Even though manual says 60k miles but I went ahead and changed it myself and I am glad I did. Following pics speaks of themselves and think 60k miles are really pushing it if you track once or twice a year. It took about 3-1/2 hrs without removing exhaust. Let me know if you have any questions.

Sid

 

Dreading changing mine. 3 1/2 hrs sounds about right from what others have said as well. Did you just do it with a hand jack or do you have a lift?

 

I used floor jack with stands one side at a time

 

Those are some dirty spark plugs. Looks worse than my BMWs after 100k miles.

 

Good job, any DIY steps for this?

 

+1!!

 

I am really bad with writing DIY steps, I can provide tips etc which will help others. It's fairly simple job, just need proper tools and few hours. I spent more time one first side due to car (engine/pipes) were hot and took time to cool down. The other side only took about 1hr (start to finish).
Following is what we did
-Jacked up the car and and used jack stand one side at a time
-Unmounted wheel
- Take heat shield out (two torx screws)
- There are two torx screws that hold the coils, once unscrewed the screws, unplug the wire by pressing the tab and pulling tab up to unplug.
-Use spark plug socket to take the plug out,
-You'll need flex head teardrop ratchect to get to the plugs which are harder to get to, without this ratchet it is impossible to get the plugs out.
let me know if you have any specific question, it looks hard but trust me if you know how to turn a wrench you can do it.

 

Key thing is to have a 3/8 ratchet and an assortment of extensions. I did it a bout 6 weeks ago and it was ~3.5-4 hours as well. Personally I found it quicker and easier to remove the exhaust, it is literally a 5 minute job to do and improves access. YMMV. If I was doing it again, knowing what is required I would expect it to be 2- 2.5hours with the rear on jackstands

 

any picture of the ratchet you have used? also which spark plugs you have got, or they OEM? where are they from? and how much they costed?

 

There is another thread about Spark Plug going on at the moment. For replacement, use the recommended Bosch spark Plugs at about $10 a piece. My independent Porsche repair shop refuses to install anything else than Bosch. Why go with something cheaper (not by much) and risk ruining a very expensive engine.

Yves

 

Here is the exact ratchet
http://www.sears.com/craftsman-3-8-i...&blockType=G17

 

Does anyone notice a difference with new plugs? Seems like a no-brainer with the pics of the old plugs, but it would be interesting to know if there's any change to performance or gas mileage.
My car has just over 40k miles and this looks interesting...
Thanks

 

I noticed a difference as soon as I started the car after the install, car sounded very smooth and idle was much better. Few reving in the garage sounded really nice, especially PSE puttered really nice after let go of the gas, if that makes any sense lol.. butt test felt like it responsed better as you step on throtle. Didn't get chance to drive more than 20miles to notice any gas mileage difference but I am sure it will help.

 

Hi Simtiaz

how much oil does your engine use ... some have said as much as 1 qt per 1000 miles ... just curious since you have provided such good images on the plug ...

Question - is your Pcar a 997.2 ( with direct injection ) ... if so - wonder what your intake valves look like ( direct injection has some byproducts )

Greg

 

Thanks