Marv

Has anyone kept track of how many hours it took them to remove and replace spark plugs?

TNX,

Ed Burdell

I don't have firm figures, but when I had it done at 60K, they had to keep it an extra half day to finish it. I understand that one of the plugs is an absolute bitch to get to.

geolab

I have done it three times. Between 1 and 1 1/2 hours with ALL 12 changed.

If you did change them, always ask for one of the old spark plugs to check the state of the plug (Burning color)

But PORSCHE sees it differently:
Here is the Labor operations:

job code 28 70 20 00
260 Time Units
Sparkplug removed/reinstalled
contains:
Tailpipes remove / reinstall
rear muffler remove / reinstall
Air hoses to heat exchanger remove / reinstall
Cover f. camshaft housing remove / reinstall
Engine cover panels remove / reinstall

Ed Burdell

Wow, that's a very efficient time. It took me about that long to change four plugs on an old tractor with absolutely unfettered access to the plugs!

993Porsche

Is their a DIY written up for this?


KrS

avillena

Here you go: http://p-car.com/diy/sparkplug/
it took me about 4 hrs and I'm slow; I love taking breaks. Have fun!!

Andrew

geolab

Here it is;
have the tools, especially snap-on socket.

epj993

Geolab - what' the length of a Porsche "time unit"? One minute?

Dan V

This peer pressure is killing me. now I have no excuse not to DIY this myself

geolab

Eric, Porsche TU is not equal to any exact time measure. But equals a certain cost value/time the job should be done

It was created basically by VW and adopted by porsche main factory in Zuff.
The main factory developed the TU's for warranty purposes on the new cars.
When a car came back to the dealer under warranty, the dealer then sends the bill to the factory.
And the factory pays back the dealer in pre-arranged TU's, and not what the dealer claims the car cost him to fix.
Our example shows 260 TU's for spark plug change, even if a car took from 1 hour to 6 hours of work.
But the TU's is a double edged sword.
The dealers use it for the end-clients, you and me.
One thing to check is the bill from your dealer after a job.
Today, every dealer charges a different TU value for the customers.
Lets say for example $1 dollar for a TU and another dealer charges $1.15.
Only thing to do is ask your dealer how much he charges for a TU.
And then you could figure out with a Porsche Labour operations listing, how much each job will cost at that certain dealer,
whilst they all claim they charge the same.

epj993

Very interesting - thanks!

99firehawk

time units =
there are 100 time units in 1 hr. so .10 time units is 6 minutes
so 260 time units is a little over 2 and a half hours.
That is what porsche would be charged if the job was done under warrenty
hourly shop rate times 2.6
Most shops do up it for customer pay work to account for older cars that dont come apart as easy as when new, the average is probaly warrenty time x 1.4 but ive seen it 1.3 or 1.5 as well.
indypendant shops do the same thing so its not a dealer thing.

geolab

I am sorry I do not agree.
I am at the porsche main dealer twice a week, and themselves do not know the exact correlation between TU's and time.
Especially that Mechanical TU's, body-shop TU's and paint-shop TU's have different cost rates/time
IMO

99firehawk

a time unit is a time unit dude, maybe its diffrent in france.
over here hourly rates are diffrent for mechanical/paint and body work but tu is a time unit
1 hour is 100 time units. unless every dealer ive worked for has been wrong
if do a job for 100 time units it shows as 1 hour on my pay check and the dealer submits a claim for one hour of labor at the shops hourly rate

BS911

One suggestion... if you have a shop change the plugs for you, don't ask for ONE old plug back, make sure you get ALL TWELVE. Cheapskates like to skimp on the upper #6 plug. The whole job could take about an hour, but upper #6 extends at least another half hour or hour on top of that.

I do mine - all twelve - in about 2 to 3 hours depending on how much other stuff I do. That should include jacking the car, removing wheels, etc.