Oil soaked spark plug and spark plug #6

[Sheng]

Hi! New here. Recently I bought a 1995 Land Cruiser FZJ80. Today, I started my first maintenance, which is to change the air filter and spark plugs.
The air filter went well, except that I broke the intake hose and I had to get a new one. Any tips on how to make it easier to put on and off?

Spark plugs.
I managed to change 5 out of the 6 spark plugs. I cannot even get the boot out on the 6th one because of the hoses above it.
What hoses are those? How can I replace the 6th plug?

Also, I noticed that the 3 out of the 5 plugs I took out are oil soaked from the thread and on to the ceramic part. The tips were clean and dry.
The car does not smoke, does not have a check engine light, or any sort of idle issues or misfires. What could be the reason for the oil on the spark plugs?

Thank you!

 

[inkpot]

Valve cover has gaskets for top of spark plug tubes. Those are probably dying of old age. You may want to loosen/remove mounting bolts in the heater valve so you can access #6 easier.

 

[Sheng]

Thanks. I will look into that. Are the heater valve bolts 90119-06100 below? Should I get the hoses around it just in case they break?

Thanks

 

[BullElk]

Look at your heater control valve. Ifit is beginning to change from black to brown in color you should probably replace it while there. $20ish It is one of those items that can create a quick coolant leak leaving you stranded and it could crack as you are moving it around trying to get to #6 plug.

 

[george_tlc]

Replace the heater valve if it looks even a little bit brittle - especially if original (time bomb waiting to fail).

If you don't know the maintenance history then assume all hoses, belts etc are old. Inspect and replace as necessary. Check the two hoses (on the drivers side engine block. Search PHH and throttle bypass hoses in this forum.

Learn to use search - it does work well and most everything 80 related has been discussed and covered in older threads.

Read the FAQ section (top sticky area -> 80-series FAQ) of this subforum.

Yes, loosen the heater valve assembly to give you better access to #6 plug - use swivel/wobble extension to get easier access. 3/8" drive stuff works well.

cheers,
george.

 

[Sheng]

Appreciate it. I will probably just replace those hoses. They are not too pricey.

 

[Sheng]

Replace the whole valve?

 

[george_tlc]

Yep, the whole valve (the metal bracket gets reused). The valve is a plastic assembly, with time it becomes very brittle and will disintegrate at the worst opportunity and dump a LOT of coolant rapidly - risk of serious engine damage...

Search heater valve in this subforum and you'll find pictures of failed units.

cheers,
george.

 

[BigAxeJack]

The air filter went well, except that I broke the intake hose and I had to get a new one. Any tips on how to make it easier to put on and off?

You probably dodged a bullet here. That hose was on its way out. Not sure about the later trucks, but on my '93 I loosen the clamps and bolt on the air cleaner cover completely, then loosen the hose clamps on the intake. By moving the air cleaner cover towards the passenger side of the engine bay, the intake hose can be removed without needing to flex it. The details may differ slightly for you, but the principle should be the same.

 

[DirtScaresMe]

If you're talking the big throttle body hose mine cracked when I swapped air cleaners one time. The rubber just got stiff ~25 years later. I wrapped the crack in the hose with duct tape and it worked fine while I waited a couple of weeks for my $100 oem hose.