I will attempt to remove them myself. Hipe i dont break anything

 

I'm getting ready to replace the spark plugs on my 2018 LS500. I just hit 50k miles. I waited a little longer than the initial 40k schedule based upon the fact that they are iridium and the car has a lot of highway miles and very little aggressive driving. (and I have been too darn busy with kid's sports to have a free weekend day to figure out how to get the plugs replaced. I'll try to take some pictures as I dig into this project in hopes it helps others. I can't remember what the local dealer quoted me to replace the plugs, but thought it was more than I wanted to pay them to do the work. More to come after this weekend!!

 

40,000 miles seems low for iridium spark plug replacement. I have had two other turbocharged vehicles, a Mazda and a Ford. Maintenance schedule on both of those called for spark plug replacement at 100,000 miles. I just returned from getting a 40,000 mile oil change at my dealer. They didn’t mention spark plugs.
At $400, labor must be around $50 per plug. Experienced Lexus tech would be happy to do those all day long.

Just looked at owner’s manual. At 40,000 mile service there is a footnote that says spark plug replacement is required to maintain emissions system warranty.
Funny thing, my dealer service dept. didn’t mention it.

 

I went to O’Reillys yesterday and they didn’t have any spark plugs for my LS in stock anywhere in their inventory. They are trying to procure some directly from the manufacturer and will let me know.

 

Try Bell Lexus Parts at this link:

Lexus Parts Bell Lexus

Great prices and free shipping on orders over $100 using code SHIPLEXUS

I use them for all parts and they are great. Best dealer OEM prices!

I can't wait to hear your experience swapping them plugs out.

Please take lots of pictures and highlight any tricky situations.

Thanks

 

I have had great experience with www.discountpartsmonster.com they usually have good pricing on Lexus OEM parts. I did my spark plugs at 40K as well with the dealership, I think they charged me $450 with labor and parts. I asked them to save the plugs and they looked clean and normal, I would say they can definitely be changed at 60K but that is all up to you all.

 

I received the spark plugs on Friday and had a chance to pop the hood and remove the plastic engine covers Saturday morning. One trick I learned is that the plugs that hold the plastic covers remove easily if you push the center button down slightly. Once the button is depressed, you can pop the plugs out and remove the engine covers.

That was the highlight of my learning experience. Once I took off the covers, I saw a complicated mess on top of the engine. The intercoolers sit on top of the intake manifold along with all of the required plumbing. There is a lot going on under the hood with the twin turbo setup. I spent about 15 minutes with a shop light looking for even one of the spark plugs and wasn’t confident that I found any of them. I was hesitant to remove the intercooler setup and decided to let the dealer handle this once.

if someone else gives this a try, I would love to see how it’s done.

 

I am having my 80k service done right now and the plugs are part of the service. $799.00 at the dealership including the oil, filter, cabin filter and all the other checkup stuff. I asked the service manager about why plugs changed every 40k miles and got the usual gobbledygook about turbo but nothing about emissions.

 

Gotta say this is a wild thread. Been looking into ls500 as I have a 460l AWD with 267k and just replace iridium plugs with 147k miles on them. Def at end of service life but car was still running smooth with no codes.



2012 LS460L AWD ACC, LKA, every option but executive seat
1998 LS400
1997 SC300 Manual. One of 149 for that (last) year, still regret letting it go for a 2012 GTI Autobahn manual

 

As I stated before, my 2020 LS500 maintenance manual says that 40,000 mile spark plug replacement is necessary to maintain the emissions system warranty. Nobody seems to know why this is, but that’s what Lexus says.
This is a high dollar car, so I suppose I should do what Lexus says.

 

My 40,000 mile plugs, look okay to me.

 

Better yet, take a video of changing the spark plugs and put it on Youtube. There's so very little out there about maintenance and repair on fifth generation LS's. Though I wouldn't expect to find repair videos on a Lexus that has been around for only five years.

 

From my understanding: plugs are changed every 40K to ensure they are basically as efficient as new. The catalytic converter is super expensive and any contaminants or fuel that make it to the cat will degrade or damage the catalyst. This is one of those things that will come back to haunt you or the next owner years from now.

 

You'll know when a spark plug goes bad: you'll feel a cylinder misfiring: the engine will run a little rough: then you'll change all the plugs immediately. those iridium tipped spark plugs should last 100,000 miles. That's been my experience. BUT, I've never owned a turbo-charged car. Perhaps they're harder on plugs because of the higher compression ratio. I changed the spark plugs on my 2018 LS at 60,000 miles because I saw a footnote in the Maintenance manual that said the emissions warranty was valid only if you changed the spark plugs every 40,000 miles. When I pulled the original set of spark plugs out at 60,000, they looked fine and the car ran fine. I did it because I didn't want to void the Lexus Certified warranty; even though I was real skeptical that iridium tipped plugs would need to be replaced after only 40,000 miles. Perhaps Lexus just wants you to bring the car to the dealership to make some money off you. When the "take you car to the dealership for Maintenance" message is displayed, every 5,000 miles, I just reset it myself and I don't take it to the dealership. I've looked at what they check when you take it in by reading Carfax reports. I don't see anything they do that would jeopardize the health of your car if you didn't take it in. I was a mechanic for five years, so I've got a feel for what a car needs as far as maintenance and what just seems like an easy way for the dealership to make money. As far as your catalytic converter being damaged: yes if a lot a raw, unburned fuel goes through the exhaust system, because of a plug that isn't firing, it'll heat up your catalytic convertor and possibly burn it out.... if you run that car like that for some time. If I were you. I'd leave the plugs in for 100,000 miles; but if you feel the engine running rough before it hits the 100,000 mile mark, then drive it to the auto repair facility, or dealership, or your garage immediately and don't drive it until the plugs have been replaced. I'd be surprised if they don't make it 100,000. But that's just my experience.... use your own discretion. And get your replacement plugs from the dealership if you're going to change the plugs yourself; or make sure that only the best plugs are used.... they ain't cheap; but now is not the time to skimp. Happy Motoring!

 

As far as spark plug life in turbocharged cars goes, my two previous vehicles were turbocharged, a Mazdaspeed Miata and an F150 3.5 Ecoboost. Mazda and Ford both recommended spark plug change at 100,000 miles.
Funny thing, I used to change plugs every 5,000 miles in my ‘69 Fairlane Cobra 428. I think Champions were about 89 cents apiece.