How do you change spark plugs on a 2002 highlander?

Answer 1

A few other hints -- I just did a 2003 Highlander 6cyl ---my colleague below is correct the rear plugs are behind the intake manifold, not the exhaust manifold -- you do not have to remove the intake manifold to change the rear plugs, just small hands and patience. It helped me to work from the right of the intake manifold to the left. Remove the two screws on the choke assembly on the left side of the intake manifold. Just below the choke assembly is a short fat rubber that should be pulled off at both ends. On the right side of the intake manifold remove the cruise control cable and the assembly ( one bolt). There may be one or two vacuum lines running through the area, they should be disconnected and moved out of the way. Prop the hood of the car on the far right hand side because the normal hood bar will get in your way. Even if you are tall you will need something to boost your height at the front of the vehicle so that you can reach the back of the engine.

See the tool suggestions and hints in the other post -- they are very good. I recommend removing all of the spark plugs and the seals working right to left in order to provide room to work. Re-assemble left to right. The most difficult part is removing the electrical connection from the coil that sits right on top of each firing point. Because you are not able to see removing the connectors is by feel -- I found that using a thin washer to pry up the plastic clip helped a great deal. Experiment on the front electric connectors to get a process down - they are easy to reach.

Allow 4 hours - if you do it in less than 3 in your driveway, then you are a master mechanic.

I tried to add my suggestons but I ended up being listed on an entire new post. After reading these suggestions, which are helpfull, please see the other question and answer about spark plugs on a 2002 Toyota highlander (I think the word Toyota must be used in the search.... I agree with the answer listed on this post, but I also listed some other suggestions that worked well for me.

changing plugs in Toyota highlanderin the transversely mounted v-6 1 mz engine of the Toyota highlander simply remove engine cover to get at front three spark plugs. you will need A 5/8 spark plug socket with rubber gasket inside (in order to grip the plug )as you pull it out. Also a 6 inch extension with socket wrench will be needed to reach the recessed plugs. Now comes the fun part! I have been told by my local Toyota dealer mechanic that the rear 3 spark plugs( the ones closest to the firewall and underneath the exhaust manifold) can be removed 2 ways. One is to raise the SUV on a lift and they can be reached by sticking your arm between the engine and firewall from underneath the car. the other way and the way the highlander maintenance manual shows is to remove exhaust manifold at right side of engine. some fairly large bolts need to be loosened and it needs to be put back on correctly or you will have an exhaust leak. There is a third way however. By reaching your hand around and under the exhaust manifold you can get your hand on the insulators that hold the plugs in their respective cylinders.( the smaller your hands are the better). there is a small nut holding each insulator in place. Take your socket wrench and 4 or 5mm socket and slide it under exhaust manifold and begin to loosen the long bolt holding each insulator in place. Its very slow going ( I could only get a 1/4 to 1/2 turn on the insulator bolt). Once the bolt is loose use your fingers to loosen it the rest of the way. Again its very tight quarters and I did a lot of the work by feel not sight. Once the insulators are removed take your extension and spark plug socket and feed it down the spark plug cylinder hole and loosen the plug. Once loose, use your fingers again to loosen each plug the rest of the way. there is no room to use the socket wrench so most of the loosening and tightening needs to be done by hand. It took me 4-5 hours to complete the job. But the alternative is to spend 180.00 bucks and let a Toyota dealer do it.

O3 HIGHLANDER SPARK PLUG CHANGE.......BY BRIAN TOUPS

Okay, I just did the job and it was not that bad. 03 highlander. Here are the steps;

1. change the front 3.....easy remove the wire/ remove the 10mm bolt,etc.

2. go to the left side facing the engine(the passenger side) with your hand, locate the clip to the bottom PVC hose.....squeeze it with your hand and revome the hose....I used a screw driver to pop the hose off. remove the two Phillips screws that hold the chock and tie it off .....twist the PVC hose up

3. remove the clip to the coil and then the 10mm bolt.

4. pull the coil out and be sure to put anti seize on threads

5 leave this coil off for now.

6. remove the bolt 12 mm that hold the cruise control cable and move it out of the way. disconnect and move the coil on the far right ...the drivers side change the plug and leave the coil out.

6. I put one hand on the left side of the middle coil to pull the clip holding he wire while I used a screw driver on the other side with my right hand to pry the wire off.....once off, change the middle plug....then the right and then the left...put everything back.........

I used a 3/8 drive and two short extentions.....I also tied a string through the plug socket and tied it off .....once I remove the second short exention, I used the string to put the rest out.......this worked well...you may want to remove the PVC as it was kind of in the way.......not that bad of a job.

email me if you have questions......benthick@gmail.com oh, one last thing....remove the pos. battery cable first before you begin. best of luck,,brian toups ( the steps above did help ) GOOD LUCK