Recently, Dock (Atlanta) and myself decided to tackle the 996TT plug change; something that many people might shy away from. I have owned a complicated twin turbo car in the past, so this was nothing new to me. At least the 911 turbo isn't a transversly mounted engine, right? Previous to my plug change, we changed the plugs in Dock's car and learned a good bit about the procedure (what to do and how to do it more efficiently). I figured "why not?" being that I was at 27k miles and my 30k service was due to be completed in the next week.

Wheels, inserts, intecoolers, rear bumper, and small heat shields come off. Intercooler hoses disconnected and the side side heat shield is bent back. Paper napkins are put into the intercooler hoses (to keep foreign objects for falling into them).

Coil packs come off and the plugs are changed. Everything is put back on in reverse order and the car starts beautifully. Congratulations are in order. I start it a few times and the car idles very smoothly. This is around 12am in the morning and it only took about 2.5hrs for the total job (taking a dinner break about 1.5hrs into it - the German beer that Dock and I drank was wonderful by the way). Of course, we cut up the whole time, so it could have gone faster. I also take this opportunity to change out the rear wiper with a "plug" (thanks Eric @ Bumperplugs). No more devil wiper.

1:00am+ rolls around and I leave. I get about 1 mile down the road and a check engine light comes on. The car starts stuttering and will not produce any power under throttle. I crank it back up and limp back to Dock's house. It is almost 2:30 am when we look for the obvious (hopefully it was just an intercooler hose). No such luck. Everything seemed perfect...

It was too cold and we both had to get up early in the morning. I make it back home with one of Dock's spare vehicles. Dock, I can't begin to express my appreciation for this. You really came through and helped me out when I needed it. THIS is what the love for Porsche is all about.

Days go by and I lose sleep. I keep going through the steps in my mind; Dock does as well. Fast forward to Monday night and a nagging thought keeps running through my head. We jack the car up, but half-way through removing the intercoolers, I decide that we will act on the nagging suspicion that has been bothering me for 4 days: did I remove all of napkins in the intercooler hoses?

Air box comes out and hoses come off. The Y-pipe comes out and my suspicion is revealed: there is a wadded-up, Bounty paper napkin wedged into the throttle body. It did not make it past the butterfly. It was cleanly removed and both a sigh of relief came over me along with a feeling of stupidity. I have been doing turbo work for almost 5 years and I have NEVER made this mistake. This could have been very costly, but luck was on my side.

Looking back, I realized that a combination of the cold air and being so tired really hurt my concentration. I was in such a "hurry" to get things put back together and on the road that I overlooked the small things that mattered the most.

For those that try to tackle the plug change, my advice is to go for it. I can only hope that my experience helps you with your decision and that you half-way enjoyed the story. It really isn't that difficult to complete and you learn a lot about your car (perhaps more than you want). It puts the car into perspective and I feel very connected with this wonderful piece of machinery (go figure).

Dock, I can't thank you enough. I really can't. I'll be up there tomorrow to fix the hose that we broke while removing the Y-pipe.

 

OK, the moral of the story.............

Use a balloon, a condom or plastic wrap with a rubber band and lay off the beer!!!



You southern boys!! Do we have to come back down there again and teach you some things??

 

Moral dont try to service a 100+ dollar car yourself no matter how handy you are what if it had damaged the throtle body or other parts and cost you $$ in repairs...I love to tinker and fix but I dont mess with cars anymore they are not 350 Chevy engines like in my Z28's and Vette's.

 

Yes practise safe Porsche-mechanics by using a condom.... Good job Ruiner, it's not "that" bad too do it's just tight in there is all

 

ok, this is very motivational indeed.
i'm changing kirby's plugs when the time comes, free of charge.

 

ROFL one thing... you NEED small hands. I know that's not a good trait to have but still for changing plugs and impressing girls you need small hands.

 

I had a friend who convinced me to change the plugs on his LT1 camaro, dumbest ****ing thing I ever did, took me like 6 hours

 

Very true.

 

Great story...these words sum it up: "you learn a lot about your car (perhaps more than you want). It puts the car into perspective and I feel very connected with this wonderful piece of machinery (go figure).

Those who don't work on there cars for routine maintenance items and mods are missing out on one of the most fun and satisfying things you can do with a Porsche other than drive it, imho

 

Oh man, you have no idea how much this happens. I personally use foam rubber that is oversized for the holes. This way it can be half in half out and when reinstalling a pipe you will know it is there. Balloons will sometimes break sending crap down the pipe. Best to use something else. Be glad you were on the pressure side not the inlet side. I have seen people suck a towel in the turbo!!

 

I'm usually very meticulous when working on vehicles. This just goes to show that accidents do happen and you should take the proper precautions in order to prevent them. Of course, being tired doesn't increase your level of concentration, either.

My friend actually sucked a t-shirt into the turbos on his 3rd gen RX-7. It wasn't pretty.

 

I had a similar experience. After I finished putting in the plugs the engine ran rough and the light came on. I also was afraid that I hadn't removed the paper towels also. I spent a week with visions of the towel sitting in an intake port in the cylinder head. I decided to re do the job. The next weekend when I took it apart I found that one of the new spark plug electrodes was bent, closing the gap.

 

that's a good story, what's porsche charge for a spark plug change?

 

~$700 (tax included) here in Atlanta.

 

painfull