eflight

Got the car back from the dealer, they said it was throwing misfire codes. They checked all the connections to the coils, cleared out the codes and everything now appears to be fine. It drove home great. The cost from Inskip Porsche to check it out was very reasonable.

My guess is that I did not get one of the connections to the coils locked in.

If only I had not put a dent in the rocker panel when I lowered the car with one of the jackstands in the way I would be a happy camper right now.

Its just a car right ?

USMC_DS1

Congrats on executing the plug swap successfully. A Durametric tool may be handy if you want to take on future projects to clear your own codes and for troubleshooting... A set of JackPoints would help with properly jacking the car up as well. Of course, it's time to just enjoy the ride!

eflight

Thanks

I have 4 jackpoints. Went to raise the car, move the stand over to put under the car, car was not high enough, ok just a little higher, wait the jack angle is bad, I wont be able to get the stand in there, lets see if I can pivot the jack, nope, ok I guess lower it to re-position, lower , lower, hmm .. the jack is down but the car is still up, oh whats that, the dumb a** DIY guy forgot to move the jackstand out of the way and now the car has the rocker panel resting on the stand. Son of a Bit#$##Q@W$$%@%!@

Found out that in that location you cant do a paintless dent repair, has to go to the body shop.
I guess we know where the car will be this winter.

And that's how my DIY day started.......... live and learn

USMC_DS1

Damn! Time to partake in a 19th hole round of drinks. I'm looking at a similar repair of my passenger side rocker panel. I hit something(sounded metal) on the road after only two months of ownership. It left a deep gouge on the the bottom side of my passenger side rocker panel. I used touch up paint but it's there every time I work on the car... LMK how you repair it... one more thing for the p-car to do list.

BIG smoke

I just had my coil packs and plugs replaced. 98,ooo km service or 6o,ooo mile. Plugs still looked good, clean and the correct colour. Some of the coils were cracked.
It like a new car. Starts right up, purrs like it should. Of the money I have spent on this ride, this is all smiles.
On your above dent. I get the same pit in my stomach when I do something stupid. You $%^&$## @zz. But it does pass. My car, I bought used, its 8 years old. It has patina. And I will continue to accidently inflict further patina.
It makes it yours

Robocop305

I had something similar happen to me with the Rhino plastic ramps. Basically, they slipped under the rocker while I was trying to get my car on them. Now, I have to fix both side and it cost $656.00. The side rockers seems like a harder steel.

Sniff

I am about to change the plugs on my 2006 C4S, and I decided to go with the Bosch FGR-5-KQE0 plugs. These are 4-prong plugs which I've never used before, and I started to wonder about setting the gap size. There isn't a whole lot of information out there on the Internet, but here is what I found out.

The Porsche Factory Workshop Manual specifies a gap of 1.6mm +/- .05mm for the 997.1. I checked the website of an authorized Bosch spark plug retailer and their technical data showed the FGR-5-KQE0 plugs come with a gap of 1.4mm. That prompted me to call Bosch HQ and I was able to speak with a technician. He explained that the information on that website was INCORRECT and that all FGR-5-KQE0 plugs come pre-gapped at 1.6mm. In other words, these plugs should be "plug-and-play" . . . end of story.

I asked the technician if the gaps on multi-prong plugs can even be adjusted considering the 4 ground electrodes are not above the center electrode (like on a single prong plug). He said Bosch recommends NOT adjusting the gaps on multi-prong plugs. Rather, he recommended I do a visual inspection to make sure the ground electrodes are all symmetric with respect to the center electrode. If one happens to look off, get a replacement.

I hope this information helps anyone who may have been wondering the same thing as me.

Sean

Edgy01

Good tip (on the electrodes). Thanks.

GermanCarSpecialists

Sean, your investigation lead you to correct answers. We use those plugs on non-turbo cars and do not gap them. Good plugs btw

Sniff

Thanks for the confirmation. It's nice to know the information I received is correct.

Taxi?

After owning my car for four years, I replaced the spark plugs this weekend and the job was very doable thanks to this DIY from a few years back. I took off the wheels and dropped the mufflers for better access. There were still some definite tight spots around the coil packs but the most beneficial part of this DIY for me was that it eliminated any surprises. As a result, I didn't get in a hurry and everything went back together just like it came apart. Thanks, OP.

Sniff

Taxi,

Since this job is fresh in your mind, do you think it would be possible to change all 6 plugs without downloading the mufflers? The reason I ask is the Porsche 997 Workshop Manual makes zero reference to removing any components of the exhaust.

My plugs are just about due for a change and I'd prefer to leave the exhaust alone if I can help it.

Sean

USMC_DS1

Glad to see this old write up helping and congrats on the successful R&R Taxi.

slicky rick

Sniff, remove the exhaust, it makes the job a lot easier and therefore less error prone.

Sniff

Yeah, I was hoping to avoid it, but I guess that's not possible. I find this Workshop Manual a bit strange at times. Some of the job descriptions are overly detailed that I wonder, "Do you really need to describe this?" Others like this with no mention of downloading the exhaust are incomplete IMO.

Sean