We had a warm weekend a little while ago and with 160K on my Camry I decided to get some overdue maintenance done. New plugs, new coil packs (because I had it apart) and some new gaskets.

Front 3 plugs and coil packs done in 10 minutes and I'm thinking to myself things are going well .

The back 3... well that was another 3+ hours .






Not shown in this image, but I did cover things with some clean rags to prevent crap from dropping in.

Overall there was minimal swearing, but dang I don't know why they had to hide those back three.

Really, would it kill them to make the whole car 8 inches longer and put all 8 of them between the engine and the firewall?

Screw CAFE standards. I'm sure that any monetary fuel savings are eaten up by increased repair costs.

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Originally posted by whanson_wi:
Really, would it kill them to make the whole car 8 inches longer and put all 8 of them between the engine and the firewall?

Screw CAFE standards. I'm sure that any monetary fuel savings are eaten up by increased repair costs.

I've never worked on a V6 - or any transverse mounted engine for that matter - so forgive me if this is a stupid question but...

Would it be possible/make sense to put an access panel on the firewall to get at the plugs from inside the vehicle?

Did you replace the intake manifold gasket?

That is how most of them are. Pick your brand, most V6 engines have the intake plenum over one bank of the plugs. Usually the locking clip on the coil connector will break off also. Leading to replacement of the connector. Its also worse living in the OH, in the rust and corrosion belt. If you had it sone in that time frame, you did well.

This is to make the intake runners long enough for the desired performance characteristics and still fit under the hood. (How Honda does without it is an exercise left to the viewer.) Some of these are easier than others. This one is tied with the 3.5 VQ engine in the Nissan Maxima for difficulty. Ford and Chrysler are a little easier. I understand new Highlanders are tough. Be sure the little vacuum lines go back correctly or sometime later you'll get an engine light on.

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Did you replace the intake manifold gasket?

While it's better to have them and not need them than the reverse and have to make another trip to the parts store, I replaced or, as long as they remain pliable and not squashed, reused them on a case-by-case basis.

Transverse engines suck. The only one we currently have is a 4 cylinder, so at least the plugs are on the top, but the accessories and belt are still jammed into the side of the engine bay. Were it up to me, we'd only own trucks.

Just be happy it's not a minivan. All the same problems, but you get even worse access because half the engine is back under the cowl. Even simple stuff is a nightmare. I had to drop the cradle and lower the entire motor to get the alternator out of my old Venture. 15 minute job on my truck was a couple of hours in that POS. I owned that thing for 2 years and it seemed like I was fighting something under that hood at least once a week during the entire time we had it.

What year? I have a 94 as my daily beater, I can just get the plugs in the back but I have to tune up my cuss words to do it... My rear valve cover is leaking a little and guess what... It will still be leaking next year...

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Looks like no fun at all.

Cadillac made a few transverse V8s back in the day. They weren't COP though.

I would rather change plugs in those or as yours is all day long before changing the plugs in a f'ing Toyota Previa.

I'm going to drop my Lexus V6 off at a friend's place and go drink beer while he quickly swaps the plugs. I think the Lexus will thank me.

SES light on in my 2012 Wrangler, code indicates bad switch or damaged wiring, switch is included with the Dorman replacement oil cooler and filter housing that is metal instead of the POS plastic one that FCA used.

So switch fails, to replace it, AGAIN the upper and lower intake manifolds have to be pulled to access the cooler to be able to replace the switch. So another three or so hours to repair a repair done six months ago…….

Guess it makes too much sense to make the coolant and oil pressure switch accessible without tearing the engine down….

This was on a 2012 Camry.

quote:

Originally posted by whanson_wi:
Really, would it kill them to make the whole car 8 inches longer and put all 8 of them between the engine and the firewall?

An extra 8" back there would certainly have made it easier.

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:
Would it be possible/make sense to put an access panel on the firewall to get at the plugs from inside the vehicle?

I'm not sure - there's not a lot of room under the dash - that and I don't bend as easy as I did 20 years ago .

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Originally posted by 4MUL8R:
Did you replace the intake manifold gasket?

Yup - that and the throttle body gasket. They looked like they were in decent shape, but put new ones in as I'd read some people had issues re-using those.

I was pretty careful with the clips going to the coil packs - thankfully none broke.

I took lots of pictures- especially for each vacuum hose I took off to ensure I got them back on and routed correctly.

I had been putting it off because I knew it was going to be a PITA. Now that I've done it I'll probably end up doing my SO's 2019 Highlander and her son's 2010 Camry when the time comes. Just need to plan enough time.

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Originally posted by shovelhead:
SES light on in my 2012 Wrangler...

Does that have a Pentastar engine?

My SO's sister called a couple weeks ago saying she had 0 oil pressure, but the oil level was full and other than making a little more noise than normal (it was pretty cold that day) that it seemed to run OK. I suspected the oil sending unit (and thankfully it was), but found out where that was (under the lower intake manifold) and opted not to do that one. I felt a little guilty because it cost her quite a lot but I really didn't want that responsibility. Who thought it would be a good location for those sensors?

Did you get the back intake brace bolts started and in or, how long before you said F*** it?
Siennas are worse because you have to pull the wiper assemblys out too.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: MoosehornMan,

Transverse V6s are brutal. The only company I know that doesn't (or didn't as this was a while ago) is Honda. Coworker had a mid-2000s Accord V6 and the intake runners sat entirely in the vee so the back bank was just as easy to get at as the front. He said he was gonna do it on our lunch break and I laughed, thinking he didn't know what he was in for. Went outside to see and sure enough, back bank totally open and easy to reach.

quote:

Originally posted by MoosehornMan:
Siennas are worse because you have to pull the wiper assemblies out too.

Swapping plugs in a Previa begins with removing the drivers seat, pulling the carpet out, and unbolting a small panel in the floor...

You may want to take the battery cable off first, but the battery is located under the van.

And I thought our former Flex & sister's Edge were bad.
The Flex wasn't terrible, but did have to remove the upper plenum. The Edge had even less space between the rear bank & firewall/bulkhead.

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Originally posted by .38supersig:

quote:

Originally posted by MoosehornMan:
Siennas are worse because you have to pull the wiper assemblies out too.

Swapping plugs in a Previa begins with removing the drivers seat, pulling the carpet out, and unbolting a small panel in the floor...

You may want to take the battery cable off first, but the battery is located under the van.

But who else made a mid-engine, supercharged minivan, from the factory?

My dad had a '57 Chevy Bel Air. He was only able to replace 7 of the 8 spark plugs, the last requiring dropping the engine. He never replaced that one.

In related news, I purchased six plugs from a reputable online vendor. $65! Yes, the plugs are NGK. Yes, the plugs are maximum performance. However, this young man remembers putting plugs in cars in 1978 at the service station and each plug was less than $1.

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this young man remembers putting plugs in cars in 1978 at the service station and each plug was less than $1.

This young man remembers taking my old plugs to the auto parts store and screwing them into that little sand blaster they had on the counter to clean them up... 8 dollars in 1970 would get you a six pack, couple of drive-in tickets, two burgers and gas to get you and your girl there and back...who had money for new plugs...lol

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