Yuck. We did knock sensors on my son's Silverado earlier this year and missed one of the plugs...had to tear the whole intake back off. They weren't as bad to get to as that Toyota looks, though, and there's tons of room under the hood of a Silverado.

I will say, never buy a minivan. We had a Chevy Venture for a while, and it was like doing laproscopic surgery every time I had to do any work on that thing. The hood only exposed about 25% of the engine, the rest was back under the cowl, and anything you had to do back there involved groping around in the dark. You had to undo motor mounts or even drop the cradle for even simple stuff, and stuff broke a lot. Minivans are for people who hate themselves and have given up on life.

^^^ Then you don't want a Toyota Previa.

The first thing you'll have to do to swap the spark plugs is to remove the driver's seat and floor...

quote:

Originally posted by .38supersig:
^^^ Then you don't want a Toyota Previa.

The first thing you'll have to do to swap the spark plugs is to remove the driver's seat and floor...

Yeah...I'd be tempted to set that on fire and roll it down a hill, lol.

On the other hand, at least you can do that and don't have to remove the motor instead. My first car was a full-size Chevy conversion van, and you could pull the doghouse between the driver and passenger seats and work on the back of the engine from inside the van. It was really easy...2 bolts and two clamps, iirc. Not really a bad arrangement at all.

I found a pic (not mine).



Can't see the plugs? Nope! There are many things that still need to be removed.

The only time you will see them is once they are out of the engine.

I have no kind words for whomever designed this.

^^^ Previa? 1990s vintage Toyota Previa The ones I remember from the 1990s, however, had visible spark plug wires. You could see them from underneath if it was on a hoist, but the ~8-inch long wire boots couldn't be removed without breaking them in two, which is obviously not an option when putting it back together, so you took out the passenger seat, peeled back the carpet and a floor access panel. Another thing: when you opened the hood, belts and pulleys were visible, but they were attached to the engine by a drive shaft about a foot and a half long. And if you wanted to replace the front struts, the top nuts for the right side were under the glove box, which could be accessed through a little removable panel, or the whole thing taken out. (Memory is a little fuzzy on that one, as is how you got to the left side.) Weird, to be sure. This situation was dictated mostly by the stylists - there was no other place to put things.

I got a serious road test in on the Tacoma today.
Around 75 miles round trip, with three start/stop cycles.
I have been so busy lately I have slightly neglected mowing grass at the cabin.
On the days I actually had time, it rained.
When I was busy, it was impossible to trailer the Kubota BX2370 up to the cabin, simply not enough hours in the day.
With hooking up the trailer, loading the Kubota, driving to the cabin, unloading the tractor, mowing for ~ five hours, and then doing everything in reverse heading for home, it kills most of a day.
I typically fuel the diesel Kubota heading towards the cabin, and a second diesel fuel fill-up on the way back home.

The grass was really bad today, I needed to mow the field completely, twice. Six hours in the tractor seat today.
The first time for mowing, the second time for blowing the cut/dried grass off the lawn.
A hay baler actually would have been useful today.
I checked my calendar, it had been 29 days since the last mowing at the cabin, and we have had boatloads of rain.
If the weather forecast stays nice for the upcoming Saturday, it's time to Bush Hog the food plot field down in the middle of the woods.

That Tacoma is a much nicer tow vehicle that my Jeep Rubicon, the Tacoma has around 100 horsepower advantage compared to the Rubicon.
The Tacoma worked perfectly today, and that is a good thing.

I watched a video last week of someone changing the timing chain tensioners on a Tundra, which are located at the front of the engine, at the top/front of the heads. I'm watching, and the next thing you know the guy is taking the windshield wipers off!!!

Yep the wipers have to come off because the cowl and all that stuff has to come off, to to get the intake off, to get the...

quote:

Originally posted by cas:
Yep the wipers have to come off because the cowl and all that stuff has to come off, to to get the intake off, to get the...

I did that on my Camry with the V6 when I changed plugs and coil packs. Front 3 were easy. Here's a pic right after taking the plenum off...



Thankfully when I did our Highlander there was enough room and didn't have to go that far. That job went a lot faster

^^^ Same on a Nissan Maxima with the 3.5 V6 "VQ" engine ... another one with an internal, timing-chain-driven water pump.

In 2015 I did a steering rack gear in a circa 2011 Tundra. Book (labor guide) time on that was ~16 hours. With the necessary alignment it took more like 23-24. Why? Because the engine had to be removed first.

I saw your Toyota post and dam if I don't get off the forum and go next door to back my Tundra out of the barn and out runs a mouse from under the truck as I am backing out......

I Put some poison bait out and am headed to get some mouse repellent, of course not sure that works but what the heck else can be done except lock a cat in there with no food???

Once the vehicle manufacturers started making wiring with "soy" based insulation, it suddenly became a problem.
I read online that both Honda and Toyota sell an electrical tape with capsicum in the tape.
I read a post that someone (human) tried a taste of the tape, and it had a really good "burn" to it.

Sadly, but all of that is for after the repairs.
Drive the vehicle every day?
Keep the domesticated cats really hungry?
Use a horse and buggy instead of cars & trucks?

Not a whole hell of a lot of options that really keep the mice away.

https://www.box-kat.com/blogs/...d-wiring-2025-update

The link above has a link to the Honda rodent tape.

I have had pretty good success in my shop building making inexpensive mouse death buckets. They even work in the winter with non-toxic RV antifreeze in the bucket.
Do not use regular antifreeze as it is highly toxic, you wouldn't want kids or pets getting into it.

https://www.trap-anything.com/...made-mouse-trap.html

Thanks

I think I will try the bucket

Putting the poison out may not be working as well as it should

We don’t let the dog in to the barn but a stray cat or other critter can get in so the non toxic antifreeze is a good idea