Spark Plug Change - anybody seen this before? - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

Changing my spark plugs this weekend and I cam across something I did not expect and was hoping somebody could shed some light on this for me (and others if they run across it as well). From all the data I gathered (these forums, Pedro's garage, Bentley shop manual, etc..), I should have 6 plugs, 6 crank case sleeves, and 12 o-rings total for spark plug parts. I purchased all of the parts and began removal process today... too my surprise, there are no crank case sleeves in my spark plug wells. I put the crank case sleeves I purchased up to the hole and they wouldn't even come close to fitting. Apparently it looks as if I have a different engine rev or something and wanted to see if this was common or not. Can anybody comment on this? My Boxster is a 2003 2.7l and the engine was replaced by Porsche in 2005. The ticket for the replacement engine says 2004 2.7 engine but I assume they are all the same. Here are some pics of my spark plug well:

Can you take some pictures that are in focus? That way we can see what the material is in the spark plug tube. From your out of focus pics it appears to be aluminum, like the tube was cast into the head. Please provide better pics and we'll help you out.

My 03 looks just like yours, no tubes. The parts store acually sold you tubes for an 03? Make sure you bought the right plugs. Also, did you end up changing out the plugs? How was the process? How long did it take?

Yeah the pics didn't turn out as good as I wanted but it's so tight in there that the camera was having a hard time focusing. Here are a few more. Hopefully this will give you a better idea. It is all aluminum with one green o-ring towards the front as you can see in the pic. I can't tell if there is another o-ring further down or not. It kinda looks like there is a white one further down but it looks practically impossible to get to. All the documentation I have read says it should have the plastic tubes but I am noticing that the 2003/2004 models have some slight changes to them here and there that don't seem to be very well documented. Crios - YES! And to make it worse, it was a Porsche dealership! Looks like I will be taking some parts back. I did change the plugs out since I was already in there. I just need to torque them down now as I only hand tightened them until I figured out my discrepancy. I bought the plugs from the same dealership since I have read plenty of times that there is no need to go outside of the stock plugs and their prices were actually pretty good for them. I think I paid $63 for the plugs which is just a tad cheaper then what Suncoast charges. They are the Beru plugs in case you were wondering. It's hard to say how long the process took since I was installing a TechnoBrace at the same time. I had already removed the lower plastic panels, the skid plate and the diagonal aluminum support arms. Overkill for plugs but it made it so much easier to access them. Once I got access the process was really pretty straightforward and not time consuming at all in my opinion. Maybe an hour to do as along as you have everything you need right there under the car with you. The only plug that was a pain was the driver side closest to the cabin. It is a pain because a hose is routed right in front of it. You have to push it aside while wrenching. I have read other spark plug stories that the one on the passenger side closest to the cabin was the more difficult one, but in my case it was the driver's side. Also I have read people removing their tires for the change but I didn't see the need for that. I had full access underneath, but remember I removed a bunch of stuff prior. If this is the case in that our models don't have the plastic tubes then I am actually relieved since it is one less thing to deal with. I am just thrown off by it since it doesn't seem documented anywhere. Does anybody know when the change occurred? Are the plastic tubes present on the current 987's? Does anybody know if there actually is another o-ring further down? If so, how do you change that one out?? Thanks guys, Greg

UPDATE: Well it appears that the later year models do away with the plastic tubes and o-rings. All research indicates they are there but they are not. Even Porsche's micro-fish data says the 2003 models should have them but they don't. My dealer said he believed the change was in 2002, so if you are going to do a spark plug change, you might want to check first before buying any parts. Attached is a diagram of a 996 from my Porsche dealer which is what my 2003 is similar too. If you look at the picture you will see an orange high-lite. That high-light represents the green o-ring in my original pictures. That o-ring is sandwiched between the outside case and the inside block so the only time you would want to replace it is if you were doing major work on the car. It does not come out unless you remove the outer case. This is confusing but in my opinion good news since there is less to deal with when changing plugs. So for those of you doing your own plugs and you do not have the plastic tubes, all you will need is the spark plugs and some patience. Hope that helps. Greg

Any one change plugs on their 2002 3.2? Even though my car has only 17k miles, it will be eight years old next spring and I'm thinking I may change the plugs as advised in other discussions, even though the car runs pefectly.