I purchased a used 2000 Camry and it is a great car. It had 68K miles when purchased and now has 75K. Runs perfect but I thought changing the plugs might be a good idea since I don’t know when they were last changed.
The front 3 plugs are easy. The back 3 look like a nightmare! It seems the throttle body and air intake are directly over the plugs, it is tough just to see them.
-Does changing the plugs on these V6’s have to be shop job? Can I do it myself?
-How much stuff do you remove to get the back plugs.
-Any special tools and/or tricks to doing the job?
I plan to pull a couple of the front plugs to see what they look like when I can get the car away from my son.
Look at it from the floor of the garage. I’ll stay here at the computer where it’s warm.
The consensus with these fellows is that it’s doable with 6" extension bars, and wobblies (u-joints), without removing parts: http://camryforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1542
I’ve changed the plugs on a V6 Camry as well as on a Highlander with the same engine. The rear three are a challenge but it can be done. It helps to remove the rubber air intake to the throttle body and move aside or disconnect cables or hoses that restrict access but you don’t have to remove the intake manifold.
Consider using a locking extension for the spark plug socket. If the extension comes out of the socket while it’s down in the spark plug tube, you’ll have a very difficult time extracting it.
A very good “heads up” on the danger of loosing your connection with your socket. I don’t often think of mentioning such things.
Good pointer on the locking extension. This has happened to me. It was on a plug that was an easy one. My solution that worked for the day was to put some dialectric grease on the plug socket so it released the plugs easier. But if that happened on a tough plug to get to, oh baby! Thanks