Okay so this weekend after much reading on CL the previous week, I decided to take on the challenge of changing out my plugs. Now is it hard? No. Is it EASY? NO. But it can be done.

I did run into a HUGE MONSTER of a problem that HOPEFULLY is fixed. Some input from others would be nice.

I figured I'd make it a little tutorial as well.

First I unplugged the Negative Connection from the battery:


Then I removed my cover. Yes I know my engine is dirty.
Remove all the screws from the cover follow the red circles.



Then you have to remove the Air Intake:




After you remove the air intakes just start to remove the bolts as circled to get to the plugs. The MAF slides out




This is what a DIRTY MAF looks like:



Here are the two bolts that you need to remove:




There are 3 more to remove. They will be obvious. One is a little hidden under the above picture. Its actually a nut and not a bolt. Just work slowly. Take your time. This is NOT a race.

Remove these hoses and electronic connections:


There are some other hoses and connections that I forgot to picture. Sorry But again they will be obvious as you move along slowly.

THIS is what I ASSUME to be a Transmission fluid line: Someone care to correct this please do.

It leaks like a CRAZY. So cover it up after removing it with a rag it will leak a bit.

 

This is what your engine looks like underneath the MAF and the engine cover.



Notice that it has the Coil Packs. REMEMBER HOW THEY GO. Tag them if necessary with a little bit of take and a perm marker. I didn't so I had to do it from memory. But it is a good idea to do.



Also careful with these plugs. They are very delicate. I learned that the hard way as the clips that lock them in place BROKE on me. They so far have stayed put after reattaching them but I do not know if they will hold. I may go back in there and use maybe some electrical tape to hold them in place. Any suggestions here would be great too guys.



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Ok remember when I said that I hit a HUGE PROBLEM. Well here it is:



Yeap oil leak somewhere. It was in all 3 areas of the sparkplugs. I damn near fainted I couldn't turn back now I went to far. Besides I needed to post this on CL for someone else to possible fix and someone else to tell me WTF HAPPENED?

I assumed from the first 2 bays that it could be oil that spilt when I did my oil change last. But I have no idea of confirming that.

SO I went ahead an tightened ALL of these bolts:


Don't know if that is a bad thing or a good thing but I figured it may be a lead with the gasket or something because they were all REALLY REALLY loose. I am assuming its that. If anyone care to chime in please do. It would be GREATLY appreciated.



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So it took me FOREVER to get that oil out. Basically used bits of paper towels and stuffed them into the holes to suck out the oil. Plus there was these little bits of plastic or something that were all over the place in there. I THINK they were the protective plastic lining to the Spark plug wires. They were IMPOSSIBLE to get out with my big hands. So I brought in an expert:


Yeap. My wife

Yes we did not have a flashlight (funny how ALL THE BATTERIES DIE AT THE SAME TIME ON ALL 5 FLASHLIGHTS. LOL)
Her hands were small enough to get in there and take out the oil in some parts and the plastic pieces that fell into where the sparkplugs are.

She is my HERO

It took us FOREVER to get it all cleaned up before I could remove the sparkplugs. It took pieces of tape to stick onto the plastic pieces plastic and remove them. I didn't have an air can which would have been INFINITELY EASIER so we made with what we had.



I then installed these bad boys:



Carson Toyota comes through again!
These bad boys are not cheap I tell ya. 6 came out to 75 bucks! They better be worth it!

 

Torque Masters!



So after putting the plugs. I went ahead and cleaned the Throttle Body. It was really simple. Spray that throttle body spray and watch that GUNK just slide right out. Take a clean terry towel and star wiping away. I didn't take a picture of it cleaned but it was SPOTLESS afterwards.


The moment of truth came. I plugged everything back up, attached hoses etc and started her right up. Smooth as silk so far. *knocks on wood*

Now if someone can tell me Where the Hell all that oil came from that would be great. Should this be of MAJOR CONCERN even after I tightened up the headers bolts.

Also anyone else break those little clips to the coil packs and not have a problem? They are really sensitive.

 

When I bought my car I changed the plugs and noticed the same thing there was oil in the first two wells. I freaked out but after thinking about it I determined it was from adding oil and spillling it. Just for peace of mind you could change your valve cover gaskets its really not that hard since you have to take off part of the intake mani anyway.

 

I'm scared to do that. LOL... Afraid I'll mess something up really bad. LOL.

 

http://img250.imageshack.us/img250/7375/dsc02631rk9.jpg

that's the throttle body, not the MAF. Your MAF should be located on the intake box/tube

DIY ftw!!

 

cpone,

thanks for the diy page. i for one am going to attempt to do this real soon.

any other members has tips on removing the connectors from the coil pack without any damages and how much torque in ft/lbs for the spark plugs.

as for oil by the coil packs, i would say after an oil change, someone may have missed the oil inlet a bit and some dripped in. as you know, oil will tend to move around when you drive so it get all over the coil pack area. i wouldn't be too concerned if you see some oil in this area.

i would be really concerned if there was globs of oil like a leak. from your pictures, it's very little.

 

It was more in the second coil pack area.
I'll keep an eye on it.

I did 15 ft/lbs of torque.
Just a BIT past that as well. What is considered snug.

 

any tips for the coilpack clips (the one that broke?)

 

Nothing really. I was hoping someone else could give me some tips because I thought I was VERY careful with them. But the clips broke off on me. Hopefully someone has had the same problem and knows of a solution for the broken clips.

 

Thats the throttle body. MAF is the little sensor held in with two small screws right after the air cleaner box. That oil leak in the valley there is most likely the valve cover gaskets and you will want to have some fipg handy also when replacing them to get in the corners. Also I bet if you take your timing cover off and peek in there behind the cam gears you will see oil leaking there also and maybe even your front crank seal is leaking. All of those are common and usually replaced during a 90K service.

 

The first clip I removed from a coil pack broke on me cause I left it on the spark plug(there was no room so I tried pliers to release the clips!).

After learning my lesson, I unbolted the other coilpacks BEFORE removing the clips/harness. This allows you to pop off the coilpack from the spark plug and then you have a better angle to remove the clips by HAND.


BTW, anyone know where to get replacement clips? I know how to remove them from the plug and replace them, I just need the new plastic clips.

 

Looks like a clean install... I think i'm due for a TB cleaning.. ITs been about a year.. LOL Nice work..

Tony

 

try cason toyota. i hear they are pretty cheap.. or your local lexus dealer. shouldn't be more than $10.00

 

You should be able to buy replacement harness clips from the dealer, I've had to buy some for the Supra and I purchased the replacements from Toyota. Sucks, over time they get brittle from the heat and break easy

On the oil issue, best bet is to clean it all up and check it again in a few weeks. If oil is there again then it's your valve cover gaskets, they get hard and don't seal well over time. As others have said though, I'd lean towards someone just missed the hole filling the oil.