1999 Corolla Ve Spark Plug Gap - Toyota Corolla, Chevy Prizm (1998-2008)

The 1999 VE is still chugging along. It has about 207,000 miles on it. In the fall my daughter leaves for school which is about 3 hours away. She won't be coming back very much, but I want her to have as little problem as possible when she does. Regular maintenance so far - previous owner maintained it quite well. Just did PCV and air filter. Regular oil top off about every thousand or so.

I just bought plugs and wires. The current wires are the original from the factory. The plugs have been replaced at least once. The current ones are Denso PK16TR11 platinum and I'm replacing them with Champion iridium 9202 - I've never had an issue with champion plugs and the $10.00 rebate will be nice.

The champions come gapped .040 and my manual and every where else I've looked says .044. Should I gap them .044? I'm thinking yes and yes I know I need to be careful. default_smile

The only reason I ask is that I see so much about not gapping iridium plugs.

Yes, should be regapped to 0.044". As long as you use the appropriate sparkplug adjustment tool (the one that just grabs the ground strap) - you shouldn't have any problems gapping that iridium plug. The problems come in when you use something like needlenosed pliers to pry on the ground strap - there is too much of a chance to chip the iridium center electrode or damage the little "button" or groove on the ground strap.

Thanks for the confirmation.