This past saturday i changed plugs on my 4Runer I have the 3vze with 106K on the odometer.. When i pulled the old plugs out (Not sure how long they have been in there) But as easy as they were to get out I don't think its been all that long I found HEAVY ash deposits on the end of the plug on the electrode... In my handy dandy service manual i found that the ash deposits were caused by fuel and or oil additives.. I ran Lucas fuel injector cleaner about a month and a half ago in it to a full tank of gas.. within the past 15 days i noticed that my truck had an intermittent miss during idle and at some RPM's.. After chaning my plugs and putting a new air filter in the miss was gone.. I wish I would have taken pictures of the one plug that im almost positive was giving me my miss.. But i wrote this to maybe warn people that fuel injector cleaner may cause more harm than help.

 

that migth have done it. anytime you run any kind of injector cleaner that burns, you should change plugs. personally what i always did was dip the ashy electrode in gasoline, then pull it out, sand it, and pop it back in the gas to clean off the sandy residue, then put it back in my dirtbike. worked really well, and saved me a lot of money on plugs. dont ask me why i used fuel injector cleaner on a 2 stroke honda CR125, but it made it run a lot better, just fouled plugs more often. (which i cleaned with gasoline) hehee.. maybe that trick will work with you...

 

Yea but the 3.0 plugs are a pita.

 

Yes.. I agree.. I had planned on changing the plugs out at the same time I put the fuel injector cleaner in my tank. Actualy I believe that i got the lucas and the plugs on the same day.. But being that the plugs looked to be alot worse to change than they actually were I had put it off for a while.. But when this miss began to worsen I decided that it was time to take a saturday and put some love into the truck and do them up.. I was highly surprised that they weren't all that hard to do. And for running it in your dirt bike it probably acted as an octane booster or something.

 

thats what i thought. though the gas mileage was horrible with it... maybe i ended up making the gas burn too hot, for the engine threw a rod and died.

 

Idk, i guess its not that big of a pita, i did a compression test at the same time and i think that was the worst part. except that number 5 cyl.

 

so just like the 22re... #4 cylinder is the PITA

 

Yea, the 5cy i had to remove the charcol cannister (was easy) but then had to fight to get the plug, in and out because the ac line was in the way of my extensions.

Oh well, its done, and hopefully i won't have to worry about it for a while

 

Never had this issue using BG's 44K and I use it once a year for the last 4 years I've had the 4Runner and I ran it in my Eclipse for 8 years.