Botsy67

Hey guys, not sure if anyone has seen this cool handmade tool before to remove the "hard-to-reach" plastic spark plug tubes on the MKI 996's. I found it during my online search and someone came up with this ingenious idea. Btw it worked great, much better than the Transom-Plug that everyone else has been using to pull these plugs out. Again this is not my idea, I just want to share it with RL DIY'ers here...

Anyway, I have couple of leaky tubes so I decided to replace them all today. I tried to do this job with just the wheel off the car but quickly gave up, impossible to reach the 2 most rear plugs so I decided to remove the exhaust cans. For me that was the only way I could get his job done using this cool handmade tool, check it out guys...

-Pic 1 shows the tool itself, cost about $0.48 at the local hardware store to put together. It consists of a long screw with 2 nuts and 2 washers, one large and one small, that's it.
- Pic 2 shows how to insert this tool inside the tube But make sure the spark plug is out first because the little washer at one end has to catch the inside lip of the tube. The large washer on the other end will not allow the tool to accidentally drop inside the hole, that would be very bad :-)
- Pic 3 shows the extraction of the tube using a pry-bar (in my case) but you can probably use something else. The idea is to use some type of leverage to easily pull the tube out of there. My long pry-bar allowed me to get the tube dislodged with no force at all, so easy.
- Pic 4 shows the final result with the tube out...

I have used the transom-plug before and I can definitely say that this new handmade tool is a lot easier and faster to get the spark plug tubes out of there. I hope this tool can help others here as well. Let me know if you guys have any questions OK? Cheers,

San Rensho

Congratulations, you have just discovered the Mediterranean. Sorry so snarky.

Schnell Gelb

"Health Services" was one of the first guys to use this system years ago. It is useful to repeat it for the Noobs who do not use Search because it will save them time and breakage.
If you replace the tubes, be sure to measure the inside groove for concentricity/ o-o-r .Some cheapo ones are an offset oval shape and will leak with any new seals.Surpringly I found that some recent shipment from URO(aka You Replace Often) were good.

San Rensho

Oh and by the way, the transom plug wrapped with sandpaper is the easiest way to pull a spark plug tube. Imho. I'm sorry. I shouldn't mock you OP because you were genuinely trying to help.

RennPart

We watched your video on youtube this morning, the Walmart boat plug doesn't always work and its good to have a backup method

Schnell Gelb

If you install an out of round spark plug tube with new seals, it will be extremely difficult to extract -even with the bolt+washer+prybar tool. Forget the transom plug in such circumstances !
Even better is a tool(I made one) that uses a much longer bolt,an extra washer and a steel tube spacer to bear against the cam cover. Then you just tighten the nut to extract the tube in a controlled manner. Just like some bearing/bushing extractor tools.Obviously the spacer tube must be a larger i.d. than the extreme o.d. of the spark plug tube :-).

5CHN3LL

"handmade tool" != carriage bolt, two washers, and two nuts. I applaud the McGyver spirit.

Botsy67

Thanks Schnell-Gelb, yes your idea of a controlled extractor tool is the best possible hand-tool design for this application. I never really liked the Transom-plug because it's hard to get a good grip and get enough leverage to cleanly extract the tubes in that restricted working space. The long bolt-nut+washer design was better for me because I can get very good leverage using a long pry-bar. The tubes just come out without any needed force applied.

Again that tool design idea was not mine; I found a pic online and decided to try it out on my own car and it worked great for me. Then since I have not seen anyone using it here on RL, I thought I'd share the idea, that's all. For some people the Transom-plug worked fine so that's great, too. Cheers,

dkraige

When I had to replace one of these that was dripping slightly, I just shoved 2 fingers in there and pulled it out by hand. Maybe mine was odd in that it came out that easy, but I found no special tools to be needed. Just friction and hand strength. If the o-rings are worn out to the point they are leaking, they're not going to have much elasticity, so not much force pressing against the bore. It doesn't take a ton of axial force to overcome O-ring friction and work the tube out.

Schnell Gelb

Once you have removed tubes on a few M96 you will realize they vary in how reluctant they are to be extracted. You may get lucky - hence the Transom Plug tool. The issue is with the difficult ones. Some of the worst are recently installed leaking tubes+seals. Why? Because the seals are plump but the tubes are oval at the inner end.So they leak but are very ,very tight.
These recent misfits require the very long bolt +oversize tube tool I described. Normal tubes - easy - not worth discussing..
Just a word of caution - be very careful with the size of the inside-end washer. It needs to be exactly the right size on a stubborn tube. Too small and you will damage the tube and then have an even harder time to remove it. Too large and it will catch on the inner circumference of the alloy cam cover - not good. .

5CHN3LL

When you just can't get the right angle on the inside of that hot, well-oiled passage with your fingers, your tool is the next logical choice. It doesn't matter if your tool looks different from other tools as long as it does the job.

It turns out that I am, in fact, developing some amount of self-control.

Which is nice.

dkraige

Sometimes I just like to see how high I can tee one up for everybody.

pontifex4

I ended up using a pipe bushing like this and just threading it lightly into the tube:

Botsy67

+1 on the stubborn tubes that won't come out easily and the restricted space you have to work with, it could be a very frustrating job to get these out, especially the most rear ones on each side; just relax and take your time. Actually pushing the new ones in are also a tough task for me, seems like my fingers are so weak or something, ugghhh... Overall it's still a good DIY to get some "bonding-time" with your 996 :-) Cheers,

Schnell Gelb

Careful using this method on old, brittle tubes. The NPT bushing threads are tapered and will both cut & expand the old tubes
The very long bolt(or studding) +washer+oversize tube (mentioned above)is very gentle and progressive.
To fit the new tube + seals , I fit the seals to the tube dry. Then smear just a very light coat of Vaseline on the outer surface of the seals. Use a socket to gently push them in.A flat pry bar helps.If you slather the seals in grease or oil there is a chance they will 'roll' when you push the tube in.That will cause a leak.