Picked up a 2002 Toyota Solara, which Spark Plugs?

[DonDavis]

2002 Solara v6, 3.0, 275,000 miles, way cheap. Car is solid, rear fender boo boo, but no biggie. Drives really great. My son will drive this till he decides what to do with his '99 Outback that needs brakes, driveshaft, engine overheats and the a/c is on the fritz.
Easier/quicker to get a stop gap car for a year or 2, then decide.

Ordered wires, coil packs, PCV, a Haynes manual and need to identify which friggin' spark plugs to use.

I think I heard Iridium, and the honk at Autozone says Bosch Double Platinum is recommended.

What say ye?

I already know changing the rear plugs will generate some colorful metaphors, I'm well versed at that.

But feel free to share a few if you want. Always welcome to more sentence enhancers.

[craigster59]

On my Tacoma and 4Runner I always used NGK iridium.

[1990C4S]

Plugs are something I often buy from the dealer....the harder they are to change, the more I play it safe.

[biosurfer1]

Originally Posted by craigster59

On my Tacoma and 4Runner I always used NGK iridium.

I use the same in my Lexus and Highlander... never an issue.

Your son will likely have a long, LONG time to think about what to do with his Subaru. A co-worker has a 2004 Solara for her commute vehicle (~40 miles each way) that had 380k on it last I talked to her (pre-covid). Still running like a top, no major mechanical fixes at all.

[mattdavis11]

I put in Denso, same motor, 3.0.

[speeder]

Originally Posted by 1990C4S

Plugs are something I often buy from the dealer....the harder they are to change, the more I play it safe.

This is great advice. Or at least look at the old ones, (if they are factory plugs), and figure out what they are. Maybe the owner's manual will tell you what to use. Newer cars have the combination of plugs that last 100k miles and engine management systems that are super sensitive to having the right resistance from the plugs and other ignition components. Maybe you could say the same about a 1969 MGB or any motor but it's really compounded on new stuff.

I'd hate to think that I was running the wrong plugs for the next 100k miles just because I wanted to save $10 and go the Autozone instead of using OEM ones. YMMV.

EDIT: For things like spark plugs and oil filters, sometimes the dealer is no more than the FLAPS.

[speeder]

Originally Posted by mattdavis11

I put in Denso, same motor, 3.0.

Denso is probably OEM, just need to make sure you get the right ones.

[DonDavis]

Excellent replies. My thoughts on this are as varied as your comments.

No way these plugs are original, rig has 275,000 ticks on the clock. With my stoopid 300k Subie, I replaced things essentially to factory ( NGK plugs ) and the thing purrs all day.

Hoping to strike twice-ish with this one. Clean car, no leaks or creaks, minimal warts for it's miles, considering.

I think factory plugs are iridium. Going with NGK.

Biggest reason I axed here is because somebody has this engine in something.

And you guys fairly rock...on occasion.

Don't forget the chicas!!

[speeder]

I get that it would not have its OG plugs but w the long interval, many newer cars, (post-2000), get dealer serviced and have the dealer plugs from its last service 150k ago. You can really get away w not changing plugs in those cars and once they become that cheap and old, many owners don't. It's a Toyota, they put gas in it and drive.

[unclebilly]

Based on the rock ‘car’ website, it looks like NGK 4589 iridiums are the oem plug for that car assuming it is the 3.0 v6.

[Jrboulder]

The current Toyota part number should be 90919-01194 which can either be a Denso PK20TR11 or an NGK BKR6EKPB11. Both are double platinum.

At this point I mostly use Genuine Toyota parts on my Tacoma. Earnhardt Toyota in Mesa wants $7.23/ea for these plugs, Amazon is $7.03 for the Denso but only has 4 in stock, Rock is $6.69 plus shipping for the NGK.

[DonDavis]

Sweet. Thanks Sir William.

Wow Denis, has not considered that.
Probably so true.

Stay tuned..... see what I did there?

[DonDavis]

I’m dumb. Is a double platinum better than an iridium?

[Jrboulder]

Iriduim is supposed to be better than platinum

[speeder]

Originally Posted by DonDavis

I’m dumb. Is a double platinum better than an iridium?

The problem isn't better/worse, it's that only one of the above is the correct plug that the engineers who designed the ignition system chose. They could have used anything. Generally speaking, any motor will run on any spark plug but only one spec is the right one.

[javadog]

Just buy them from a dealer. Lots of counterfeit parts out there, including plugs for Toyotas.

Back when I was a Honda dealer, we fixed a lot of problems caused by off-brand plugs. Even plugs from name-brand manufacturers and "equivalent" according to all the interchange guides...

[speeder]

Originally Posted by speeder

EDIT: For things like spark plugs and oil filters, sometimes the dealer is no more than the FLAPS.

Originally Posted by Jrboulder

The current Toyota part number should be 90919-01194 which can either be a Denso PK20TR11 or an NGK BKR6EKPB11. Both are double platinum.

At this point I mostly use Genuine Toyota parts on my Tacoma. Earnhardt Toyota in Mesa wants $7.23/ea for these plugs, Amazon is $7.03 for the Denso but only has 4 in stock, Rock is $6.69 plus shipping for the NGK.

I rest my case. And you get the right plugs. For things like the fuel filter on my Ford 7.3 diesel, only the dealer part or the Racor filter, (company that designed the fueling system), can possibly be correct because it's patented about 7 times.

Do other filters from NAPA and WIX "work?" Yes but they are not correct for the engine. Parts matter.

[911 Rod]

My understanding is there are a lot of knock off plugs out there. I'd buy from the dealer. This is especially the case with Mercury Marine.

[DonDavis]

Boom shacka lacka boom

Would you replace the coil packs proactively? OEM are $125 each and there's 3.
They're working ok, I suppose. Car runs/sounds very solid.

I have new wires to install when I do the plugs and thinking the "while I'm in there".

But they are right in the front and super easy to access anytime.

[speeder]

Wait until they fail and replace as needed. They might never fail, or only one, etc... Those are a little expensive to replace proactively on an $8.00 car, IMO.