Brownd3max

Today, I popped the hood on my newly acquired es300, and began the replacement of the age-unknown spark plugs. After reading all I could find on this process, I was a little intimidated as some people have said to remove the intake mani., it's a PITA, etc., etc... I had bought some NGK Iridiums, as I have had great experiences with these. Anyway, this was also a "familiarization" effort as well, 'cuz I wanted to see how things were holding up after 125,000 miles of the previous (1st) owner's care. So, the first three in the easy front bank took about 10 mins. total to complete. Next I did the left rear (passenger) side. I had to remove the short "L-shaped" PCV hose to gain easy access to that area. I left off that plug wire to have better access to the middle plug. This turned out to be the hardest one for me, as the manifold brace was in the way for my socket extension, and got stuck, until I added a "wobbler" extension. Finally, the rear driver's side was fairly easy working it from the driver's side. All in all, it was 1 hour +, much quicker than I had envisioned. The old Denso's weren't all that bad looking, but the car "feels" smoother to me now. Whew!

Oro

That is a good review and experience to hear.

I think on the 02+ the rear plugs just can't be got at w/o intake removal (I had to do that). Good to note that some earlier ones can be serviced w/o that pain. This is good to inspire/make more people do it.

As a new owner, I encourage you to get on top of periodic transmission and PS system drain/fills and brake fluid bleeding, among (many) other things. Some small investments in time and fluids early can save more expensive repairs later. These engines and cars overall are capable of tremendous longevity if treated right. If your car has only 125k on it, there is no reason you can't maintain it well north of 300k if you want to.

speedkar9

Yes that middle rear one is a tough one to get out. Your lucky you have the metal intake plenum. As Oro said, the plastic plenums on 2002+ ES300's have to be removed which entails a lot more work!

I made a video on spark plug replacement on this engine a while back: