Lessons learned from exhaust removal and spark plug replacement
04-08-2010, 10:48 AM
#1
Addict
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Lessons learned from exhaust removal and spark plug replacement
Seems like everyone is doing this job now that Spring is here!
Last night I finally finished replacing my spark plugs and wow, I'm pretty proud of myself because this was the most intensive job I've done on my car so far...The car is a 2002 C2 Cabrio so it might be different for other cars.
Let me preface by saying that I don't consider myself to be an expert mechanic by any means. Although my father owns an auto shop I didn't quite inherit that skill so this task was daunting but if I can do it I think anyone with a little patience can too!
In total my car was out of commission for three days. But in real work time it probably took me seven hours. If I had to do it again I could complete it in 3-4 hours.
Day One
The first day I spent under the car thinking to myself, "How the hell am I going to do this?" and also "Maybe I should just take this to a mechanic!", but I picked and poked under the car and familiarized myself with where everything is. My first big issue was trying to figure out how I was going to jack up the car. I read and read on recommended methods and finally figured that I'm just going to do one side at a time. I chose this for safety reasons and because there doesn't seem to be one acceptable method for jacking up the whole rear of the car. I used a jack on the rear jack point and then placed a jackstand under the rear aluminum subframe. Then just for safe measure I placed the rear tire underneath the car as well.
I then removed the heat shield from the spark plugs and essentially called it a night because I couldn't figure out how to get my hands or tools into the tight spots.
Day Two
I went to the auto parts store and purchased a universal joint for my ratchet. This will prove to be the most important part of my toolkit. Aside from that you need three different extensions too, I used a 3", 6", and 9". I attempted to fit these tools in without removing the mufflers but figured I had to go all the way if I wanted to get this done.
Removing the mufflers was scary but actually ended up being pretty easy. I sprayed some liquid wrench on the exhaust sleeve bolts and they came off without incident. But getting the three bracket bolts was a pain at first until I figured out where to place my ratchet. Once the exhaust was loose I was shocked by how heavy it was. I felt like I was doing a bench press when removing that thing. Once out of the car I realized how HUGE these cans were. Also since mine is PSE I had to disconnect a vaccuum line to get everything removed.
Now without the muffler the access to the driver's side components was pretty easy. Now I'm not familiar with the types of coils the 996 uses and didn't know how they really attached to the spark plug. So I pulled but was afraid I was going to damage them. But eventually I pulled a bit harder and they just popped off (after removing the allen bolt screws of course!). I did that for the other two and now had access to the plugs.
The plugs are pretty easy to remove and I used my 9" extension to get to them. Here is where I had the first big issue. The extension kept popping off the universal joint socket and even got stuck in there once. So I used some duct tape to hold everything together. Once I did this I had no issue getting the other two plugs out.
I installed the new plugs, reinstalled the coils, and figured I would turn the car on to make sure I did this right. It was about 9:30pm at this point so I was curious at to how loud the car was going to be. I turned her on, heard the engine without one muffler (pretty loud!) and noticed no check engine lights! Success had come upon me!!!
I had to call it a night at that point though because the exhaust headers were too hot for me to work around.
Day Three
I'm Mr. Confident by now so I put the exhaust back together and put everything else in place. The little heat shield gives me some trouble but eventually I get it all in place.
I head to the other side thinking I'm going to finish this up before the sun goes down! (I did this after work each evening starting around 6:30pm). Same process as the other side but now I realize there is slightly less space on the passenger side to access the rear-most spark plug. Even taking the coil out is a hassle! Eventually it comes out but when I'm trying to remove the plug my duct-tape tool invention comes apart! Now my socket, extension, and spark plug are stuck in the engine!!! I tried everything I could for about 30 minutes and FINALLY was able to apply enough pressure to get it reconnected and get the spark plug removed.
Reassembly was again pretty easy except for that last spark plug where even plugging the coil back in was a challenge. It was one of the few times I wished I had "little people" hands. Plugging the ignition wire connection back into the coil even tested my patience.
But I got it all back together and went for a test drive. The car ran just as well as it always had but now I know it's got new components in there so I'm happy.
Oh and my coils seemed to be in perfect shape so no need to replace any of them. The one concern I do have is there is a slight oil leak on the passenger side, front-most part of the engine. In fact it created a little bit of residue on the first coil. It's not enough to even leak on the floor but I did have to wipe it down a bit. Anyone have any ideas where that is coming from?
So in summary, it's a job that requires some patience but I think most of it was because I was still unfamiliar with this car. If I had to do it again I could cut that time in half. I learned a lot about my car and now have confidence to take on other projects.
Okay enough typing, but if anyone has questions, let me know! I wanted to take photos but my hands were pretty filthy throughout all of this so sorry!
Last night I finally finished replacing my spark plugs and wow, I'm pretty proud of myself because this was the most intensive job I've done on my car so far...The car is a 2002 C2 Cabrio so it might be different for other cars.
Let me preface by saying that I don't consider myself to be an expert mechanic by any means. Although my father owns an auto shop I didn't quite inherit that skill so this task was daunting but if I can do it I think anyone with a little patience can too!
In total my car was out of commission for three days. But in real work time it probably took me seven hours. If I had to do it again I could complete it in 3-4 hours.
Day One
The first day I spent under the car thinking to myself, "How the hell am I going to do this?" and also "Maybe I should just take this to a mechanic!", but I picked and poked under the car and familiarized myself with where everything is. My first big issue was trying to figure out how I was going to jack up the car. I read and read on recommended methods and finally figured that I'm just going to do one side at a time. I chose this for safety reasons and because there doesn't seem to be one acceptable method for jacking up the whole rear of the car. I used a jack on the rear jack point and then placed a jackstand under the rear aluminum subframe. Then just for safe measure I placed the rear tire underneath the car as well.
I then removed the heat shield from the spark plugs and essentially called it a night because I couldn't figure out how to get my hands or tools into the tight spots.
Day Two
I went to the auto parts store and purchased a universal joint for my ratchet. This will prove to be the most important part of my toolkit. Aside from that you need three different extensions too, I used a 3", 6", and 9". I attempted to fit these tools in without removing the mufflers but figured I had to go all the way if I wanted to get this done.
Removing the mufflers was scary but actually ended up being pretty easy. I sprayed some liquid wrench on the exhaust sleeve bolts and they came off without incident. But getting the three bracket bolts was a pain at first until I figured out where to place my ratchet. Once the exhaust was loose I was shocked by how heavy it was. I felt like I was doing a bench press when removing that thing. Once out of the car I realized how HUGE these cans were. Also since mine is PSE I had to disconnect a vaccuum line to get everything removed.
Now without the muffler the access to the driver's side components was pretty easy. Now I'm not familiar with the types of coils the 996 uses and didn't know how they really attached to the spark plug. So I pulled but was afraid I was going to damage them. But eventually I pulled a bit harder and they just popped off (after removing the allen bolt screws of course!). I did that for the other two and now had access to the plugs.
The plugs are pretty easy to remove and I used my 9" extension to get to them. Here is where I had the first big issue. The extension kept popping off the universal joint socket and even got stuck in there once. So I used some duct tape to hold everything together. Once I did this I had no issue getting the other two plugs out.
I installed the new plugs, reinstalled the coils, and figured I would turn the car on to make sure I did this right. It was about 9:30pm at this point so I was curious at to how loud the car was going to be. I turned her on, heard the engine without one muffler (pretty loud!) and noticed no check engine lights! Success had come upon me!!!
I had to call it a night at that point though because the exhaust headers were too hot for me to work around.
Day Three
I'm Mr. Confident by now so I put the exhaust back together and put everything else in place. The little heat shield gives me some trouble but eventually I get it all in place.
I head to the other side thinking I'm going to finish this up before the sun goes down! (I did this after work each evening starting around 6:30pm). Same process as the other side but now I realize there is slightly less space on the passenger side to access the rear-most spark plug. Even taking the coil out is a hassle! Eventually it comes out but when I'm trying to remove the plug my duct-tape tool invention comes apart! Now my socket, extension, and spark plug are stuck in the engine!!! I tried everything I could for about 30 minutes and FINALLY was able to apply enough pressure to get it reconnected and get the spark plug removed.
Reassembly was again pretty easy except for that last spark plug where even plugging the coil back in was a challenge. It was one of the few times I wished I had "little people" hands. Plugging the ignition wire connection back into the coil even tested my patience.
But I got it all back together and went for a test drive. The car ran just as well as it always had but now I know it's got new components in there so I'm happy.
Oh and my coils seemed to be in perfect shape so no need to replace any of them. The one concern I do have is there is a slight oil leak on the passenger side, front-most part of the engine. In fact it created a little bit of residue on the first coil. It's not enough to even leak on the floor but I did have to wipe it down a bit. Anyone have any ideas where that is coming from?
So in summary, it's a job that requires some patience but I think most of it was because I was still unfamiliar with this car. If I had to do it again I could cut that time in half. I learned a lot about my car and now have confidence to take on other projects.
Okay enough typing, but if anyone has questions, let me know! I wanted to take photos but my hands were pretty filthy throughout all of this so sorry!
04-08-2010, 11:58 AM
#3
Drifting
Good job!
I'm proud of you for having the tenacity to tackle and complete this job. Especially because you have little experience working on cars. One of my best friends and neighbor, a cardiologist, had never worked on cars and ended up overheating his car and warping both heads. He took me up on my offer to help guide him thru the job of fixing it himself. He actually found it interesting and rewarding, and offered to help me put the lift kit on my Jeep.
I'm proud of you for having the tenacity to tackle and complete this job. Especially because you have little experience working on cars. One of my best friends and neighbor, a cardiologist, had never worked on cars and ended up overheating his car and warping both heads. He took me up on my offer to help guide him thru the job of fixing it himself. He actually found it interesting and rewarding, and offered to help me put the lift kit on my Jeep.
04-08-2010, 12:28 PM
#4
I just finished this job myself last night. 1/4" drive sockets/ratchets/extensions and a 5/8" magnetic spark plug socket I picked up for $6 on eBay were key to working in the tight space. No duct tape required. I used wobble socket extensions instead of universals in the crooked connections. I don't think the 2002 and newer have the spark plug tubes so at least you didn't have to deal with that mess.
And the three nuts on the muffler bracket go really speedy if you have an air ratchet. I had no trouble at all with the two 17mm nuts on the clamping sleeve. The mufflers were a breeze to drop.
And the three nuts on the muffler bracket go really speedy if you have an air ratchet. I had no trouble at all with the two 17mm nuts on the clamping sleeve. The mufflers were a breeze to drop.
04-08-2010, 01:00 PM
#7
Addict
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Go for it! I had a great opportunity to do it this week because the wife and daughter are at grandma's house so I didn't really have any deadlines or distractions.
I just finished this job myself last night. 1/4" drive sockets/ratchets/extensions and a 5/8" magnetic spark plug socket I picked up for $6 on eBay were key to working in the tight space. No duct tape required. I used wobble socket extensions instead of universals in the crooked connections. I don't think the 2002 and newer have the spark plug tubes so at least you didn't have to deal with that mess.
And the three nuts on the muffler bracket go really speedy if you have an air ratchet. I had no trouble at all with the two 17mm nuts on the clamping sleeve. The mufflers were a breeze to drop.
And the three nuts on the muffler bracket go really speedy if you have an air ratchet. I had no trouble at all with the two 17mm nuts on the clamping sleeve. The mufflers were a breeze to drop.
As for those muffler nuts on the muffler bracket - that was a lot of wrenching to get those out! Since there's not a lot of space there you can only get 1-2 clicks on your ratchet so an air tool would have REALLY helped me here!
I think my lack of skill made this seem much harder - it is actually quite straightforward but I wanted to show others who aren't mechanical geniuses that it is feasible to work on a 996. If I accounted for my time in a dollar value it would have absolutely made more sense to take it to the mechanic. But I had nothing better to do at home this week so I figured I might as well!
Trending Topics
04-08-2010, 01:25 PM
#8
When I wrench on my own stuff, sometimes it's about the money but not always. I know that when I do the work, it gets done correctly and I won't have a problem with it later on.
But I have seen this movie before. I get a quote for $1,200 to do the 60K service. I say what the heck, I am short on time so I drop it off and let them deal with it. They call me and say, all your tubes are leaking and the tubes and seals need to be replaced. That will be another $500 for parts and labor. Or worse they try to tell me the leak was caused from something worse like a valve cover gasket and want another $1,000 to reseal both valve covers and replace the tubes.
This whole service cost me less than $300 in parts, and would probably have cost me $2,000 at a shop. It took me 3 nights after work. This one was worth the time it took.
But I have seen this movie before. I get a quote for $1,200 to do the 60K service. I say what the heck, I am short on time so I drop it off and let them deal with it. They call me and say, all your tubes are leaking and the tubes and seals need to be replaced. That will be another $500 for parts and labor. Or worse they try to tell me the leak was caused from something worse like a valve cover gasket and want another $1,000 to reseal both valve covers and replace the tubes.
This whole service cost me less than $300 in parts, and would probably have cost me $2,000 at a shop. It took me 3 nights after work. This one was worth the time it took.
04-08-2010, 06:46 PM
#11
Yup, no love lost.
I have only had one mechanic I ever trusted. Lyn Barber at Karden automotive in Walnut Creek. But he was my Alfa mechanic and I have never seen a Porsche in his shop, and I don't want t o teach him.
But it never ceases to amaze me how stupid the shops must think their customers are.
Last year I had some transfer case work done and I knew the shop didn't do it right. I saw silicone smeared on top of where a new O ring was supposed to have been installed at an oil leak. So I brought it to Macy transmission (excellent) in Concord for a second opinion, and they confirmed that yes the other shop didn't replace the gasket they just put some silicone on the leak.
I filed a complaint with the CA BAR. The BAR investigated my complaint and cited him. Unfortunately it takes a lot of citations until the state actually does anything. Easy money for the shops. Although the state did make him refund my money.
No, I don't trust the shops. Half the time I know more about the car than the mechanics do. That's not saying much.
I had a PPI done on my Porsche one month ago before I bought it, at a well respected Porsche shop. They said the oil leak was caused by a leaky seal at the vario cam actuator. They wanted $1,500 to fix it. So I offered the seller $2,000 less and told him I would take care of it. It was actually leaky spark plug tubes.
anyway it's fixed now.
I have only had one mechanic I ever trusted. Lyn Barber at Karden automotive in Walnut Creek. But he was my Alfa mechanic and I have never seen a Porsche in his shop, and I don't want t o teach him.
But it never ceases to amaze me how stupid the shops must think their customers are.
Last year I had some transfer case work done and I knew the shop didn't do it right. I saw silicone smeared on top of where a new O ring was supposed to have been installed at an oil leak. So I brought it to Macy transmission (excellent) in Concord for a second opinion, and they confirmed that yes the other shop didn't replace the gasket they just put some silicone on the leak.
I filed a complaint with the CA BAR. The BAR investigated my complaint and cited him. Unfortunately it takes a lot of citations until the state actually does anything. Easy money for the shops. Although the state did make him refund my money.
No, I don't trust the shops. Half the time I know more about the car than the mechanics do. That's not saying much.
I had a PPI done on my Porsche one month ago before I bought it, at a well respected Porsche shop. They said the oil leak was caused by a leaky seal at the vario cam actuator. They wanted $1,500 to fix it. So I offered the seller $2,000 less and told him I would take care of it. It was actually leaky spark plug tubes.
anyway it's fixed now.
04-08-2010, 06:56 PM
#12
Rennlist Member
04-08-2010, 10:44 PM
#14
Addict
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter