Spark Plug Tubes
 

Hi all,
I;m doing a 120k service on my '01 Boxster & have broken a spark plug tube.
Do I need to drain & refill the oil now?

So you broke a tube and did not get all the pieces when pulling it out? How big do you think the pieces are?

Upper 1/4 of the tube is missing. Guess I have to drop the sump?

Yeah, something that large would be worth trying to retreive. The good news is that dropping the sump is pretty easy.

I thought so. Bummer is I just changed the oil. Fresh 9 qts of Mobil 1

You can "catch" the oil and reuse it. After all, 9 qts of M1 is expensive! Worth buying a clean $5 bucket to do it with.

Just a "stupid" question.
Wouldn't a broken piece of a spark plug tube fall down into the cam cover area first?

Not stupid at all - good point!

You might consider using something like this to get inside the cover and try to remove the pieces:

http://www.amazon.com/Bosch-PS90-1A-12-Volt-Optical-Scope/dp/B0046ZRYOU

http://www.amazon.com/MAXCRAFT-60184-Lighted-Magnetic-Pick-Up/dp/B0042D6H44/ref=sr_1_5?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1342974684&sr=1-5&keywords=flex+tools

You might have to pull-out the other spark plug tubes to see and get to the broken pieces.

I got the tube out. This what I have.http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1342981959.jpg

There's a picture that tells a story. What were you using to pull the tube out?

I wasn't pulling the tube. Just changing plugs. I went high with the socket & extension heard a snap.

Yager's post at #9 above sounds like a good method.

There are cheaper cameras out there. In fact, I saw one less than $100 in Harbor Freight's ad recently. however, it's both cheap in cost and cheap in quality...

Did notice some snake cams on eBay, cheap since they are USB device and will plug into a laptop. Also sure they are not as great as the ones costing 100's of bucks but how many times will you really use it?

Portable USB Video Inspection Borescope Endoscope 7mm Camera 6 LED Snake Scope | eBay


good luck

Did the same thing while changing my plugs and tubes. How did you make out? Did you drop the sump and get the piece out? Has anyone else had this problem?

Dropping the sump will not help much as previously mentioned.
The broken piece(s) will probably be laying inside the valve cover area - they may just remain there or get caught up in the camshafts or timing chain depending on how big the broken bits are.......

Thanks! That is kind of what I figured. I have one more to get out the one closest to cockpit, passenger side. Its very stubborn. I have been using the transom to get them out but this one is tough. Once I am done I am going to go back to the one I broke. I saw some long curved needle nose plier at the auto supply store. Going to see if I can pull the piece out. Nothing on these cars is easy!

It would be nice if Porsche figured out when those tubes should be replaced, like every 50K miles or some-sort....

If there's no interval change, at least use a more durable material like aluminum. I mean ... com'on it's $50K+ car!! You can cheap all you want in the interior department but not the engine!!

yeah I was thinking the same thing. Why use plastic its BREAKABLE. I have been using the transom but the last one is really in there so going to wrap it in sandpaper. I think they switched to aluminum tubes in 04 and so they dont need to get replaced.

I couldn't get the transom to work, but I bought a right angle pipe fitting threaded thingy from Lowe's. I screw the threaded end into the spark plug tube and pull it out. When putting a new tube back in, I use the other end to provide an even pushing force around the perimeter of the tube. And the threads hardly do any damage to the tube if you need to re-use it and can't get the transom to work (and I never got it to work)

Like this, although I am not sure which size it was. I took a spark plug tube with me to Lowes until I found the right size:

Shop Mueller Proline 3/4-in Dia 90-Degree Galvanized Street Elbow Fitting at Lowes.com

Steve

Living up here in the great white north, i learned these tubes need to be warm to pull them out. Given my car was garaged, i used a heat gun along with the porsche tool to get these suckers out.

Great idea with the elbow, Steve.
I bought some 3/4" nipples, a 'T', and an end-cap (as somebody suggested in a thread somewhere). One nipple attached to the base of the 'T' and the top is used as a handle to help screw the nipple into the tube. I screwed it in until the tube started to spin (I didn't care about the threads cutting into the tube because I was replacing them). Once the tube started to spin, it would easily pop out with a tug on the 'T'. The end cap on a nipple is used on the most forward tube since the 'T' device won't fit very easily. One can pry on the end cap, if necessary, to pop the tube out, but I was able to just pull on it with my hand to get it out.
I took a video of me doing this and I'm attempting to post it. Once I do, I'll share the link.
I tried the transom plug, but once some oil got on it, it would just slide out of the tube and I was worried about cracking the tube by trying to expand the plug even more.

A simple bolt, a couple of washers and a couple nuts will get out even the worse glued in ones. I made it because the transom plug idea does not work for the super stuck tubes.

Simple yet effective...

http://986forum.com/forums/attachmen...9206061365.jpg


Attachment 18071http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/01/09/ura9ynyb.jpg

Stick the bolt in so the washer catches the inside lip...
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/01/09/uga4e4ev.jpg

and use a screw driver or other prying device to pop out
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/01/09/y7ujyba5.jpg

Took longer to post this than it was to pull out the tube using this method :)

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk

Oh of course pull out the spark plug before using the tool

Sent from my SM-T310 using Tapatalk

Thanks All for your suggestions. Last night I tried the transom plug one more time and it popped out. Now all I have to do is fish out the piece of plastic that cracked and fell into the valve cover! I have a 99 and I think because they are so old they were brittle plus living in the Northeast the tubes were cold. I replaced them because they were leaking.

Glad to see it is working out for you. :)

took it to German Motors in Providence RI, had them replace the valve cover gaskets and change the tip fluid and filter. they got the plastic piece from the spark plug tube.