jcat_350

Far more than buying the parts and doing it yourself.

A good bit more than paying a decent independent mechanic.


Parts should run you ~200, labor probably a few hours @ ~90/hr, at an indy. You'd be looking at right around 4-500. Dealer would probably charge you 700.

tractng

Update: Changed the coils/plugs two weeks ago. Car ran well until today. Same VSC message with engine light on. This time, it throws a P0306. Any ideas guys.

Where is cylinder 6? I hope its not the ones inside (near windshield).


Can somebody confirm it is the outside on the driver side?

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jcat_350

yes, cylilnder 6 is the drivers side coil toward the front end of the car.

You changed all 6 coils and plugs? Where did you buy parts from? Did you confirm the wires were OK? What grade of gas are you using in the car?

oldgrump

Install one of your original coils (not the original # 5) in the # 6 position and see what happens. I think buying anything off E Bay is a crapshoot.......who knows where these coils came from.

chuyrobles

FYI, cylinders 1-3-5 face the back of the car; 2-4-6 face the front. 1-3-5 are referred to as Bank 1; 2-4-6 are Bank 2. I learned this trying to figure out which O2 sensor was referred to by my P0057 code.

I previously mentioned I changed my spark plugs hoping it would prevent the code from re-appearing. It did not. It returned and I've ordered a Denso O2 from Amazon for 60-some bucks. I found out there are 4 sensors. The ones on the exhaust manifolds before the cats are air/gas sensors and run some $170; the oxygen sensors after the cats run $60-70, and there is a left and a right for each sensor. I just realized that today when I looked up the part #s on the Denso website. I haven't figured out which side is left and which is right. I'm guessing you face the engine with the crank away from you, making Bank 2 the left side? Can someone confirm this? I've emailed Denso about this, but haven't got a response.

tractng

I reinstalled that coil 6 using the original factory one. The issue went away (no more lights). But after one day of driving, the lights came back but the drive is okay (no sign of issue). Today, I plugged in the scanner and forced a reset. We will see...

Wife uses 91 octane. We are in Calif

I am regretting buying ebay junk. I notice the aftermarket coils, it has a metal tab (where it touches the plugs) instead of the spring like OEM.

On a side question, do you know what the spec to torque the plugs? I have always used the feel experience. When i took the original plugs out, the front 3 were hard as heck. The inside 3 were easily removed. I re-tighten the plug on cylinder 6. Seems like it has more adjustments after 2 weeks of driving.

jcat_50 - I did replaced all plugs and coils.

jcat_350

basically the point is to move the coil that looks to be causing the issue to see if the misfire code (A,B,C,D,E,F) follows the suspect coil.

The car can run fine for a while if the coil is just on it's way out and not completely dead. I never advocate buying anything other than maybe filters or light bulbs off of ebay for this very reason. In all actuality, you can get the parts cheap enough at toyota dealers (no matter what they tell you, the coils for an 07-12 v6 camry are identical) or to the point where the extra spend is worth it.

tractng

The lights came back today. I don't want to touch wife's car any more. We have had lots of issues with this car. A hose busted at 50k miles and oil dropped while she drove on freeway, etc...

We taking it to the shop.

jcat_350

That was a VVTi oil hose and was a TSB that you should have had done once it was released.

Don't blame the car.

tractng

Gear slipping when going from 2nd to 3rd gear in the morning (sudden jerk from 2k rpm to 3K+, like I am driving a manual and miss a shift).

I have own 8 different cars since 2004 and NONE have issues besides this lexus.

jcat_350

gear slipping? that's entirely different than anything discussed in this thread.

As for the surging in the morning, it's probably because the car hasn't warmed up yet, and it hangs in 2nd gear for a while. Mine, and everyone else's cars just about, do the same thing until it's warmed up. Have you had any diagnostic done on the transmission to see if it's ok? If I remember correctly, something was mentioned about that...maybe another TSB or software update that was done to alleviate those symptoms?

It's on you to check for TSBs and recalls, especially during regular maintenance at the dealer or elsewhere. If your dealer or mechanic aren't at least looking around the car for other potential issues during these times, you need a new mechanic.

tractng

Thanks for the encouragement. Like I said, wife's car has always been brought to dealership in Longo until recently when I decided its time to have it serviced at home.

She brought the car to a certified lexus this morning. They told me its coil 6 . Vendor I ordered the coils from will send me another one.

I might just have them order a coil from the dealer. Its $106 bucks. The mechanic was honest and told me to just keep on swapping the old factory coils until the problem has been isolated.

Can somebody confirm if i go to a Toyota and asks for a coil for a 2007 Camry V6, its should be the same? The toyota dealership is closer to my house.

jcat_350

Everything I've been able to find says yes, 99%. If you can, try to do it on a Saturday when the wife doesn't need the car, and bring the coil with you to compare it. Don't bring the coil from the car out until the toyota clerk brings the toyota coil out.

But again, as far as I'm aware, everything except the body, interior, shocks and springs on our cars is pretty much all shared with the v6 camrys of the same year.

tractng

Thanks man. Wanted to update everybody. My wife finally got fed up and let the shop switched out to a factory coil for that cylinder. Problem went away. So I received a brand new coil from ebay vendor and its sitting in my garage .

tractng

I am knocking my head now. Wife experienced same thing with car last Thursday. She got tired of it and went to the shop. They said its cylinder 2 this time. They replaced it with OEM part from Lexus. Shop charged my wife $102 for part and labor.

I was curious and called Lexus and Toyota and they quoted me $110 and $107. I have come to conclusion that the ebay stuff is junk. Two cylinders needed OEM parts since the last time I changed it.

Can somebody recommend a site that has OEM ignition coils for a good price? Does this look like a good set?

http://www.buyautoparts.com/autopart..._Coil_Set.html