Quote:
Originally Posted by thstone
Regarding oil seep; replace the spark plug tubes and O-rings as this is easy and cheap.
I had a dealer and an indy shop inspect my original Boxster and they both insisted that the cam covers were leaking and quoted me $1,200-$2,000 to re-seal the cam covers. I replaced the spark plug tubes and O-rings myself and the seeping was gone. Job done.  |
I had seepage in those same areas. For some reason it was worse near the front. Using the guides from the 101 Projects site:
Pelican Technical Article: Replacing Boxster Spark Plugs and Coils - 986 / 987
Pedros DIY Articles:
Change Spark Plugs & Tubes
And the Bentley Service Manual:
Porsche Boxster, Boxster S Service Manual: 1997-2004: Bentley Publishers: 9780837616452: Amazon.com: Books
I was able to do it myself.
The front spark tube on the driver's side was full of oil, when I took the plug out the socket was covered in oil, and the o-ring had a completely rectangular profile. Putting the new O-rings and tubes solved it. You can use a little motor oil to lubricate the O-rings before inserting the spark plug tubes.
Getting the tubes out... that can be tricky. I tried the transom plug suggestion from Pedro's garage and others, but they were too slippery. What I ended up with was a threaded right-angle type of thread pipe connector from the plumbing dept. at Lowe's, like this:
Note that I don't have the size handy... I took a new spark plug tube to Lowe's and tested different ones until I found the right size.
I threaded the threaded end into the spark plug tube until it bit, and then I pulled it out. When putting the new ones back in, I used the other end which fit right on the edge, and provided a uniform pushing force against the tube. I used new tubes but the threads did not have much destructive effect on the old tubes. I got new ones with O-rings from pelican.
Don't forget to take off the wheel liner piece (I think Pedro's article covers that) that is ahead of both rear wheels; that makes it a lot easier to do the front plugs. I somehow forgot at first and when I finally did it made it much easier.
Steve