i bought my 05 new with about 20 some miles on it/ had toyota tech replace plugs when he did the timing belt at about 137k... at 194 the 3rd plug back on passenger bank came out. fried the plug and coil.. i was able to get another plug in just fine and to torq... a thousand miles later she blew out again and this time no hope of reinstalling without a thread repair... anyone heard of such a thing hapnin to others?
I've never heard about any Toyota engine spitting out a plug. I know Ford had issues with the V10 spitting plugs. Sounds like at the 194 plug change the mechanic didn't tighten it enough and as it loosened up it messed up the threads. When you installed the new plug the damage was done but seemed to seat fine but caused a ticking time bomb. I'd Heli-coil that thread and go from there. It's pretty easy to do and doesn't take much time plus it saves a ton of money. Good luck.
If the engine has aluminum heads and you pull the plugs with the engine hot, it's known to damage the threads and heli-coils are the only solution. That's why most shops want the vehicle all day when doing a plug change so the engine can cool off before working on it. Aluminum expands more when hot than the cast iron heads do.
i sorta figured that the tech the did the change did not get the thing tightened correctly. all the plugs in that bank were loose when i checked them after the one spit... i dont figure ill get much from the dealer as far as admitting to or helping with any of this... both times it spit i was hours from home.. 500 plus just in each tow bill.. the tech did have the thing all day and the belt was done first before the plugs
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