orthojoe

After looking through the forums, I discovered that nobody has written up a DIY on changing the spark plugs on a 987.2, DFI engine. While it's similar to the 987.1, there are some subtle differences in the procedure as well as torque specs. My spyder is approaching the 4 year mark this year, so it was time to change the spark plugs. The last time I changed spark plugs was in an inline 4 engine. That takes about 5 minutes to do. It's not quite that easy in a mid-engined boxer engine. After taking off the rear wheels and looking at all the shielding in the way, I contemplated giving up. Thankfully, I didn't because it's actually very simple to do once you figure out what needs to be removed to gain access. While I was working on the car, I figured taking some pictures with my phone would be useful for making a DIY, so here it is:

Step 1:
Jack up the rear of the car and take off the rear wheels


Step 2:
Remove the black metal shield that is in front of the brake lines (ignore the garbage wrapped around my brake line. That is my brake pad sensor that I don't use). There is one torx screw and two 10mm bolts that hold it on.



This is what it looks like with the shield removed.



Step 3:

Remove the splash guard lining the front of the wheel wheel. There are 2 torx screws below and one 10mm bold holding this in:



This is what it looks like with the splash guard removed.




Step 4:

You now have access to the engine, but the coil packs are covered by heat shields. There are 2 halves to the heat shields. You only need to remove the TOP half, which is held on by 2 torx bolts. However, you cannot remove the heat shield until the two oxygen sensors are out of the way.


You'll need an o2 sensor wrench, 22 mm size.



O2 sensors removed.



This is the top half of the heat shield removed.




Step 5:
With the shield out of the way, you now have full access to the coil packs and plugs. Disconnect the wiring harness to each of the coil packs and remove the torx screws that are holding down each of the coil packs. At this point you can pull out the coil packs.





Removed coil pack.


You now have full access to the park plugs. You'll need a 16mm spark plug socket and some extensions as well as a swivel elbow to access and remove the plugs.



I replaced with OEM plugs. Torque specs are 24ft/lb for the plugs (it is 22ft/lb if you are reinstalling plugs, but 24ft/lb if replacing with brand new ones)





I changed my air filter too. This was my first look at the engine compartment in my car.





New filter vs old air filter after 15k miles and about 4 years



There you have it! It is very straight forward to do as long as you have the right tools and info.

Marine Blue

Joe thank you for posting the pictures.

I assume the other side of the engine is exactly the same steps to get access to the plugs?

How did your old plugs look and looking back do you think every 4 years is just right or could it go longer assuming lower miles?

orthojoe

No prob. The other side is the exact same, except the 2 torx bolts that hold the heat shield are in a slightly different position.

The old plugs looked just fine to me. I'm sure they'd be just fine to leave. I'm just trying to follow (and document) proper maintenance schedule per Porsche.

Boxster dude

Oh wow! this is perfect, as I was wondering about the 2 piece heat shield. Great write up and pics. many thanks letit snow... let it snow... I am gonna change my plugs.

blue44

thanks Joe, any tips or pics of the engine cover removal ?
Donn

Boxster dude

Joe another quick question, were the new plugs already gapped?
If not, would you happen to know what the gap is?

orthojoe

I didn't take any detailed pics of the cover removal. It's really straight forward. On our spyders, you remove the styrofoam molding that holds the roof and the carpeted covering by just twisting off the clips that hold it all down. Then you can see the metal engine cover, which is just held down by a few bolts. The only tricky part is wiggling out the air filter itself. You have to do it at just the right angle. The best way to do it is to climb into the trunk itself so you can get a good view/angle.

From my understanding, the OEM labelled plugs I got were pre-gapped, so I did not bother gapping the plugs.

perretar

Is this applicable to a 981 Cayman ?

orthojoe

There will likely be subtle differences like there was between the 986, 987.1, and 987.2

ECS Tuning

Great DIY Joe!! Thank you for sharing

jrotsaert

cool diy. thx for posting. any notable improvement whilst driving?

meteor10

Joe
Thanks for this post. I have a couple of questions. Do you know if this is the same procedure for a base 2.9 (non DFI) 987.2 motor and can you use a normal 22 mm open end wrench for the O2 sensors. If not where does one get the 22 mm O2 sensor wrench.
Thanks

orthojoe

Nah. The plugs that were in the car looked fine to me. I only did the change to document adhering to the recommended maintenance schedule of 40k miles or 4 years. My car only has 15k miles, but is almost 4 years old.

meteor, I can't tell you if the procedure is the exact same with the 2.9L engine. I would guess that it's very similar if not the same, though. I think you could use a normal open ended 22mm wrench or crows foot for the job. You can buy an o2 sensor wrench at any auto parts store.

PelicanParts.com

Well done. Great pics make all the difference in the world!
Mark/Pelican Parts

2XIPA

Great post, this will definitely come in handy when the time comes for a spark plug and/or air filter change - Thanks!