Spark Plugs - Dutch Owners manual says 90k km

Actually the US maintenance schedule is 120K miles except extended to 150K miles in California.

My guess is that the region maintenance schedules are partly based upon local regulations and marketing considerations.

 

my guess is driving 90,000 km in Netherlands amounts to the same engine hrs and wear and tear than driving 120,000 miles in USA.

 

this ^

 

I consistently hear that European oil is superior to US oil. What if European gasoline is inferior to US gas?

 

I agree: a couple of inches more clearance and I think you would be able to remove the spark plugs without all this nonsense. If you haven't found it, you really should watch @NutzAboutBolts video on how to access the spark plugs, here:

Nutz About Bolts Prius Maintenance Videos | PriusChat

(video 13)

There's another issue with 3rd gens, which tends to rear it's head around 100,000~150,000 miles, the EGR cooler, valve, pipe and intake manifold can clog. Having the cowl and wipers off for spark plug replacement, that might also be an opportune time to look at EGR. And, a little early, but removal of the EGR cooler necessitates coolant line disconnect, so coolant change?

It just cascades...

 

I don't think it's excessive burder to do that maintenance every 100,000 miles or so.

 

It sure opens things up. Our previous Civic was similar: for spark plugs or valve clearance check, or getting at the engine block coolant drain bolt, you needed to take off similar cowl. At least wipers and motors could stay in place.

 

If the manual says 90,000km or 60,000 miles, I am guessing it is possible there is platinum spark plugs in there. I would suggest swapping them out as the schedule says until you know what type of spark plugs they are.

The American/Canadian schedule assumes there is stock Iridium tipped spark plugs that would last 190,000km or 120,000 miles.

 

Spark plug is spec' on owner's manual?

 

This is an excerpt from Canadian 2014 maintenance guide, for all Toyota vehicles with iridium plugs:


(Translates roughly to 120K miles or 12 years)

 

While they don't need to be -replaced- very often, I think it might be wise to remove them and put anti-seize grease on the threads then reinstall them every 50,000 km or so. So when you DO need to replace them you can actually get them out!

On Pearl (Gen II) I didn't have to remove the cowl or wipers when I put anti-seize on them, though it was called for in the instructions. It was tight but I managed. Is the Gen III even tighter?

 

Yeah, the coil can be unbolted and pulled up a bit, but hits the cowl before it's high enough to be angled up-and-out of the spark plug well. It's really a bonehead design shortcoming. @NutzAboutBolts video is invaluable for how to pull off the cowl. The instruction is buried in the Repair Manual, but the video is a lot easier to find and follow.

A little data: third gen spark plug torque with dry threads is 15 ft/lb. I guestimated 12~13 ft/lb when I inspected and reinstalled them with a very sparing coating of anti-seize. I used a 9/16" spark plug socket, and I believe the kosher is actually 14 mm, which is slightly more snug.

Funny: someone following the Repair Manual instruction "to the letter" used a torque wrench when reinstalling the diminutive 10 mm (socket size) coil hold-down bolts. Except, he misread inch/pounds as foot/pounds: put his hefty torque wrench on the poor thing, and snapped the head right off.