Rx300 Plug Change

kayli · March 29, 2011

Hi everyone,the RX I bought recently has done 58k so plugs would seem likely to want changing, looking at the nightmareish task of doing it myself to save on garage prices as there seems to be a lot of things to take off.I can see after the engine cover comes off I'm going to have to take off the inlet manifold to get at the three rear plugs, does anyone have any tips on this task, eg do you need to replace the manifold gasket or is it a reuseable rubber one, so in other words do I need anything special other than 6 new plugs and a good tool kit, thanks for any assistance.

Regards Ian

Boxbrownie · March 30, 2011

Ian, you do not actually have to take off the inlet manifold, you can (albeit with a squeeze) change the rear cylinder bank plugs by just taking off the throttle body and associated bits.

There are a few threads on the US RX forums regarding this procedure, have a quick scan I am sure you will see what I mean.

kayli · March 30, 2011

Ian, you do not actually have to take off the inlet manifold, you can (albeit with a squeeze) change the rear cylinder bank plugs by just taking off the throttle body and associated bits.

There are a few threads on the US RX forums regarding this procedure, have a quick scan I am sure you will see what I mean.

kayli · March 30, 2011

Hi and thanks for that, I did have a look around the old forums on this question but unless I typed in the wrong question I wasn't getting the right answer, and having said that I've probably posted this reply in the wrong place, thanks again anyway.

Regards Ian

Rx300-SE · April 18, 2011

HI, CAN YOU PLEASE LET ME KNOW HOW YOU MANAGE TO SORT OUT CHANGING THE PLUGS COS LEXUS IS CHARGING SOO MUCH TO CHANGE THEM (£200 TO CHANGE SIX PLUGS)

kayli · April 19, 2011

HI, CAN YOU PLEASE LET ME KNOW HOW YOU MANAGE TO SORT OUT CHANGING THE PLUGS COS LEXUS IS CHARGING SOO MUCH TO CHANGE THEM (£200 TO CHANGE SIX PLUGS)

Will let you know how I get on coz I'm gonna have a go at doing these myself next week

Rx300-SE · April 19, 2011

HI, CAN YOU PLEASE LET ME KNOW HOW YOU MANAGE TO SORT OUT CHANGING THE PLUGS COS LEXUS IS CHARGING SOO MUCH TO CHANGE THEM (£200 TO CHANGE SIX PLUGS)

Will let you know how I get on coz I'm gonna have a go at doing these myself next week

KAYLI, Thanks for your quick reply

Looking forward to hearing the rest of the story

Im not sure if this link is any usefull, but ill paste it anyway - http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=62079

kayli · April 21, 2011

HI, CAN YOU PLEASE LET ME KNOW HOW YOU MANAGE TO SORT OUT CHANGING THE PLUGS COS LEXUS IS CHARGING SOO MUCH TO CHANGE THEM (£200 TO CHANGE SIX PLUGS)

Will let you know how I get on coz I'm gonna have a go at doing these myself next week

KAYLI, Thanks for your quick reply

Looking forward to hearing the rest of the story

Im not sure if this link is any usefull, but ill paste it anyway - http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=62079

If all goes well I'm going to tackle the plugs on Saturday 23rd I all ways work on a budget so if I can do it I will and will post pic's if I can work out how to attatch them step by step

kayli · April 24, 2011

HI, CAN YOU PLEASE LET ME KNOW HOW YOU MANAGE TO SORT OUT CHANGING THE PLUGS COS LEXUS IS CHARGING SOO MUCH TO CHANGE THEM (£200 TO CHANGE SIX PLUGS)

Will let you know how I get on coz I'm gonna have a go at doing these myself next week

KAYLI, Thanks for your quick reply

Looking forward to hearing the rest of the story

Im not sure if this link is any usefull, but ill paste it anyway - http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=62079

If all goes well I'm going to tackle the plugs on Saturday 23rd I all ways work on a budget so if I can do it I will and will post pic's if I can work out how to attatch them step by step

Where do I start, I can see why its so expensive to get the plugs changed now, I would only tackle this job if you are fairly handy with the spanners but I'll give a brief description, I was doing this job blind as I could get no info or the haynes manual what I got covering the harrier (rx) was about as much use as a choclate drop. Here is a list of stuff what has to come off because of two support brackets 1 at the rear of the inlet manifold and 1 at the rear of the throttle body it is impossible to change the rear set of plugs with just removing the air box and throttle body,So here goes wipers off followed by the windscreen trim,wiper motor, bulkhead trim what the wiper motor sits in,left hand side engine trim,engine cover,airbox and everything what goes with it making a note where all the pipes go, throttle body has to come off there's an diffult stud to undo at the rear of this on a support bracket, plus a really bad nut to get at on the throttle body caused me to cut a 12mm spanner in half because nothing else would go in the tight spot, there is a small bar attached to the front of the inlet manifold with lots of small air pipes on looks difficult, but undo the small nuts and it can be lifted up and turned upside down to clear the manifold, undo the allen bolts to the manifold and the 14mm stud at the rear of the inlet manifold support bracket and we're nearly there, have to assume you can do the rest without help and becareful when unclipping the plug wires, the locking clip is sometimes brittle and will snap off 1 of mine did,I don't think I forgot anything and don't hold me respossible if anything goes wrong, this what I had to do and I don't think it could be done any other way, good luck if you decide to tackle the job but I will add this caution, because this was a do from blind job, and make do spanners, (Halfords full tool set a must) and(no prior knowledge) it took me 12 HOURS ARRRRHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I did read on one of these links Toyota would it do it for £100, with what I know now that would look very attractive, again good luck in which everway you go but its not a quick job just really fiddly.

Regards Ian

Stuart 123 · April 25, 2011

Sure i read in the haynes manual plugs dont need changing till 120 thou did mine at 104 thou,well bouhgt 6 off eBay and changed the front 3 in 20 mins (easy 3)was having some other work done at local garage,whers i had a LPG conversion done a year ealier,so they where doing a check on it asked, them to do 3 hard plugs i supplied ,total cost of work £ 38 ,just a fiddley job ,he did acciedently leave off the twin vacume pipes by the air infeed ,but soon noticed and sorted.

hope this helps,if you have small ish hands not too bad a job

Stuart