Major tune-ups are pretty crucial especially when stacking up the miles like most Toyota Previa owners tend to do. If you’re like most “normal” car owners, under the passenger seat is not the first place you look for the spark plugs (or the tire jack for that matter). The Previa engineers and designers apparently got the green light to be “creative” or as I like to put it, very forward thinking…You only have to unscrew approximately 184 bolts to get to those bad boys. But if your persistent, have a decent sprocket set, screw driver and some elbow grease you’ll get in there in no time.
…BTW, ignore the mess, we can’t help if some Previa owners don’t know how to work a vacuum.
First things first. Pop off those bolt covers with a screw driver.
2nd – Unbolt the seatbelt at the base. You don’t necessarily have to do this but makes your life easier and there’s a chance you could break it. They definitely were not concerned with weight when they built the Previas. The seats are crazy heavy.
3rd – Unbolt the 4 main bolts holding the seat to the floor.
4th – Pull the seat up and off and set it back out of the way.
5th – Wondering where that tire jack was…here ya go. Get that out of the way and remove the plastic thingy that was hiding it from you.
6th – Remove the small metal plate.
7th – Remove the door jam foot step thingy.
8th – Remove the carpet by first unsnapping the carpet brackets. These can be a bit stubborn but a screwdriver will do the trick, just be careful, they brake easy. Pull the carpet way back and your almost there…only 42 bolts to go!
9th – Remove the metal engine cover/plate. Quite a few bolts here. Remove the plate and blamo your in…well almost.
10th – The plate with the 3 bolts is next. Remove that plate and reveal the key ingredient to a major tune-up…spark plugs.
You also have access to the fuel lines here which is easier from than from down below.
Good luck finding all those bolts you just unscrewed.