I'm a little over 122,000 still runs like it always did. Anyone else pushed it way over 100,000?

 

I finally changed mine a few days before Thanksgiving. Over 157,000 miles. Old vs new:



And it did not make as big of a difference in performance and economy as I was expecting. Very minimal.

 

Wow that is great wear for that amount of mileage. Just change em every 100k. Not rocket science.

 

I changed some original NGK Iridiums on another V6 at 112,000 miles. I didn't notice a difference in mileage or performance. Then at 125,000 miles I changed the original O2 sensors with some new NGK/NTK sensors. New O2 sensors did make an improvement in around town performance and mileage. I guess the old sensors had gotten lazy.

 

Iridium plugs are seriously good at NOT wearing but the issue becomes the gap. That is at least my understanding of it.

 

Sorry, NEWBIE!

Meant to add I am changing out mine next week at 93k. Not that I need to but timing is good and mide as well now while I can.

 

Mine had 96k on them when I changed them. No issues, but I knew I was coming up on the 100k mark and I figured I might as well just do them.

 

The gap changes because of wear. In that pic posted above you can see the gap is roughly double what the new plug is...that's because over time and millions and millions of sparks eat away at the spark plug. I'm actually amazed the plug looks that good at 157,000 miles. I honestly think with the high energy ignition systems the gap difference wouldn't be an issue until 200k miles or more. I would have changed mine a long time ago but I'm always on the verge or trading the car off so I've just been being cheap.

 

I changed mine at 85k (but 12yo car at the time), just because it's so easy on the VQ30 and cheap for parts. It does help, maybe not much (depending on condition of old plugs) but it 100% makes a difference, I tested mine just to see if it did anything and answer is yes, but most people wouldn't ever feel a difference.I've done a bunch of stuff already that wasn't really "needed" per se, so not really your typical case.

Most people should just try to change em every 100k, but even if you run em for way longer chances are you won't notice much. My dads old 98 Camry V6 still had original plugs at just under 300k miles, with no issues, that car just kept running.

IMO the gist of it is that you wont notice much, especially not since the plugs gradually degrade, it's just like a human getting older -- you don't really notice how you change in the mirror until one day you're just older and way less efficient. To me that's the key word, old plugs will work fine but if you CARE about your engine working with less stress and more efficiency, do the plugs.

 

I went about 95k with mine. But with that said, in any case I’d replace them anyway at that mileage. Being that it’s not a difficult job and the plugs are cheap. I had read on here that Ir’s provided a smoother idle, and I agree they did, although it may have been because mine had 95k on them, either way, I paid about 8-9$ for my Ir’s. I’m thinking it might be time t change them again at 156k since I probably have a raped rear VC since getting an intermittent missing problem.

Take away from this, change your damn plugs.

 

I agree, Iridiums do seem to idle a bit smoother. My next change is gonna be 120k or so. That will be roughly 40k driven on the current plugs. Iridium Ix doesnt last as long

 

It is a huge pain in the **** to get to the back 3. It's a $600 shop charge and beyond the realm of most owners. I wish I had paid for mine to be done, was not fun, especially with 2 year old valve gaskets that shrunk in the box.

 

....i wouldnt wait much past 100k to change them. my first intervals coming this summer-ish

 

My first car a 1998 Toyota Camry really old spark plugs but still took me back and fourth to school ><. I think I changed it at around 230,000 km or something and car was still running when I sold it with just over 400,000 km.

 

I did the job twice. It's a pain but not as hard as you think. The bolts near the firewall is the hardest part. You did the valve cover gaskets too?

 

I'm at 144,000 and she still purrs like a kitten.

 

Do you guys ever pay attention to what forum you are posting in?

Having to disassemble the intake manifold, remove the windshield wipers, etc, makes changing the plugs in a 6th Gen is anything BUT easy. What finally motivated me to do it was a need to take care of a leaking rocker cover, too.

Judging by the actual results, that wasn't my take away at all.

 

Why the wipers? I did this job twice and never touched them.

 

Did my Oem Spark plugs at 120K, along with the coilpacks, valve Covers and added the 5 piece NWP spacer kit....Had no issues with any of the above just about that time!

 

I've done plugs on an A34, and yeah, not sure where the window wiper idea came from.

It's the same exact process as an A33B, besides a few more plastic covers on the A34 and the external EGR, wow, a few more bolts, so add 15 minutes. Just leave the wipers on. Come on man.

 

I don't have hands the size of a 2 year old or triple jointed wrists. Removing the wipers, cowling cover and the tray allows adequate access to the various fasteners, brackets, hoses and electrical connections on the backside of the upper intake manifold. And even absent that step, changing the spark plugs is still a fairly involved task.