jchapura

Is there a consensus? Do owners preventively change their coilpacks when changing the spark plugs? Or, change only the spark plugs at the scheduled maintenance intervals?

jdubdds24

I them every other time. even that's probably overkill

Steph1

I had the job done by a reputable Porsche indy since I didn't feel like busting my knuckles, and they ordered 6 plugs and 6 coils.

The indy said that it was pointless to change well working coils unless they are cracked or swollen or show to be the older model (whatever this meant). So the coils were the newer model and in perfect shape, but he still used one of the new coils because a tab broke when he disconnected one of them.

He said same mentality should be used with everything on these cars cause way too many owners throw money everywhere and change lots of perfectly good parts.

He said that because I also wanted to change the idler pulleys , belt and water pump. He said we could do pump next spring since we can't see its condition, but the pulleys were all fine and even (no ribed edges), and the belt almost looked new.

So I saved a couple of $G's that day and definitely found my official indy.

jchapura

Is there a foolproof way to tell if you have an "old style" coilpack or a "new style" coilpack before you remove it from the car? For example, some physical attribute your can measure or a tab that can be seen? Or, maybe on one of them you can see a part number because it's oriented just right for someone lying on their back under the car...

Steph1

When he showed them to me, he showed the second moisture ring around the tip where before there was just one apparently.

But I don't know if you can differentiate them when installed.

996AE

As I recall manual is 10 years or 60k miles.

If my car was close to miles or years and I was doing plugs I would update coil packs.

snaphappy

I just did plugs/coils on a new to me 997.2 C4S with 65k miles. She was idling rough (no check engine light) and I knew she was due for the 60k service. So I did the plugs and coils myself. I think the OEM coils cost me $289 from Suncoast. So here's my thought process - if you need to do plugs, you're right there, just do the coils. It's $289. Is it necessary? Nope. Can you skip them? Yup. But you're right there, removing the coils, to get to the plugs. So why not just replace them?

Fined

agreed with above. It's right there. Not worth my time or effort to skip it and then go back at another time

Petza914

On the .1 cars, the older style coil packs have a narrower back / insulator vs the newer thicker ones. The newer style versions require longer bolts during installation and usually come on the box, but you can't tell that until you remove a bolt. You can tell the thicker insulator from the thinner one without removing anything. They went to the thicker one to help prevent the cracking of the insulator that happens.

So, if you have the older coil packs, replace them with the newer ones next time you do plugs then you probably don't have to do them the time after that.

I've done plugs in both my cars only once each and put in new coil packs at that time (newer style). My wife's car is probably due for plugs again and this time I won't replace the coil packs.

I'm not going to vote since my vote isn't represented by one of the 3 choices above. If there were a caveat about the new vs old coil packs as part of answer #3, that's the one I'd choose.

Use only Bosch or Beru coil packs from reputable sellers (like Suncoast) and not anything you find on Amazon or eBay, and especially not any funky colored ones that promise improved performance as they are either DOA out of the box or fail very early (you can find posts on this).

Christian Stark

Just my .02

I plan on changing mine when I do the plugs, but I am going to DIY it. The only reason, is the car came from Atlantic City, and it has a huge amount of oxidation on the undercarriage.

Once I change them, I will not proactively change with plugs, now that she is down in Atlanta.

nougat

I just changed my plugs and coils this weekend. The coils were in great shape because its a California car, but I changed them anyway. The whole job cost me about $289 (Bosch and Beru OEM from FCP Euro) and about 4 hours of my time, because this was the first time and I took it slow. I also removed the rear bumper, which made access easier, but added a little time.

jchapura

Pete - when you say "...without removing...", can I truly just slide under the car to make the determination? Which plug position is the likely most visible?

Petza914

OK, without removing anything is just a slight exaggeration - you have to take off the heat shield over them that's held on by two fasteners. It won't come out on one side, but will move out of the way enough to get a look .

Here's a really good DIY thread for you that shows you the process and also the difference between the older thinner and newer thicker coil packs.

https://rennlist.com/forums/997-foru...-w-photos.html

door2416

As far as the coils I don't agree with your indie unless he isn't going to charge you labor down the road when he finally replaces them. There isn't any extra time involved changing the coils when you change the plugs. His labor down the road will pay for the coils now and changing them now will save you the hassle from having a misfire and labor to diagnose it. As far as the person doing it themselves I doubt that there are too many of us that will keep our cars long enough to change our coils more than just one time. So I'd change them when I change plugs.

Steph1

Well, he is the expert and showed to be very competent in his field. I was there when he did the job and he showed me the coils he was removing. He pointed out the fact that they were the new style and that they looked recent enough to be completely free of swelling, cracks or discoloration. So it looked has if they had been replaced recently enough for them to be in perfect condition.