.22 each Link : http://www.walmart.com/ip/42396183?w...524128&veh=sem
Edit : Amazon has it for the same price :
Last edited by satiger; 05-25-15 at 06:11 AM. Reason: Added Amazon link
05-25-15, 06:36 PM
#17
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
Update
I put back the stock plugs and have pulled the battery terminals multiple times to clear codes. The car idles down and dies at times, and other times it takes 20 or 30 seconds to even start.
I'm done even trying to fix it. I'm planning to head to the dealer first thing tomorrow (hoping the limp home mode makes it there). Then I'm going to pay through the nose to have the stock plugs replaced and anything else they think is related to this fiasco. I'm guessing I've ruined the MAP sensors by trying to clean them with MAP cleaner.
I can't wait to sell this car. I've bought dozens of cars in my life, including american cars from the 80's and I've never regretted one this much. Okay, it's a tie with an 86 Oldsmobile transverse mounted V6, where ordinary maintenance involved removing wheels and engine mounts to jack up the engine. Come to think of it, the Oldsmobile didn't require wheel and fender removal for a light bulb, but Lexus does. I withdraw my tie.
i don't know what I'll buy to replace it, maybe a Honda accord, which I've had good reliability from before. I like the luxury, but like a BMW or Mercedes, they aren't reliable and the repairs are ridiculously expensive.
I'm done even trying to fix it. I'm planning to head to the dealer first thing tomorrow (hoping the limp home mode makes it there). Then I'm going to pay through the nose to have the stock plugs replaced and anything else they think is related to this fiasco. I'm guessing I've ruined the MAP sensors by trying to clean them with MAP cleaner.
I can't wait to sell this car. I've bought dozens of cars in my life, including american cars from the 80's and I've never regretted one this much. Okay, it's a tie with an 86 Oldsmobile transverse mounted V6, where ordinary maintenance involved removing wheels and engine mounts to jack up the engine. Come to think of it, the Oldsmobile didn't require wheel and fender removal for a light bulb, but Lexus does. I withdraw my tie.
i don't know what I'll buy to replace it, maybe a Honda accord, which I've had good reliability from before. I like the luxury, but like a BMW or Mercedes, they aren't reliable and the repairs are ridiculously expensive.
05-25-15, 07:58 PM
#20
Lexus Test Driver
I put back the stock plugs and have pulled the battery terminals multiple times to clear codes. The car idles down and dies at times, and other times it takes 20 or 30 seconds to even start.
I'm done even trying to fix it. I'm planning to head to the dealer first thing tomorrow (hoping the limp home mode makes it there). Then I'm going to pay through the nose to have the stock plugs replaced and anything else they think is related to this fiasco. I'm guessing I've ruined the MAP sensors by trying to clean them with MAP cleaner.
I can't wait to sell this car. I've bought dozens of cars in my life, including american cars from the 80's and I've never regretted one this much. Okay, it's a tie with an 86 Oldsmobile transverse mounted V6, where ordinary maintenance involved removing wheels and engine mounts to jack up the engine. Come to think of it, the Oldsmobile didn't require wheel and fender removal for a light bulb, but Lexus does. I withdraw my tie.
i don't know what I'll buy to replace it, maybe a Honda accord, which I've had good reliability from before. I like the luxury, but like a BMW or Mercedes, they aren't reliable and the repairs are ridiculously expensive.
I'm done even trying to fix it. I'm planning to head to the dealer first thing tomorrow (hoping the limp home mode makes it there). Then I'm going to pay through the nose to have the stock plugs replaced and anything else they think is related to this fiasco. I'm guessing I've ruined the MAP sensors by trying to clean them with MAP cleaner.
I can't wait to sell this car. I've bought dozens of cars in my life, including american cars from the 80's and I've never regretted one this much. Okay, it's a tie with an 86 Oldsmobile transverse mounted V6, where ordinary maintenance involved removing wheels and engine mounts to jack up the engine. Come to think of it, the Oldsmobile didn't require wheel and fender removal for a light bulb, but Lexus does. I withdraw my tie.
i don't know what I'll buy to replace it, maybe a Honda accord, which I've had good reliability from before. I like the luxury, but like a BMW or Mercedes, they aren't reliable and the repairs are ridiculously expensive.
Sorry you seem to have had a bad experience, but if we are all honest adults here, YOU caused it.
05-25-15, 08:38 PM
#21
The car was running fine before the spark plug change and now it doesn't.
I'm an avid do it yourself-er and have been in a lot of binds which I pulled myself out of except once when I decided to turn my laptop into a BMW TIS emulator so I can avoid the dealership charge for registering my battery.
I registered the battery and then went though the program out of curiosity and shut down most of the cars systems.
Long story short I threw in the towel and had the BMW dealer look at it and found out I placed the car in transport mode. The charge was only $160 but the real penalty was the look on the service adviser's face.
Bottom line is you should not work on your car unless you know what you are doing otherwise you are responsible with no one else to blame but yourself.
I'm an avid do it yourself-er and have been in a lot of binds which I pulled myself out of except once when I decided to turn my laptop into a BMW TIS emulator so I can avoid the dealership charge for registering my battery.
I registered the battery and then went though the program out of curiosity and shut down most of the cars systems.
Long story short I threw in the towel and had the BMW dealer look at it and found out I placed the car in transport mode. The charge was only $160 but the real penalty was the look on the service adviser's face.
Bottom line is you should not work on your car unless you know what you are doing otherwise you are responsible with no one else to blame but yourself.
05-25-15, 09:37 PM
#22
Lexus Fanatic
I'm curious to see how this turns out and what went wrong. As DEVH stated, the car ran fine before you did something that the car just isn't happy with. I have no idea what your DIY skills were/are, but clearly, you messed something up. It ain't the cars fault. Please let us know what transpires tomorrow. Hopefully, it will be something simple and your view on the LS changes. You clearly are cursed. These cars are bullet proof, but apparently you possessed a silver bullet.
05-27-15, 10:36 PM
#25
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
Update: piston and valves ruined $14,600 to fix
It turns out something dropped into the cylinder and ruined the engine. The can't fix it at the Lexus dealer, and want $14,600 to put a used engine in.
I was very careful not to let anything in there, but something must have been in the cavity with the plug.
So much for saving $400 doing my own plugs.
I was very careful not to let anything in there, but something must have been in the cavity with the plug.
So much for saving $400 doing my own plugs.
05-30-15, 11:04 AM
#26
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
For Greg, I'm blaming the car for all the other repairs it's needed, and for how expensive it is to fix. I don't think water pumps, pulley tensioners, and suspension should wear out at 90,000 miles on a quality vehicle, and I don't think heat exchanger gaskets should leak water either. I'm not blaming the car for my screw up. I can believe the exchanger gasket leak might have been due to hard driving (I bought it used, so I have no idea how it was treated) but I don't care how hard you floor it, the water pump shouldn't wear out and the pulley tensioner should hold together. It has a governor, so they know exactly how fast that water pump has to be able to spin when they design it. There isn't any maintenance that could have prevented any of those failures.
Update on the situation: My extended warranty doesn't cover foreign object damage, but my comprehensive insurance covers stupidity. I told them exactly what happened, and they're going to cover it, but only at the prices they've negotiated with other shops, so it won't be done at Lexus, but it will be done for my $1,000 deductible. Whew! Sometimes even a blind squirrel finds a nut.
Update on the situation: My extended warranty doesn't cover foreign object damage, but my comprehensive insurance covers stupidity. I told them exactly what happened, and they're going to cover it, but only at the prices they've negotiated with other shops, so it won't be done at Lexus, but it will be done for my $1,000 deductible. Whew! Sometimes even a blind squirrel finds a nut.
Last edited by azzkicker; 05-30-15 at 11:18 AM. Reason: add details
05-30-15, 11:31 AM
#27
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
Might have found what fell in
I was trying to figure out what could have fell into the cylinder, and I checked all the plugs (which I had taken back out after the car wouldn't run right). Nothing missing. I checked my sockets and drivers though, and I noticed the u-joint driver is missing half the pin that holds two of the pieces together. It still moves normally, but if you look at from one side, it looks right with the pin protruding slightly, but from the other side you can see half way through the assembly and what looks like a jagged end of a broken solid steel pin.
My guess is that pin broke on a more difficult job, but the piece didn't fall out until I was unthreading that plug, then it dropped into the deep cavity next to the plug and went right down in when the plug lifted out of the way.
It was a quality S-K piece, like all my tools (snapon, crafstman, S-K), not some cheap piece of crap. I've broken craftsman u-joints before but they quit moving properly as soon as they broke. I've never seen this where half the pin is gone but it stays together.
I'm still going to call it incompetent maintenance because I didn't clean around the coils before I took them out (the engine looked pretty clean). I don't know that pin is what did it, but I don't see how I could have prevented that if it did.
My guess is that pin broke on a more difficult job, but the piece didn't fall out until I was unthreading that plug, then it dropped into the deep cavity next to the plug and went right down in when the plug lifted out of the way.
It was a quality S-K piece, like all my tools (snapon, crafstman, S-K), not some cheap piece of crap. I've broken craftsman u-joints before but they quit moving properly as soon as they broke. I've never seen this where half the pin is gone but it stays together.
I'm still going to call it incompetent maintenance because I didn't clean around the coils before I took them out (the engine looked pretty clean). I don't know that pin is what did it, but I don't see how I could have prevented that if it did.
05-30-15, 12:04 PM
#28
Lexus Test Driver
Wow I'm glad your insurance covers most of this (minus your deductible)! There are plenty of independent shops that I'm sure can do it for a lot more reasonable prices!
