Da CaVeman

First off, hello all! I've been on this forum for the past few weeks educating myself about my 98 es300...I've had it for about 2 years now. (Bought it used from my uncle) I finally registered and now I am ready to share some knowledge hahaha. Anywho, I just recently changed my plugs and as most of you know, the front 3 are easy as cake but the back 3 are nearly impossible without the right tools. I dont know if its been posted yet but the following is the tool combination that I used to take the rear ones out with very little effort.

1. of course you will need the basic rachet, spark plug socket, and 3 " extension just as you would use for the front 3 plugs
2. Next, (this is key) attach a universal joint attachment. This will allow you to angle the extension piece (# 3) and rachet up and out above the entire engine.

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item....re&dir=catalog

3. attach a 6" or 10" extension. Whichever makes you feel more adequite ;-)

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item....re&dir=catalog

4. Finally, attach the rachet and you should be able to unscrew the plug with plenty of clearance and you are home free!


You'll have to be a bit nimble with the fingers to get each piece down to the plugs and attach everything and then removing them. There is very little room. It might be handy if you keep one of those magnet sticks around just in case you drop something in the engine bay.

My lack of microsoft paint skills held me back from drawing a little diagram but hopefully someone will understand this and explain it a bit better.


Hopefully this helps!
Goodluck!

ChuckD_20

how do you remove the intake on a 93 SC300

evanis300

According to this post, my is300 needs replacement of spark plugs @ 120,000 miles. Recently went to a mechanic and they told me they needs replacement. This sounds like a bunch of BS to me. I have not even noticed any miss fire on my motor, wouldn't it be obvious performance wise if I needed new plugs?

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

It's not impossible for plugs to wear out before they are scheduled to. A number of things can cause that such as bad gas, a failure in the PCV system, bad oxygen or air flow sensors, etc.

What I do question is why does your car need them? First off, in the automotive repair industry, "need" is a bad word. According to MAP (http://www.motorist.org/index.cfm) guidelines, things are either suggested or required, depending on what's wrong with them. Spark Plugs can fall under all kinds of different MAP codes, so I'll run through them real quick...

Required codes - A: Does not perform it's intended purpose (pretty simple, a spark plug failing to fire, etc) B: Does not meet design specification (gap is too big, crack in insulator, etc) C: Part is Missing (obvious)
Suggested Codes: 1: Close to end of useful life (you can't really use this one on spark plugs, as there is no wear indicator or easily identified way to tell how old they are or when they are going to fail) 2: Address customer need (basically, it wouldn't be a bad idea, if you'd like to do it) 3: Manufacturer Recommendation (it's scheduled maintenance time) or 4: Based on informed technician experience (this would be used if you saw a valve cover gasket leaking - you would "require" the valve cover gasket based on MAP code A above, and use MAP code 4 for the PCV valve - it's well known that a blocked or partially blocked PCV valve is notorious for causing leaky gaskets)

Anyways, depending on why they told you that the spark plugs "needed" replacement, I could either agree or disagree... Is your check engine light on? If so, is there a misfire code stored in the computer? If this is true, even though you may not feel a misfire, it is quite possible that there is and it will get worse (with a possibility of harming other things like O2 sensors and catalytic converters).

If they are suggesting spark plug replacement based on mileage and no other criteria, then maybe they are just wrong about the maintenance interval... I have to look up every car because every single car is different... some cars still have 30k spark plug changes, others 60, some 90, some 100, some 105, and some 120...

Spark plugs are definitely one of those things that you want to be proactive with, but only to an extent...

LEXUSF

iTrader: (3)

is-f ??? what does it use?

Sc4004me

Does this apply to late 1UZ-FE engines only? I have 92 sc400 and the 1991 factory service manual states "crank on 0"and cams lined up on the marks.Nothing mentions addtional 30 or 50 degrees anywhere.Im confused and don't know which it is..

Please let me know,just did the T-Belt ,everything on 0 tdc and im nervous to start it ,before im 100% sure of this...

shawn011

I changed the plugs and messed up the wire somebody please help

ken386

IS300 middle spark plugs.. equals pain in the *** change up !!! will be replaceing soon.. will post pics for peoples refernece

b3njam1n

iTrader: (4)

Cool i wont have to change till 120,000 miles...long way to go still !

NjLexSc400

what added power or drivability do expensive plugs give you?

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

You may hard pressed to find someone who has actually done extensive testing to compare the two, but some will claim a little extra hp and fuel mileage by using the higher end plugs...

IMO, there is virtually no difference, all other factors remaining constant - spark plug gap, protrusion, etc...

The one main difference is service life of spark plugs varies greatly... Copper plugs usually 15-30k miles, platinum plugs 60k miles, iridium plugs 100-120k miles... give or take, that seems to be the recommendations...

If you don't mind changing plugs every year or two, I actually prefer the copper plugs - I can gap them as needed, no need to worry about damaging them on installation or if I pull them out to check and clean them, etc...

If you are paying someone to do the labor, its probably cheaper to stick with the platinum or iridium plugs, as the added expense of the plugs will be cheaper than paying someone to install them more often...