To be fair, I use ECT PWR mode almost 100% of the time now, which raises the shift points and slows down the stupid gear hunting the 3rd gen Tacoma’s are known for, but in raising the RPM range of the up/down shifts you do tend to feel the engine braking much more then in reg mode… My MPG seems to be a little better also as it is not lugging around in too high a gear all the time… I like to say that I also may notice it more just being a transmission guy, but it’s mostly cause I am not trying to bounce my puppy off the hammock in the back seat when slowing down, so I am constantly adjusting my braking pressure slowing down to be as smooth as possible, but my fur baby has gotten his sea legs working pretty good now…
I’m guessing those are Iridium plugs. Your spark plug replacement interval is supposed to be 75,000 miles, so at 113K I would expect some excessive wear. Mazda OEM plugs (and their NGK aftermarket counterparts) are pre-gapped. I would still check them when they are new, but I wouldn’t pull them prior to the 75,000 mile interval for checking and gapping to make sure the threads don’t get scuffed and then seize in the engine.
The pictures of the plugs that came out look worn, but the carbon on them looks fairly normal for 113K miles. Hopefully you put the new plugs in using the correct torque spec as it is only 11 to 15 ft-lbs. Too much twist and the insulators start to crack and you will eventually get misfires.
You can usually get the NGK aftermarket version of the plugs pretty reasonably at Rock Auto online. Mazda wanted close to $30 a plug for mine and Rock Auto had them for $13 as NGK plugs (no Mazda branding on them but they are the same plug with the same NGK part number as the Mazda plug).
I think you are spot on.
Bought it at 88k - couldn’t verify if the previous owner did it or not.
Youtube seems to say 100k-120k. Perhaps the short drives we did caused the Sparks to wear. Once in a while the car didn’t start at the first try - thought that it was sparks - other than that there were no symptoms. I regret for not doing it earlier - perhaps price would have been better too!
I tend to buy at RockAuto - but lately with their shipping its comparable to local stores.
I asked Mazda for their part details and then bought it at the local store $19/piece. @bing was quoting Acura price - why not buy it ellsewhere?
If the carbon is normal - bit of oil is normal then I am fine - #2 & #3 came off easily due to oil. Believe my Acura’s didn’t have this much! They were not Platinum so I changed them early - believe $20 for a set on sale.
The plugs you removed were Mazda plugs. If those were replaced at 75,000 miles they would look much newer and the electrodes would not be so worn. My guess is that they are the factory original plugs.
I find that the Rock Auto price on plugs, even with shipping, is considerably cheaper than the dealer. That may be because I am driving a 2022 and 2023 Mazda, both with turbos, that require plugs every 40,000 miles.
Mazda OEM plugs and the corresponding aftermarket NGK part (which are the same) are pre-gapped. If I received such plugs and the gaps were wrong I would simply exchange them for ones that were not damaged in shipping (the most likely reason for gap changes).
If you own a Mazda with SkyActive technology, I would not recommend anything but Mazda or NGK plugs (with the OEM part number).
I heard they are too brittle to bend. Not like the old days. But then get one out of whack, return it, they put it back on the shelf. Next guy gets it. I’m thinking just better to throw it away. Called paying it forward for the next guy.
These days though I’m concerned about look alike identical to the real thing. Guess the dealer is the best best.
I’ve never reinstalled used spark plugs, seems a very risky idea. Caution: I’m just a pin-head no-nothing diy’er , so your best bet is to seek out a highly recommended shop’s pro advice. Bring wallet.
My understanding is that the side electrode on IR plugs is the same as traditional plugs, bending is ok (within reason). But the center electrode isn’t the same, brittle and easy to damage if any force is applied to it. Folks who adjust the gap on IR’s successfully must have a method to bend the side electrode without applying force to the center. When I adjust the gap on my older vehicle’s traditional plugs, my method does apply some force to the center electrode, so that method wouldn’t be used on IR plugs presumably. .
Back in the 70’s many shops had spark-plug cleaners. Basically a mini sandblaster. You put the pug tip in there and it cleans the tip. You re-gap the plug and reinstall.
Ditto. And I’ve bought supposedly OEM spec plugs that have needed the gaps adjusted. (Well, if you want them to be right, anyway).
It’s the center electrode these days that’s “fragile.” (The platinums and iridiums and whatever). The ground side is about the same (as far as I can tell).
The problem is if you try to increase the gap (if needed) by prying between the center and ground. That can damage the center - wasn’t a problem on old copper cores. So you just need a gapping tool that adjusts the ground electrode without getting onto the center. I just use this thing for all of about $2:
If dealing with a performance engine with a carb and dist, then you can pull the spark plugs in order to “read” the plugs, you can see if your timing is optimal by where the “burn mark” is on the ground/side electrode, as well as how rich/lean it is… If your carb gets out of adjustment (temp change etc) you can pull the plugs to read them, clean and re-gap and re-install them…
But that is an old school thing and basically not needed in todays OEM engines with all the sensors…
BTW: If you remove the spark plug for whatever reason and go to re-install them and the threads are leaving anti-seize on your fingers, don’t add anymore anti-seize to them…
If the spark plugs were cleaned and the treads are dry, then add a very thin film of anti-seize to the treads, it doesn’t take much…
I use a Snap-on gapper that looks like this one (see pic below)…
(just remember since you can’t do a typical interference measurement/gap check), it will be a little loose, so gap them 0.002" to 0.003" smaller to end up with a fairly close correct gap for the Platinum and Iridium type spark plugs… Again it is an experience thing…