Spark plug tubes
 

I'm having my 120,000 service done tomorrow. If the spark plug tubes/o-rings don't show any signs of leaking should I still replace them or leave well enough alone?

at 6 bucks a pop on Pelican you probably should. if they are original the plastic might be brittle from years of high temperature use and might develop cracks.

i changed mine at the same mileage as preventive maintenance for cheap peace of mind, dont want to chase down leaks later down the road.

I would. Prevent the leaks now before you have to do it later. Inexpensive, and you're already in there changing plugs so why not.

I agree, preventatively changing them at 120k isn't a bad idea. I changed mine at 90k.

I went ahead and ordered them, I imagine at least a couple of them are probably shot

It`s time.

I have one of mine leaking and so I am doing all of them. I figured it made no sense to do just one. I only have 56k but it's almost 16 years old.

It's not bad to change them but understand that you will have additional labor even though you are changing the plugs. The tubes can take a little massaging to get them to come free. I used a boat transom plug to remove mine. A couple of mine came out pretty quick but most required about an extra 15-20 minutes to get out.

I'm sure your indy will be better at it than I was!

Got all the plugs, tubes and o rings replaced. The plugs that came out didn't look so good they were a flat rusty brown color on the ends, I didn't think I would fee
Any difference burn the idle is smoother and the butt dyno felt a little more acceleration

Flat rusty brown is good

That's good to hear. I have no proof they were ever replaced before, so they could very well have been original to the car.

Sorry for the thread hijack, but what are the symptoms of a cracked and leaking spark plug tube?

Just trying to learn something here...

I had oil on the garage floor when I noticed mine needed replacement. Its actually a pretty darn easy job to change them. Took me a couple hours to do all 6 and replace plugs at the time.

Mine weren't cracked but they were lightly seeping out onto the engine, and I would get a single drop of oil every now and then. It was noted during my PPI and I replaced them about a year later.

If you lift the back of the car and look up under there you can see the coil packs, and that is where you would see the oil seeping out if they were leaking.

When changing them, you can remove the rear wheels and the inner fender liner and the access is right there. The one closest to the front is a little tougher to get to but I think there is a 2nd fender liner to the front that you can remove to make that access easier (or maybe that is the only one you have to remove, I can't recall...)

Not a bad job to do. I used a right angle threaded pipe fitting lightly screwed into each tube and they came out very easily. When putting the new tubes back in, I used the other female end of the fitting to rest against the tube and push them back in.

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1450461476.jpg

I wish I had the size of this elbow but I do not, but if you buy new tubes just take one to Lowe's or home depot to test fit. I think 1" maybe?

Anyone try the aftermarket tubes, branded "URO parts", (and if so, are they any good)?