Rick Lee

I've heard this is a very tough DIY, but I'm way past the point of no return now. Started out by removing the air box and my heater bypass tube. No biggie. These damn clips holding the plug wires to the engine shroud are just a NIGHTMARE. None of the phillips screws are facing a good angle to get them with a screwdriver and there's not enough clearance to even put a phillips bit into a socket. I had to use vise grips and do it 1/4 turn at a time and they are loooonnngggg screws. Really sucked.

Rick Lee

Here's how I had to start those tiny screws. More to come.

Rick Lee

The two clips right behind the fan shroud and under the manifold are just impossible to reach. So I first took off the fan shroud. Nope. Wasn't gonna cut it. But it looked like that vacuum unit would come off and then gimme some room to work. Front bolt was not too bad, but it has another on on the back side and it's a contortionist act to reach. Can't see anything, all done by feel with disasterous consequences for dropping something.

Rick Lee

Vacuum unit smelled of gas and gave me the feeling that I was totally committed to this job now. Bonus is that the linkage on the underside was really gummed up, so this is a great time to clean and lube it. BTW, what kind of lube should I use? Or is that too much of a dust magnet? That's all for now. Rebuild distributor from Mark Cohen will arrive tomorrow and I'll document all that fun and follow up with the shiny red plug wires later.

Rick Lee

Ok, got the passenger side plug wire clip undone. It was a NIGHTMARE. Prepare for major frustration and a sore left wrist the next day. One of the worst jobs I've ever done and that's saying something. Anyway, I got it done and pried all the clips off. I won't be reusing them, so if anyone needs some, PM me. I'll use zip ties on reinstall.

I decided to pull the coil wires to see how the reusing connectors would go. I hear they never go bad and are something like $40 a piece. So 28 of them would be cost prohibitive. I was unscrewing the second one when disaster struck. The crimp pulled off before I got it totally unthreaded. I had to use an exacto knife to slit the connector shield and then an allen bit to unscrew the crimp, then some needle nosed pliers to get it out. I'll tape it up and it will be fine. I used some Dawn dish soap and a chopstick (Chinese fiance is good for something) to lube the connectors and new wires.

deltawedge

Now I remember why I haven't tried this yet. Keep the pictures coming, I may be inspired to try this at home.

Rick Lee

You have a '95. Should be a lot easier.

TroyN

I did this too, and agree about those clips! Those small ratcheting drivers, described on p-car, worked for me (I got mine at Sears, pack of 3 with different angles and I used all 3 of them). My hands are able to fit in there though. Maybe someone should engineer a power driver that would allow for the confined space. Good work!

Mike J

Goood work as well!! I think I posted about this a few years ago...the small ratcheting drivers are really really handy.

The bad thing is when I did my engine rebuild, once the manifold is off, removing the plug wires is a 2 minute job! ;-)

I also did it with a Varioram but did not take any of the varioram apart...I am not sure why you did this? Maybe you have different clips than me? (Oh, and I have large hands...I found putting lube on them helps to push the fingers/hands in tight spots...alright no jokes!)

Cheers,

Mike

Dudley

Those screws holding the harness to the fan shroud are a bear. I only had to loosen each a bit and then I was able to pop the screw and anchor out from the inside of the fan shroud. I took a pair of pliers and grabbed anchor by the ears and pushed it through. When I reassembled the wire harness, I had the anchor screwed on to the harness and pushed the anchor into the shroud. Worked like a charm and it minimized my effort messing with inaccessible fasteners.

Which boot did you cut? Someone might have a spare lying around.

Love the red wires!

993Porsche

Please excuse my ignorance folks, but why is this needed and what were the indications?

Dudley

I had one wire that had a small crack near the boot. Nothing that a bit of silicone wouldn't fix but I decided that it was time to replace them all. I included the wire change as part of my 60,000 mile maintenance. A bit of over kill but nothing is too good for Lucy!

(This job is such a pain that a rational owner would not attempt it, with the engine in the car, unless new wires were obviously required.)

Red rooster

Would it not help to remove the Varioram ? That just takes a few minutes and gives so much more room .

Geoff

viperbob

To make the job easier next time, drop the engine down as far as you can on the engine mounts. Now loosen the 6 screw clamps holding the intake to the upper rubber boots. Pry intake straight up. This will not give you about 4 more inches to get to those screws on the back side of the fan shroud. Actually very easy this way....

geolab

Is it that easy to remove the varioram?