Spark Plugs

My post clearly said use it on the outside of the boot. Dielectric grease has no rubber conditioning proprieties really.
Its just a grease designed to withstand high voltage. Hence my recommendation to use a rubber conditioning product like Protectant to extend the life of the ignitor boot. And its also non conductive.

 

I've yet to do the plugs on mine (only at 70k), but I have had the cowl off many times and it only takes 15 min to remove. Removing the cowl will give you all of the access needed for spark plug replacement.


iPhone ?

 

How are the plugs looking when you take them out?

 

Thank you again. Did it today, and it was easier and took a lot less time than I thought. Thanks to the video, I knew exactly what to expect. Mileage: 129250

 

Not bad. Could have gone another 100K.

 

Hah, I think I spent 15 minutes just battling with that finicky piece of plastic in the lower corner of windshield. Maybe after many times it get's easier...

 

It's still annoying, but it gets easier after a while. The rubber weatherstrip piece that goes across the length of the cowl is very fragile though....and isn't available separately. Don't ask me how I know this...

 

Where's the video??? I am a monkey see, monkey do kind of guy.....I can do almost anything once I've seen it done.

 

Here's the video

 

Thank you very much, I'll watch it

Thank you very much, I'll watch it then do it!

 

NUTZAB..... I'm an old guy and not very computer savy. I even subscribed to your youtube thingie but have no idea how to work it. I would really like to be able to copy your video onto either a disk or flash drive so that I can use it in a few years when my 2011 Prius gets to 100,000 miles. Can you tell me if it is possible to do that?????

 

Yes you can do that, you have to download a program called "YouTube Downloader", it'll let you download the video off from youtube by copying and pasting the url link of that video onto the "YouTube downloader" program and it'll download that video onto your desktop. I hope that isn't too confusing for you.

 

Thanks NUTZAB..... will give it a try in the morning when I'm "almost capable" . Will report back.... tks, J

 

IT WORKED...........MANY THANKS............ you are now immortal on my hard drive........ Actually, I even figured out how to put it on a dvd thingie and I'm almost 70 (a big deal for seniors). TKS AGAIN, J

 

hahah! anytime grandpa!

 

did mine ...163k one side of plugs looked sooty with buildup and one side looked clean. similar to yours, a good thing I guess.Looks like the iridium tips looked worn but did their job well. no oil on plugs so i'M GLAD for that. pretty dry plugs. It was very easy. I used a battery drill on screws and everything was Cake! 35 minutes start to finish. nothing scary and well worth the $ saved at dealership.. I really want to visit some basic EGR pipe cleaning...

 

Can you download Youtubes then? I'd be really interested in that.

Addendum: VLC Media Streamer looks like a good bet, I've had it before.

10 Useful Features Hidden in VLC, The Swiss Army Knife of Media Players

Download Youtube videos method:

1. Right-click video and select "Copy video URL"
2. Open VLC Media Player
3. Pulldown: Media>Open Netork Stream, and paste URL. (Video will play)
4. Pause video, Pulldown: Tools>Codec INformation, copy content of "Location" field.
5. Paste content into a browser address window, it should immediately open a download prompt, choose your options.

Addendum: Priuschat moderators, and @NutzAboutBolts , I'm not sure, could this be construed as copyright infringement? FWIW, I think it's just a few rabid DIY'rs that would bother, and it would be for personal use. But let me know, I could delete this instruction.

 

A benefit of replacing the spark plugs yourself is that you can take the time to thoroughly clean all of those large plastic and metal pieces of engine cowling which you remove. I use Clorox wipes.

You will remove a great deal of built-up soot. It takes a while.

The benefit of all this cleaning is that the cabin air will be as clean as when the car was new. I also cleaned up all of the firewall area -- wear gloves, there's some sharp metal there. Lastly, I reached down as far as I could into the cabin air intake on the firewall and cleaned out that. And, of course, new cabin air filter.

I love having fresh-smelling air when I use the heater or AC, and this extra effort was well worth it for me. I doubt very much that any shop mechanic will do this for you.

 

And really, do you want to pay someone $100 an hour to detail the engine. Too bad though, because yeah, it's a good time to clean stuff.

I also use a leaf blower on the engine bay, an old paint brush, and one of those duster wands. The latter you can run through all the gaps between components, to loosen/catch dust.