Can you gap your own Spark Plugs? 1998 v70 non turbo FWD

[volvolugnut]

Yes, I believe this is related to their reliable engines. The story dates back to the start of Toyota's Total Quality Management (TQM) in 1960's.
Gauge blocks are not cut to size, but are ground to size and maybe polished to the final dimensions. Beyond maybe 0.0001 tolerances, especially with smooth finish requirements, parts will have a grinding operation.
I found my gauge blocks in a pawn shop. They are 1, 2, and 3 inch size. Gauge blocks are so finely finished they can be 'wrung together' by pressing together and turning them to remove the air gap. They are then held tightly together and you can hold one upside down under another.
I never worked as a machinist, but designed some pump parts that required fine machining and worked with the machine shop people on the process needed to reach the specifications. This was some of the most interesting stuff I worked on.
volvolugnut

[volvolugnut]

My opinion on Bosch parts:
They are usually built to high quality (better materials, good tolerances, and good production processes).
Other manufactures may cut corners on one or more of these areas. But some other manufacturers may be as good or even better.
At this point in life, I like to have more assurance of quality and are less concerned about price.

volvolugnut

[abscate]

You have to buy Bosch parts from reputable sources. There are a lot of counterfeits

[MrAl]

So 5 is the one closest to the steering wheel and farthest from the timing belt?

The steering wheel proximity will depend on the market.

Number 5 will be farthest from the timing belt in all markets.

Ok thanks. Just in case i get the wires mixed up, and i see the distributor is marked with the cylinder numbers which is pretty cool, so this should be hard to get wrong.

If i have any more problems with the wiring i'll just reverse the order of the wires, 1 to 5 and 5 to 1, 2 to 4 and 4 to 2, and leave 3 where it is. That way the motor will run in reverse rotation. From then on i guess i'll just have to keep the shifter in reverse to drive to the store, but the advantage is i will have three gears for going in reverse when backing out of a parking space in the lot (ha ha).

Oh BTW the Bosch part is 2 times the regular part cost, so what is your take on say Bosch vs Standard Motor part or something, is it just lower mileage before it has to be replaced or does the car fail to start or does it tend to misfire if you dont use Bosch?

[MrAl]

Yes, I believe this is related to their reliable engines. The story dates back to the start of Toyota's Total Quality Management (TQM) in 1960's.
Gauge blocks are not cut to size, but are ground to size and maybe polished to the final dimensions. Beyond maybe 0.0001 tolerances, especially with smooth finish requirements, parts will have a grinding operation.
I found my gauge blocks in a pawn shop. They are 1, 2, and 3 inch size. Gauge blocks are so finely finished they can be 'wrung together' by pressing together and turning them to remove the air gap. They are then held tightly together and you can hold one upside down under another.
I never worked as a machinist, but designed some pump parts that required fine machining and worked with the machine shop people on the process needed to reach the specifications. This was some of the most interesting stuff I worked on.
volvolugnut

Hi,

I worked in a machine shop for a while and learned about what precision means in many cases. The one that comes to mind even though some 50 years ago is where we were building record press hydraulic units that would be the power behind mass producing vinyl LP records. The electric motor must have been 100 hp or more, the biggest electric motor i have ever seen, and had a 2 inch diameter shaft. The hydraulic pump on every unit had to be aligned perfectly with the motor shaft. The pumps came to us with a little too big of a cast iron base, so we had to mill the bottoms and it had to be nearly perfect. When the pumps were bolted to the main chassis (1/2 inch thick steep plate) the alignment had to be checked or else there would be a big vibration and pump life compromised and probably motor bearings too. To do that, even after machining with a huge multi ton milling machine, there had to be small, thin pieces of shim metal that would the slid under the pump base to get it perfect. The motor speed was high but dont remember what it was now, and that meant everything had to be aligned perfectly in the end.

The cool part was the milling machine rotary cutter would cut through the tough cast iron base like butter.

[MrAl]

My opinion on Bosch parts:
They are usually built to high quality (better materials, good tolerances, and good production processes).
Other manufactures may cut corners on one or more of these areas. But some other manufacturers may be as good or even better.
At this point in life, I like to have more assurance of quality and are less concerned about price.

volvolugnut

At this point in the life of this car and the frequency that i drive it and low miles accumulated over a 1 years time (less than 700 miles per year) i have to consider the cost vs the longevity as the most important factor. This means that the main issue for me is does the difference in equality result in a total failure after installation or does it just mean less miles before the part has to be replaced again.

In other words, if i buy a true Bosch that lasts 50,000 miles but instead buy a Standard Motor (or whatever that name is) part will it mean that the car wont start, or will it misfire, it will it just mean that the same part will have to be replaced in 20,000 miles instead of 50,000 miles?

That's the main question for me right now. After i spent a lot of money on this car, 2800 USD, and the guy didnt even know the gas cap was missing and one of the spark plugs was not tightened properly i tend to want to cut corners myself.

Oh and next time i work on this i am going to bring the power drill out there with me to back out those 6 plug cover bolts. Doing it by hand takes too long.
I am going to try to cut the time down to 3 minutes not including opening the hood and placing the bit in the drill chuck.
Maybe we can have a contest to see who can remove their plug cover bolts the fastest.

Thanks for the info.

[454cid]

Oh BTW the Bosch part is 2 times the regular part cost, so what is your take on say Bosch vs Standard Motor part or something, is it just lower mileage before it has to be replaced or does the car fail to start or does it tend to misfire if you dont use Bosch?

I thought the Bosch prices were ridiculous when I was shopping. I bought the T-series Standard Motor cap, and it was a reboxed Italian made part. I think I did the same for the rotor. They're fine.

I also bought a German companies cap and it was the same Italian made cap as the T-series SMP, but with the the "Italy" scratched out on the underside of the cap. Every other casting mark was the same. This cap is waiting in reserve.

[abscate]

Just remove the cap and Dremel the brass metal to shiny yellow. With such mile use, no need to replace unless you can see carbon tracking and faults. Cost is just time

700 miles per year? 50 miles per month, 10 miles per week?

I would sell the car and use Lyft

[volvolugnut]

Standard Motor Products is an old US company that has a good reputation. They supply branded parts to many automotive stores like CarQuest and NAPA. I still trust their parts.
volvolugnut

[MrAl]

Oh BTW the Bosch part is 2 times the regular part cost, so what is your take on say Bosch vs Standard Motor part or something, is it just lower mileage before it has to be replaced or does the car fail to start or does it tend to misfire if you dont use Bosch?

I thought the Bosch prices were ridiculous when I was shopping. I bought the T-series Standard Motor cap, and it was a reboxed Italian made part. I think I did the same for the rotor. They're fine.

I also bought a German companies cap and it was the same Italian made cap as the T-series SMP, but with the the "Italy" scratched out on the underside of the cap. Every other casting mark was the same. This cap is waiting in reserve.

Yes! The price of the Standard Motor cap was something like $36 USD and the Bosch was something like $74. Maybe they last longer? I dont know but if that's the case, i could get by with a cheaper one for sure this time around. I actually did some math and i found i really drive less than 500 miles a year. I go 3 miles in a day a max of 3 times a week, and so that's 9 miles, and times 52 weeks is less than 500 miles so in two years under 1000 miles. I think i can put up with a regular cap. Maybe not for people who drive back and forth to work though.

Thanks for sharing your experience with this.