This morning I did some service items including replacing the engine air filters (removed rear bumper), changed oil/filter, and changed my spark plugs. The spark plugs were surprisingly straightforward! All six done in about an hour. Thankfully I already had a large collection of socket extensions and universal joints .

As I'm going through the 4 year maintenance checklist, I have one thing that I need a little assistance from the community in figuring out. Checking the firewall body drains for debris. Any hints on where these are specifically? Thanks in advance!

Brake bleed coming tomorrow, then I'll be all done. And will have saved ~$2000.

 

How were you able to change the plugs so quickly? Is the setup that much different than on the 997? Did you use a torque wrench? If so, what did you torque them to and how did you factor in the use of a universal joint?

Thanks!

 

2013 4S
I did the plugs also, simple and straightforward.
Took me about 2 hours
I did torque to 20lbs

 

I had a helper, so perhaps that helped speed things along (handing tools, spark plugs, etc).

22 ft-lbs is the factory spec, so I went with that on my torque wrench. I had to use a universal joint on I think half of them, as there are various brackets in the way for a straight shot, but the angle was very, very slight, so I didn't worry too much about torque being off too much. In all the cases with the universal joint the angle was very minimal. Also, on my old 911 I would snug up by hand then do a quarter turn, so I was able to use that "feel" as well to make sure I was on point. Once I got the hang of the first one, the rest were pretty easy. For the driver side closest to the front plug I needed to remove another bracket in the way, but that was one simple bolt. Basically the process was this:

1) Jack up one side, remove rear wheel.
2) Remove heat shields. There are two. 2 Torx bolts on each.
3) On each coil, use Torx to undo one screw holding in the coil.
4) Remove coil (just pulls out).
5) I put a plug socket on my locking 3/8 extension, put it down in there to engage the spark plug, then build up extensions as necessary to remove the spark plug.
6) Inspect old plug.
7) Put new spark plug on extension, feed it in carefully, then tighten by hand to engage. Build up extensions and universal joints as necessary.
8) Torque to 22 ft-lbs.
9) Replace coil, and attach torx screw.
10) Replace electrical plug into coil.
11) Repeat 3-10 for each of the three coils on one side.
12) Replace heat shields.
13) Replace wheel and lower car.
14) Repeat 1-13 for the other side of the car!

One big recommendation: Use a locking extension on your plug socket so you don't accidentally lose it down in there.

 

I did without taking the wheels off.
Magnetic spark plug socket to hold plugs

 

Wow - you are a better person than I. I can't imagine trying to get around in there with the wheel still on.

 

So... anyone know where the body drain holes are located?

 

What did you use to remove the 2 torx bolts on the shield?

 

One of these:




They are "e-torx". I got that set along with a set of male torx sockets.

(And by the way, there are two shield parts per side, each with 2 torx, so it's a total of 4 torx per side to get the shields off. )

 

I saw a few DIY. It seems easy so I'll do it myself. Air filter, cabin filter and brake flush done last week. Just need to change out the plugs. Thanks for your help.

 

Is this every 4yrs or predicated on mileage as well or?

 

If you're talking about plugs, it's every 4 years or 40K miles.

 

If anyone is interested, I have compiled four PDF documents that I used to do the oil change, brake flush, spark plugs, and cabin air filters. The PDFs are collections of thread postings here and on rennlist, along with my own material. I am making the engine air filter PDF now. They are all linked at the bottom of my blog page here: http://stealthboy.com/porsche.php (please just skip the stupid story and scroll all the way down the bottom to find the links.)

 

Thank you, I've done everything but the brake flush. Doing that next.
Probably do pads also, rotors are fine.

 

Excellent!