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Spark plug change

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Greenteapri, Jan 27, 2019.

  1. Greenteapri

    Greenteapri Active Member

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    My engine started burning oil at 70xxx, I'm now at 90k. I am installing a Cusco tower brace and wanted to change the plugs since they are now accessible with the wiper cowl removed. Here are the results:
     

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  2. tweedle99

    tweedle99 Member

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    Plugs don't look too bad

    do you have plan for the rear sway bar too? Big improvement with both tower brace and rear sway bar
     
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  3. Greenteapri

    Greenteapri Active Member

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    That was my first mod.
     

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  4. Greenteapri

    Greenteapri Active Member

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    I did some probing with my boroscope. Dry pics are taken right after the spark plug was extracted. The wet pics are after one teaspoon of MMO was squirted into the well. I did another teaspoon treatment, after a few hours. It looks like the MMO is breaking up the carbon. Im going to soak it overnight. More pics to come.
     

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  5. gliderman

    gliderman Active Member

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    How are you going to get that carbon out of there?
     
  6. Greenteapri

    Greenteapri Active Member

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    I don't plan to. I'm optomistic some MMO magic will happen but not holding my breath. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

    Fired her up this morning with the new plugs (SC16HR11). She smoked a bit but most likely from her teaspoons of medicine (snake oil, who knows, it's a mystery!).

    She's markedly smoother at idle and acceleration. Time will tell if the colder plugs are better, like Toyota says they are. o_Oo_Oo_O
     
  7. alanwagen

    alanwagen Member

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    There is an association with carbon and oil consumption due to the ports on the oil control rings being blocked.
    I advise that you use only Tier 1 gasoline. One guy on this forum used Techron fuel system cleaner 4 tanks in a row and reduced his oil consumption.
     
  8. Greenteapri

    Greenteapri Active Member

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    Chevron is all I use. Shell if there's no Chevron but we get good gas down here. Each are fairly abundant.
     
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  9. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    I thought the revised plugs were "hotter", ie more able to burn off deposits?
     
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  10. Greenteapri

    Greenteapri Active Member

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    It appears so. Thanks for the correction.
     

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  11. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    "The level of heat range is connected to low or high speed driving. The initial choice for the right heat range is a result of expectations towards average use of the engine. After a few years of experience with this engine, the manufacturer decided to lower the heat range."

    Above is an excerpt from your link. Man they word it awkwardly, the bold text.

    In the following link:


    How Do I Find a Colder or Hotter Plug?


    they spell it out: with Denso plugs a lower number is a hotter plug, ie: one that gets hot quicker.


    How Do I Find a Colder or Hotter Plug?


    Excerpt from the above:


    "Denso Iridium Power plugs feature the Heat Range at the end of the part number. For example, IK20 has a Heat Range of 20. Denso plugs get colder the higher the number, hotter the lower the number. Starting with part # IK20 (Heat Range 20), a colder plug would be # IK22, a hotter plug would be # IK16."

    I guess Denso and Toyota work closely, and they're finding too much deposits building up on the stock plug, and they've more-or-less replaced the "20" plug with "16" (slightly hotter). Further, if you go looking for the 20 plug, you'll be told it's not available, replaced by 16.
     
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  12. Greenteapri

    Greenteapri Active Member

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    That's why I was confused. Going from a 20 to 16 I thought would be cooler. In spark plug terminology, lower numbers mean hotter! o_Oo_Oo_O
     
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  13. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Maybe just Denso; NGK might be the opposite, lol.
     
  14. jack black

    jack black Active Member

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    looks like the 20 was good for hwy driving and this is how they tested the car, but in the real world too many people are city driving and they had to adjust for that?
     
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  15. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Also, from the article you posted, seems like the stock plug was almost purpose-built for the Prius. So when it proved to be too cold, they just discontinue it, superscede the 20 with 16. This maybe avoids Toyota needing to inform dealerships or owners: when you go looking for the 20 you're redirected to the 16.
     
  16. gliderman

    gliderman Active Member

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    So what is the new Denso part numbers for the new TT plugs? I am still seeing only 20's and no 16's from online seller. Thanks!
     
  17. Greenteapri

    Greenteapri Active Member

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    SC16HR11
     
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  18. Robert Holt

    Robert Holt Senior Member

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    Is anyone concerned that the hotter 16 plugs when used under high-load, high-throttle conditions could be more likely to create pre-ignition or even detonation, particularly if the ICE has carbon accumulations in the combustion chamber and thus a slightly higher than originally designed compression ratio?
    Based on very old experiences with 2-stroke and 4-stroke engines, Mr Worst Case Scenario here worries about melting through the tops of the pistons. I rather wish they would continue to produce both heat ranges and let us decide what to install.
     
  19. Greenteapri

    Greenteapri Active Member

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    Omission of guilt?

    Who wants to be the first to use this for a free engine?