spark plugs for 97 tercel

The plugs are listed on a sticker under the hood. The plugs themselves have the part number printed on them.

A quick check of partsamerica.com shows the following choices, (I suggest getting the same plugs as you take out)

Autolite Ignition 3924 Standard Spark Plug: Gap .044

Autolite Ignition APP3924 Premium Spark Plug: Double Platinum; Gap .044

Autolite Ignition AP3924 Premium Spark Plug: Platinum; Gap .044

Champion 318 Copper Plus: Rc12mc4; Gap .044

Champion 7318 Double Platinum: Gap .044

Champion 3318 Platinum Power: Gap .044

ACDelco 41602 Standard; @ Gap .044" @

ACDelco 41800 Platinum; @ Gap .044" @

NGK 6953 V-Power Plug; BKR5E-11; DOHC; @ Gap .044 @

NGK 5464 Iridium IX Plug; BKR5EIX-11; DOHC; @ Gap Do Not Re

NGK 7090 G-Power Platinum Plug; BKR5EGP; DOHC; @ Gap .044 @

NGK 3967 Standard Plug, BKR5EKB-11; DOHC; @ Gap .044 @

NGK 4302 OE Style Laser Platinum; BKR5EKPB-11; DOHC; @ Gap .044 @

Bosch 4418 Platinum+4: 5E-FE; Do not Gap

Bosch 4301 Platinum2 Plug: Gap Pre-Set; For 4418

Bosch 4301 Platinum2: 5E-FE; Do not Gap

Bosch 4202 Platinum Plug: 5e-Fe; Gap=.044

Bosch 7557 Super Plug: 5e-Fe; Gap .044

Accel 0786 U-Groove Resistor; Spark Plug:

Accel 8192 U-Groove Resistor Blister-Pak; Spark Plug: 4 Pc. Of Pn0786:

Unfortunately, I can't remember which pulg is correct, but I believe you need to use the double platinum electrode type. I did in my '95; and there was a sticker on the car.

Thanks for the help. There's no label on my hood, so I guess I should check with the dealership.

hachiroku wrote:

tom24 snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:

If your vehicle has the "wasted spark" coil-over-plug arrangement with NO distributor, then you need to use the double-ground electrode plugs, like the OEM-spec ND K16TR-11 or NGK BKR5EKB-11.

If you DO have a distributor, you can use single-electrode plugs, but I do not know the part number. A phone call to your dealer's parts department will give you the answer quickly and painlessly.

Platinums are optional and cost more, but last longer.

is a good source of information for Toyotas and has forums.

General rules of thumb:

Japanese car -- Japanese spark plugs (Nippondenso/Denso, NGK) American or Chrysler car -- American spark plugs (AC, Autolite, Champion) German car (except Chrysler) -- German spark plugs (Beru, Bosch)

Avoid brands not listed in the owner's manual or factory repair manual. It doesn't mean they're bad, only they're more likely to not be exactly right for your vehicle. Toyota factory manuals are excellent and much easier to understand than aftermarket manuals, such as Haynes and Chilton's.

I've never heard of NGKs not working well, and they seem to be a must for Hondas, but Densos should be good for any Toyota because Denso was essentially created by Toyota.

Always select plugs by vehicle, not merely by the original plugs, which may cross to something inapproprate. I learned this when a store crossed the Champions from my Chrysler 318 with Densos that ran too cool.

Single platinums can give 60,000-mile+ life with mechanical distributors, but with electronic distributors you'll need double platinums for long life with half the cylinders because they fire in reverse polarity to ignite the fuel. Some vehicle manufacturers save money by installing double platinums only on those cylinders.

can help you select the correct NGK brand plug, and they show the factory originals for your vehicle having dual ground electrodes but offer single ground electrode plugs for it as well.

A coupla mechanics in well-known service places in town stressed the importance of part numbers in the owners manual (listed above). They say that for Toyotas (might even be referring to Tercels in particular), it makes alot more difference than other cars. On my 97 tercell, I saw

2 large sparkplug-like grommets on top of the engine, and two even larger square things with thick, spark-ish wires leading to the 2 grommets. Since they didn't come out easy, person looking at it with me suggested checking with someone more familiar with my model to be sure that we weren't yanking on something other than spark plugs. Went to the local Toyota place. They confirmed that yes, those were them. The parts guy was kind enough was print out an explosion diagram of how they come out. The grommets were indeed spark plug boots, and the wire leading from square thing to grommet comes straight up out of the square thing. The square things are bolted down by a single screw from atop.

Speaking of getting explosion diagrams from dealers/service places, it is odd that Chilton & Haynes didn't publish repair manuals for the Tercel beyond 1994.

Tercel Owner wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@Tercel.com:

You are describing the coil-over plug setup. You need dual ground electrodes.

Thanks for the pointer. I wasn't really intending to replace the spark plugs, just check them for oil deposit (but they were all clear). I have significant oil loss, and it doesn't seem to be an external leak, and it doesn't show up in the exhaust, which is clear. If there was oil deposits on the spark plugs, I would conclude that it was entering the combustion chamber, despite lack of other corroborating indicators. Though they were all clear, a local and reknowned mechanic said that it would be visible in the exhaust or spark plugs unless oil was being loss at a very gross level -- much more than my current 0.6-0.7L/1000km.

Tercel Owner

Tercel Owner wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@Tercel.com:

Check the PCV system.

Actually, I did that extensively.

Thanks.

Tercel Owner wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@Tercel.com:

As has been already pointed out, oil that is not leaking onto the ground but being consumed anyway can come from only three places: Worn oil control rings; worn valve guide seals; PCV system.

Infrequent oil changes will severely limit ring and valve guide seal life. Worn valve guide oil seals will typically manfest themselves as a puff of blue smoke on startup, before the catalytic converter is hot enough to burn up the oil.

Until usage gets below about 300 miles per quart (500km/L), oil consumption due to worn rings will not show up in the exhaust because the catalytic converter will burn it up. Even the plugs will stay clean if they are firing properly, which with your wasted-spark arrangement, they will. Your ring test checks the COMPRESSION Rings ONLY. You have not (cannot) checked the OIL rings.

I do not know your oil change frequency, but your rear main seal leak is indicative of infrequent oil changes. Modern oil seals last forever with frequent changes. I think your motor has had it.

TeGGeR® wrote: >Tercel Owner wrote: >>"TeGGeR®" wrote: >>>Tercel Owner wrote: >>>>...I have significant oil loss, and it doesn't seem to be an >>>>external leak, and it doesn't show up in the exhaust, which is >>>>clear. If there was oil deposits on the spark plugs, I would >>>>conclude that it was entering the combustion chamber, despite lack >>>>of other corroborating indicators. Though they were all clear, a >>>>local and reknowned mechanic said that it would be visible in the >>>>exhaust or spark plugs unless oil was being loss at a very gross >>>>level -- much more than my current 0.6-0.7L/1000km. >>>

My 89 Tercel didn't burn oil noticably at all when I replaced it several years ago. Even my current 97 Tercel didn't burn oil noticably before I (presumably) cracked the oil pan and burned out the engine...thus the reason for the current used engine, which does burn oil.

Actually, there *was* significant /black/ smoke puffing out the tail pipe, on starting only. This went away when the valve seals were replaced. I was quite suspicious at the time, cuz the the engine had very low mileage (about 125,000km/77,670miles, less than the original engine). The only cause I can think of was neglect of the engine by the original owner, though I didn't understand why the valve seals would be impacted -- I thought oil was bad for rubber. However, I knew very little about this area, and in any case, wasn't ready to make a big noise over it with my mechanic.

Thanks for clarifying. The local master guru said 300km/L, but he might have meant 300 miles, too. He did not explain the cat part, but it did occur to me. I am concerned that my cat would be gummed up, since I've been driving it for 4 months -- approximately

4800km/3000miles.

That is certainly useful to know.

My oil changes were very regular, but I cracked my oil pan and burned out my engine. This is a replacement used engine (not rebuilt). Someone else also pointed to the original leaky valve seals and suggested that it was an abused engine, and basically said the engine was shot. He declined to elaborate on why the valve seals would be impacted (as well as on a host of other suspicions that he put forth), so I noted his comments but didn't pursue it further. As I mentioned, reluctance to contradict my mechanic in an area of my ignorance was a large part of that, especially considering his repeated insistence that it was a good engine. Thanks for all your clarifications above.

Speaking of gumming up the cat, is it a simple job to check it? I'm wondering if it would be worthwhile to ask him to do that.

Finally, someone suggested that you might be in Canada...I suppose that it was incorrect, since you're use to dealing with miles rather than km? If you are in Canada, would you be willing to say what area of Canada?

Tercel Owner wrote in news:42a47238 snipped-for-privacy@x-privat.org:

The rubber that valve seals are made of is meant to be immersed in oil.

In use, oil picks up all sorts of contaminants, from soot to acids to water. This is the primary reason it needs to be changed at timely intervals. Those same contaminants will eventually damage the seals if there are too much of them. I'm not sure why, if it's abrasion or some chemical reaction between the rubber and the contaminants.

Well, around that mark, anyway. Your guy's number sounds more like it, actually. Your consumption has to be REALLY bad before it shows. In the old days it would show up a lot sooner because there was no cat to mask it.

I don't think 4 months is enough to do any sort of damage with 1K mi/qt consumption. It may not even be enough to cause you to fail an emissions test.

Frankly, that sounds like a fair assessment based on the evidence presented so far. This is the risk of buying a used engine. It might have only 125K km on it, but what kind of care did it have? That's critical, and is something only the previous owner knows for sure.

He declined to elaborate on why the valve seals would be

I don't know. Philip or MDT Tech would be the ones to answer that one. Do you have smog checks where you are?

In Ontario. I grew up with Imperial and my continued use of Imperial is personal preference. Also most posters here are American, so here I get to talk the language I want. I'm fluent in both systems.

TeGGeR® wrote: >>>Until usage gets below about 300 miles per quart [of oil] (500km/L) >>>oil consumption due to worn rings will not show up in the exhaust >>>because the catalytic converter will burn it up. >>

Actually, this information was provided by a mechanic other than my own.

Yes, it does complicate troubleshooting in the short term. Over the long term, the cat gets it, and emissions will then degrade.

That's true. And even if the damage was not due to abuse, there doesn't seem to be a way for anyone (including my mechanic) to verify the mileage specified for the engine. So the state of the engine might even be due to high mileage.

No, I've never heard of such. We just have emissions tests every time a driver's license is renewed.

Duh. Took me a second...Imperial is also the name of a local shop, as well as a well-known gas/oil company. But got your point.

If you have a practice near the Ottawa region, I wouldn't mind dropping by in the future. I'll send you an email if you're open to that.

Tercel Owner wrote in news:42a5a91f snipped-for-privacy@x-privat.org:

Smog test = emissions test. Same thing.

If you're near Ottawa then you have Ontario's DriveClean biennial test that was modeled after (and designed by the same company as) Georgia's smog check.

I have to go for those too. Wanna see our results?

I don't have a practice. I'm just a shade-tree grease monkey.

Comboverfish and MDT Tech are working techs. Philip used to be one, but he's retired now.

Tercel Owner wrote in news:42a5a91f snipped-for-privacy@x-privat.org:

A long-shot thing I just thought of now: If the engine has been poorly cared-for and has developed sludge, and if it subsequently spends an extended length of time immobile, the oil control rings can stick, causing increased oil consumption. The cure is an engine flush.

How likely this is for you I can't say.

TeGGeR® wrote: >

TeGGeR®. It's can be a bit of a sanity check. > A long-shot thing I just thought of now: If the engine has been > poorly cared-for and has developed sludge, and if it subsequently > spends an extended length of time immobile, the oil control rings > can stick, causing increased oil consumption. The cure is an engine > flush. How likely this is for you I can't say.

I did some googling of engine flushing. As you said, it is a possibility, though I'm a bit hesitant do that at the moment. For grossly neglected engines, there is a possibility of sludge coming off the engine internals and clogging the sump filter. Granted, though, a local car-care instructor expects that it would more likely get caught by the oil filter.

A more gradual way to clean away sludge accumulation seems to be to change the oil at smaller intervals than 5000km for a few oil changes. The explanation is that the oil acts like a cleaner, which licks away at internal sludge coatings until they are dissolved. I suppose that the reason for the more frequent oil changes is that the oil saturates with contaminants in less time, due to the gross amounts of internal sludge.

Given that the engine oil has been receiving frequent, sizable top-offs (due to servicing & troubleshooting) and even an entire oil change at much less than the recommended interval, I would have expected to see the oil loss being mitigated a bit over the past

4 months. However, there seems to be no change. Granted, it is a short time over which to make this observation. I'll mull over the risk of trying the engine flush, which also includes hassling my mechanic further.

I'm wondering if there is much point to doing this if the engine truly has been abused. The valve seals have been replaced, and the compression rings are good. If the oil rings really are sticking, and improve after the flush, is there much else that can go wrong? Based on my simplified view of the engine, it seems like not. However, I'm also considering that much of the work in replacing the rear main seals is about the same as replacing the engine (according to discussion with friends). The natural question is why not change the engine too? The answer would depend on what other likely and possible problems there are with the current engine, which seems to have been abused, as well as how likely it would be for the replacement engine to be in similar or worse condition. A lot of guessing.

Thanks for the info, TeGGeR®.