Sluggish acceleration problem solved!

How did you determine the percentages?

It would be interesting to see what was showing as the Misfire Margin with the ILKAR7B11, and then after you changed to the SC16HR11.

 

I know people who votes like that at the polls and don’t worry about the candidates’ values and policies.

 

So you REALLY only had any improvement when you changed the spark plugs....
Cleaning the hybrid fan would do nothing to improve exceleration...

Changing the air filter "might" give you a tiny bit of improvement, "IF" the filter was
extremely clogged and not allow any air to pass.

But, I'm glad you resolved the issue.

 

That seems odd. Dealerships can mess up, but not using the specified plugs? Maybe identify them?

 

This plug cross-defence site does show the NGK’s as “equivalent” to the previous Denso specd plug (Toyota revd to slightly hotter plug, a few years back):

NGK ILKAR7B11 - Cross Reference | nl.sparkplug-crossreference.com

 

Maybe you had fake spark plugs you know the ones that aren't made by the manufacturer as stated on the labeling that sort of thing real common these days so those hundred thousand mile NGK plugs when they're fake or not even good for 3000 mi in a real world application.

 

From a dealership no less.

 

The car keeps track of a value called Misfire Margin that can be a measure of how well the spark plugs are doing their jobs. You don't need to have a dash light or OBD code to look at the Misfire Margin; you can pull it up on a scan tool any time. It could have been interesting to see what it was with the other plugs and then after changing the plugs.

The misfire margin isn't something the ECM remembers, though. It's a value that's constantly being updated while the engine is running, and any time the engine isn't running, it reads as a default value that doesn't tell you anything. So it's probably most useful to datalog the value while driving around, and compare what it was under certain driving conditions.

 

How did the NGK plugs look when you removed them? Did you take any pictures? Still have them around (for pictures)?

 

Hey I imagine with all the funny business going on in the world right now this could happen to anybody

 

@Anklepain what's the miles on it? I asked in a previous thread of yours, and AFAIK didn't get an answer:

Could this be the real reason why the head gasket fail? | PriusChat
Could this be the real reason why the head gasket fail? | PriusChat

It was purchased 5 months back, and dealership changed the plugs around that time? Was it purchased from that dealership?

 

It seems to me (based on experience) that spark plugs bad enough to impact acceleration would cause clearly heard misfire symptoms as the engine to transaxle damper slipped.

Sometimes a placebo effect is also real in people's minds when in truth no actual change occurs. This is a case where the gut is fooling us.

Keep us updated.

 

I've been on "both sides of the coin" on this one. I had an intermittent miss under load that the ECU wasn't catching - granted it was an old slow ECU. It turned out to be an intermittent misfiring ignition coil, only under high heat, load, and elevation. It was difficult to nail down because I didn't have my scanner on me when this would happen. When I did run it on the scanner, everything was fine. A couple of times, I've pulled over on the side of the road to try to start pulling ignition coil wires, in an attempt to isolate the problem - only for it to disappear as fast as it appeared.
I finally shot-gunned it, new set of coils and plugs - It's been two years, not a hic-cup since.... All my plugs and coils ohm'ed out within tolerances, but I didn't put them in the oven to double-check them.

I tend to use ND or NGK plugs exclusively. I'm starting to include Autolite iridium XP because of their 5 year unlimited mileage warranty, but I recently checked that they've move to a lifetime warranty. I'm still going to replace them every 100K miles. I just hope they keep those rebates up, since they're the cheapest and reliable plugs that are readily available. Counterfeiters don't bother with these....