My 2014 Sienna is just under 120k miles and coming up on the replacement interval for the spark plugs. Our local dealer wants $1500 to replace all six, that's like 20% of the car's trade in value. I called up an independent repair shop, they advised to just keep driving the car and come in for replacement if there is a problem.
Stealer wants $1500 to replace spark plugs
Blahbler
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Back when we bought our Gen 2s the labor costs were a lot less ... I think the dealership said around $700 in around the 2012 timeframe, so probably even less back in 2005.
Fyi, we are closing in on 150k miles after almost 20 years, have always used Chevron gas to try to keep the internals "clean", and no issues with the plugs to date ... still running strong. At some point I will replace the fronts, that should give me an indication of the condition of the rears.
Fyi, we are closing in on 150k miles after almost 20 years, have always used Chevron gas to try to keep the internals "clean", and no issues with the plugs to date ... still running strong. At some point I will replace the fronts, that should give me an indication of the condition of the rears.
For what it's worth, the receipt from the independent shop that did my spark plug change shows that the 3.1 hours labor charge was taken from the Mitchell International data base.
Given the rate of auto repair inflation in recent years, well above CPI, that $700 is about as bad as the OP's $1,500. In 2012, a dealer charged me $287.74 including tax to do an iridium plug change on a 2004 Sienna.
And who would trust them with that? To get to the rear bank, you have to remove the cowl and intake plenum to get to the coil packs and plugs. That's a lot of disassembly to trust to a minimum wage oil changer.
I changed the plugs on my 02 Sienna at around 155k mi while I had the cowling off to change the struts. I did not need to remove the intake plenum to reach the rear plugs. I was able to reach the 10mm coil pack bolts pretty easily and did not find it necessary to unclip all of the connectors. There was enough room under the plenum to push the coil aside and reach the plug with a 12" extension on a socket. There were gaps in the plenum to allow reaching the plugs. The plugs were very clean, just a wide gap, but replaced with iridiums anyway.
It took me 30 min to remove the cowl, but I'm sure an experienced mechanic could do it in half that time. I didn't time myself on the rear plugs but I'd guess it was less than 2 hours and I was very cautious not to drop a bolt or over stress the cables. Maybe a good mechanic could do the job in 2 hours. My only mistake was I forgot to replace the PCV valve while I had the cowl off.
It took me 30 min to remove the cowl, but I'm sure an experienced mechanic could do it in half that time. I didn't time myself on the rear plugs but I'd guess it was less than 2 hours and I was very cautious not to drop a bolt or over stress the cables. Maybe a good mechanic could do the job in 2 hours. My only mistake was I forgot to replace the PCV valve while I had the cowl off.
Sounds like my experience with my 2005 Sienna. Sold it with 330K and it was running and driving great. I did two timing belts, plugs, 2 radiators and an ABS pump. Bought it with 50K miles, so drove it another 250K, and I'll bet it's still on the road.
Isn't it only the intake plenum (upper half of intake assembly) that needs to be removed to access the rear spark plugs? That's all I needed to remove on our 2005 3.3L to gain access. It takes some time, but isn't particularly difficult.
The 3rd Gen is a completely different design and engine
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About a year ago, my granddaughter's Caravan needed plugs and coils changed. Local mechanic shop quoted 1800 for labor, plugs and gaskets. I don't particularly like Dodge, but, hey, it's my granddaughter. I bought the parts for about 150 and went to work on it. After I got the plenum off and the front plugs out and replaced, I started on the rear. The middle coil's rubber, that fits around the plug, broke off the coil unit when I pulled it out. I struggled with trying to get that ring of rubber off the plug for hours. Spark plug socket would not reach down to the plug so I had to get that rubber out, but how? I went home for the night and gathered up some hooky tools, and an old flyswatter with a wire handle. When I went back to work on the Caravan I found that none of the hooky tools could reach deep enough to touch the rubber. I made the old flyswatter wire handle into a tool with a hook. I had to make it about a foot long and I was able to break apart most of the rubber and was able to remove the plug, but a piece of rubber was still in the hole. I couldn't get hold of the piece of rubber with any tools that I had, so I started the engine and all of the pieces blew out. Put it all back together and my granddaughter is still driving, happily, a year later. Hope that doesn't happen again anytime soon. I'm getting too old for that nonsense.
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For what it's worth, I just had the plugs replaced on my "new" to me 2012 Sienna LE V6 at about 180,000 miles. It never occurred to me to let a dealer do it because I just assumed their price would be outrageous. An independent shop with a good reputation and a good track record on other work for me did it for $576.60. I hope they did the important parts correctly because they did a sloppy job of putting it back together: hose clamps not put back in place, hoses not put back in support brackets, and they broke a couple of wire clamps and just left the wires flopping around. After that disappointing experience, I asked the local dealer to do some other work and, just out of curiosity, asked what the dealer charges for the spark plug job. I was shocked: only $413.99, and that would have included new manifold gaskets and cleaning the throttle body (which I don't think my independent shop did). In hindsight, I really wish I had asked the dealer to do the spark plug job (but not for $1500).
I considered attempting the job myself. In the end I decided not to, but I did a lot of research. If anyone is interested, this is the best video I found on how to change the spark plugs on a 2011-2016 Sienna V6:
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Hmm. Looks like the video link did not come through. If interested, you can find it on YouTube. The title is “2011 - 2016 Toyota Sienna DIY Replace Spark Plugs, Coils, Intake Manifold Gasket V6 3.5L (2GR-FE)” posted by “L35 in Colorado”.
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Question for you - I have 3 yotas all high mileage (140K-290K). I have only had the throttle body cleaned one time because the dealer misdiagnosed a low/rough idle as a dirty throttle body. The reality was the battery got changed and the position sensor got reset with the power loss. So when is the cleaning really required?
😳
NGK iridium plugs are $6 each, plenum gasket set is $13 and throttle body gasket is $4 (Rock auto) A whole set of no splice replacement coil connectors are $16 (Amazon). That’s only $70. Pulling the intake on the 3.5 is easy. There are 3 bolts that are a little difficult because you have to feel for them.
If you pull the wiper tray and have decent tools you CAN do the job in 2 hours, 3 hours tops.
NGK iridium plugs are $6 each, plenum gasket set is $13 and throttle body gasket is $4 (Rock auto) A whole set of no splice replacement coil connectors are $16 (Amazon). That’s only $70. Pulling the intake on the 3.5 is easy. There are 3 bolts that are a little difficult because you have to feel for them.
If you pull the wiper tray and have decent tools you CAN do the job in 2 hours, 3 hours tops.
I've never heard of JL doing that kind of work.
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I used to think that way, but I’ve come around… with the 120k mile replacement interval/life of the spark plugs that puts the change interval at 8-10 years for most people.
I am very happy to deal with changing those rear plugs every 8-10 years to get the packaging benefits of the minivan (gobs of interior space in a small outside footprint) and power/efficiency of Toyota’s 3.5L mill.
Now, the direct injection engines of the later gen3 models upset that equation (60k change interval) and I’m not sure how I feel about that, but by then the packaging was all set and there’s nothing the designers could have done.
(P.S., I do think $1500 is too much for that job, but I do not live in an expensive area - on edit: maybe they’re replacing the coils, too? That would add a good bit of $$$ in parts. Having them change the rear 3 coils may be a good move and have them leave you the 3 used ones as spares - the fronts are easy-peasy to replace.)
-Mike
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It's the plugs on the firewall side that make it hard. Too much interference stuff to remove.
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I only cleaned it cause I was in it. Honestly you may not need to unless you're experiencing throttle response issues. But these newer cars are sensitive so you have to clean them correctly. Watch care car nut, he shows you how to do it.
Psssst... They don't do that kind of stuff. They change oil .
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My Google brought me here. My youngest has his own auto repair shop. Family hook-up, to replace the spark 6 plugs in my 2000 Sienna, $401. $330 for the labor.
Homie Homie, don't ya know me...
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Yay to the mom and pop shop. Make sure you remember them at Christmas time! The last time I replaced plugs on a minivan, I had to remove the intake plenum to access the rear 3 plugs. So now, I buy vehicles with 4 cylinder engines - like the 2021 through 2025 Sienna. I don't understand why Iridium plugs that look good should be replaced - especially of they are firing well and not throwing any trouble codes.
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