Hesitant, Stuttering in Low Revs

[mudinuri]

Hi all,

Because I am physically unable to do so, a few months ago I had my brilliant 1998 RAV4.1 with the 2L petrol engine serviced by a local one band mechanic who came highly recommended by my local MOT station. Unfortunately since he serviced it I have noticed the car is hesitant and stutters when in any gear at low revs, so this week I decided to change the plugs. The mechanic had used NGK BKR6EYA-11 single electrode plugs, but I was told this engine uses NGK BKR6EKB-11 twin electrode plugs and these are the ones I fitted this week, but on test driving the car it seems to stutter and be more hesitant than it did before fitted these plugs. The old plugs I took out had quite a bit of oil around top of the thread and when I fitted the new plugs I didn"t over tighten them. Maybe I haven"t tightened them enough???? or could it be something else. Any help or advice would be really welcome.

Thanks

[crofter]

Watcha David,if the plugs were not tight enough you would hear the hissing, I screw them down till I feel resistance and then give about a 1/4 of a turn  I would first suggest removing the air filter cartridge and then try a short run to see if that does anything in the way of improvement                  Fitting the, what you say, are the wrong plugs does not give much confidence that they fitted a decent air filter, there are some cheap ones on the market.maybe they thought it looked clean and just  used the air line on it which I personally would never recommend                                                   What colour  were the business ends of the plugs,that should give a  clue to the mixture of fuel and air being sucked in,a light brown is best             Del                             

Edited April 10, 2016 by crofter
bad spacing

[graunch]

Hi there,

If you are getting oil around the plug threads this is usually caused by a leaking camshaft cover gasket, the oil will  run into the recess between the camshafts and the dirty oil will cause the ht connection to plugs to short out. This used be a common problem on the Vauxhall ecotec engines , check your gaskets are not leaking and clean any oil from the plug caps.

 

[mudinuri]

Hi Del,

The plugs I took off do seem to be a lightish brown colour.

Am I right in saying that the correct plugs for this model RAV4.1 are NGK BKR6EKB-11 which have the twin electrodes?

I will take the Air Filter out as soon as it stops raining and give it a run out. Will let you know if it makes any difference.

Hi Colin,

I will check the gaskets and clean the plug caps.

Thanks both for the advice.

[crofter]

Dave, up to the end of '97 BKR6EYA are listed and after that BKR6EKB11. So it could possibly be that the first one is right as I think the lists are mainly related to the reg year rather than the build year. Might be worth noting the engine model and serial number and ringing a Toyota dealer to see what they say. The colour of the plugs is fine so the air filter will be ok

Del