Wander the West: spark plugs for 2002 tundra 4.7 V8 - Wander the West

What plugs should I get for my tundra? Trying to stay away from dealer work. I can do this myself.Do I use copper or what.The dealer mentioned something about copper,but I see there are other choices.



Thanks, Frank

I would check the owners manual if you have one in the glove box.

Let me know if you don't have one.

We have the same truck out in our shop and I can look at our owners manual for it.

I would use what they recommend at Toyota, even if they cost more.

For my Toyota Camry they called for some special plugs too.

Cost for the plugs they recommended was approx. $10.00 each at Autozone, Kragen, etc.

I looked at the $2.00 - $3.00 spark plugs the auto store had on sale and just decided to do it right the first time and spend a few extra bucks upfront.

I probably spent about $ 30.00 bucks more, but won't have to worry about anything for a long time.





.

Thanks Stan. I don't have an owners manual. I don't mind spending the extra if it's what is needed.In looking at AuotZone there are a lot of choices. The plugs in there now are Auotlite platinum AP3923. Looks like I should use the same ones.
Thanks Frank

Denso Iridium. go with the preset gap because the tips are extra brittle and will crack or break a lot of the time if you try and adjust. Supposedly, they only need to be changed every 100K or something crazy like that, but it's easy enough to pull them and inspect every 25,000 just to be safe. Personally, I won't go over 50K on a set of plugs on any of my vehicles. The insulators usually get pretty brittle from heat cycling and the electrodes dull / gap widens too much for my personal tolerance. It's cheap insurance.

NGK and Denso Platinum are good too, but the cost difference is small enough I just buy the iridiums out of habit I guess.

YMMV

Changing the new plugs is not like the old plugs. How long have they been in the motor? Goss's Garage on Motorweek recommends loosening the old plugs then starting the motor for a minute or two, to loosen the carbon on the ends. Then take the plugs out if it gets hard to turn taking out turn the plug back in then back out. You do not want to mess up the threads on an aluminum head. Watch the video here.. Start the plugs by hand and tighten finger tight. Use a torque wrench to finish. DO NOT forget to put lube on the new plugs

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=RKxf0Rl2Pls

billharr, on 30 May 2012 - 03:49 PM, said:

Thanks for the info. That came in handy. The old plugs came out no problem and of course hand tighten all the way down than torque. I found 13 fps to be the factory amount.
Interesting a couple of the old plugs were just hand tight. I will drive it some around here than recheck torque.

Thanks again for the info.
Frank

Over on ih8mud there are a few Toyota dealerships that offer a substantial discount on EOM parts forum members. Next time, I'd go with OEM. I'd call American Toyota @ (505) 823-4440 and ask for Dan. He's the parts manager.