which spark plugs work for your 3sgte? Options

[toyotacrazy]

nkg bkr7e .

I just bought a set of these plugs. What do you guys gap them at? Stock gap?

[alltracman78]

Start at .032"
If you misfire, drop .002" until you stop misfiring.

In my opinion Iridium plugs are not worth it at all..I have only ever had problems running iridium plugs in the 3sgte engines...much better to go for the cheaper platinum plugs or normal copper core plugs which have never let me down yet. NGK are a good make along with Champion and Bosch...avoid Denso plugs if you can...the quality of build is not very good.

Wow
You have it a$$ backwards man...
Champion is pure junk.
Bosch, while not junk, aren't very good in Toyotas.
Densos are excellent.
IMO NGK are best though.

This comes from working as a Toyota tech.

[toyotacrazy]

nkg bkr7e .

I just bought a set of these plugs. What do you guys gap them at? Stock gap?

Ok,
Ive worried enough about my knock issue. Im getting new spark plugs and the devils own WI kit. Gotta sell my alltrac axles first. Cant wait to get the WI!!!!!!!!!

[Insanity-74]

Start at .032"
If you misfire, drop .002" until you stop misfiring.

In my opinion Iridium plugs are not worth it at all..I have only ever had problems running iridium plugs in the 3sgte engines...much better to go for the cheaper platinum plugs or normal copper core plugs which have never let me down yet. NGK are a good make along with Champion and Bosch...avoid Denso plugs if you can...the quality of build is not very good.

Wow
You have it a$$ backwards man...
Champion is pure junk.
Bosch, while not junk, aren't very good in Toyotas.
Densos are excellent.
IMO NGK are best though.

This comes from working as a Toyota tech.

That comes from owning and running a real GT4 for over 3 years now and trying all those plugs out....but what ever, have it your own way, I find that most advice I give here is either ignored or contradicted anyway so why should this be any different...........I wouldnt take my car anywhere near a Toyota garage as they dont know there arse from their elbows. The first and last time I took my car to a toyota garage they didnt even know what it was, and refused to work on it as it was to complicated for them, most of the advice you give is top notch but saying you work as a toyota tech is no boast at all.

This post has been edited by Insanity-74: May 10, 2007 - 5:37 PM

[alltracman78]

That comes from owning and running a real GT4 for over 3 years now and trying all those plugs out....but what ever, have it your own way, I find that most advice I give here is either ignored or contradicted anyway so why should this be any different...........I wouldnt take my car anywhere near a Toyota garage as they dont know there arse from their elbows. The first and last time I took my car to a toyota garage they didnt even know what it was, and refused to work on it as it was to complicated for them, most of the advice you give is top notch but saying you work as a toyota tech is no boast at all.

It might work fine on your car.
From my personal experience [and the master techs at work, starting from when they used to change plugs more often] those plugs can and will cause problems. Not in every single engine they are in, but definitely in quite a few.
We used to have a pile of those type of plugs that had been replaced with Denso [we normally use those because they're OEM] or NGK in some instances, because of poor running issues.

Just like any other shop, it depends where you go.
Just because the dealer you went to had idiots working there in no way means all dealerships are full of idiots.
Assuming that is ridiculous and stupid.....

Mentioning I work as a Toyota tech was in no way a boast. It's not exactly a big deal. There are plenty of techs that do.
The reason I mentioned it was because I have seen problems with those plugs in Toyotas. Not just one car, or just one model or engine, but over the full spectrum of Toyotas.
Which I think gives me the right to contradict what you said.

[Insanity-74]

That comes from owning and running a real GT4 for over 3 years now and trying all those plugs out....but what ever, have it your own way, I find that most advice I give here is either ignored or contradicted anyway so why should this be any different...........I wouldnt take my car anywhere near a Toyota garage as they dont know there arse from their elbows. The first and last time I took my car to a toyota garage they didnt even know what it was, and refused to work on it as it was to complicated for them, most of the advice you give is top notch but saying you work as a toyota tech is no boast at all.

It might work fine on your car.
From my personal experience [and the master techs at work, starting from when they used to change plugs more often] those plugs can and will cause problems. Not in every single engine they are in, but definitely in quite a few.
We used to have a pile of those type of plugs that had been replaced with Denso [we normally use those because they're OEM] or NGK in some instances, because of poor running issues.

Just like any other shop, it depends where you go.
Just because the dealer you went to had idiots working there in no way means all dealerships are full of idiots.
Assuming that is ridiculous and stupid.....

Mentioning I work as a Toyota tech was in no way a boast. It's not exactly a big deal. There are plenty of techs that do.
The reason I mentioned it was because I have seen problems with those plugs in Toyotas. Not just one car, or just one model or engine, but over the full spectrum of Toyotas.
Which I think gives me the right to contradict what you said.

Well I guess we all give advice based on our own experiences and what we have learned over the years, and i must admit that I dont work on many other cars other than GT4`s, so my knowledge of other cars is limited, and yes, what works for one dosnt always work for others, but I dont know about other peoples experiences, all I can do is give information on what I have learned, which is what I do.
Maybe in America all dealerships are full of ace mechanics, but unfortunately ask 90% of GT4 owners if they would take there car to a Toyota dealer in the UK, and the answer would be "No" I have seeen more bodge jobs and dodgy repairs by so called Toyota mechanics than you would believe.
I will bow down to your greater knowledge and superior expetese....If you want to fit Denso plugs to a 3sgte then go for it, i`m sure it will be fine. I`ll shut up from now on and let you get on with it.

[Consynx]

too much text. . .so i didn't read, but i have to do this

where's the dead horse?

cuz it just got BEAT!

[alltracman78]

Maybe in America all dealerships are full of ace mechanics, but unfortunately ask 90% of GT4 owners if they would take there car to a Toyota dealer in the UK, and the answer would be "No" I have seeen more bodge jobs and dodgy repairs by so called Toyota mechanics than you would believe.

I wasn't trying to say dealerships are full of good techs.
There are ALOT of crappy ones. We have several where I work.
There are two main points to what I said.

1-Almost ANY shop you go to will have some good and some bad techs. and plenty of mediocre ones. How many of each depends on a lot of things.
When you go to a shop, you can get one or the other.

2-Just because you took your car to a dealership and had a bad experience in NO way means all dealers are bad. Period, end of story.
Dealers aren't even owned by the car company. 99% of them are independent owners.
So it's even more different than if it was a chain of shops.
And while there are certain things that are supposed to be the same, in reality they are very different from each other. Alot of what drives folks away from the dealer is price, and they're not set up for modded cars.

Out of that 90% you mentioned, how many have modded GT4s?
A dealer is NOT set up to work on aftermarket stuff. The techs aren't trained for it, nor do they have the references for it.
An oil change is one thing, but if you have a piggy back system, and the car is running bad, how do you expect the tech to work on it when he knows nothing about it? The first thing he's going to tell you is to remove it, and go from there.
YOU [general case, not specific] are the stupid one for expecting him to know this.

In addition to this, the majority of techs are good, but not experts. They can handle most normal stuff, but don't have the training/knowhow/intelligence to deal with the really complicated problems. Things that don't come along every day.
How does this make them stupid?
How many of you are average in what you do?
How many can honestly say they are experts in their fields?
Does this make you a dumba$$ too?
Or just a regular Joe?

That's what makes a Master Tech.
Someone a bit smarter, more knowledgeable and experienced that the normal tech.

too much text. . .so i didn't read, but i have to do this

where's the dead horse?

cuz it just got BEAT!

Naw man, it's not dead yet, I saw it twitch.
It needs a few more blows.

[neoklis]

The argument with Toyota techs is getting out of hand. Just tocalm things down you are both right.
You have to consider that there are too many variables here. Firstly, not all Toyota are the same. So you cannot assume that if something works right on a coroll in the U.S. it will work the same on a GT4 i Australia. Then you have temperatures and fuel quality and a number of other issues to think about.

Well it seems that the only clean result is that you cannot go wrong with NGK.