Coil Pack question

Hello, I decided to tackle the spark plug replacement DIY. After fooling around with the heat shield for awhile, I found my coil pack bolts in pretty bad condition. I decided to take this pic and save this job for later, as I was afraid of destroying the bolts and being really stuck. Btw, the wetness on the bolts is from me spraying PB Blaster on them to help dissolve a little rust. The question is, has anyone dealt with rusty bolts like this on the coil packs. I have dealt with rusty bolts, but its a toss up on who will win. I thought about buying replacement bolts and dealing with these if they break. Problem is, the back two cylinders are supper tight with space and getting a broken bolt out might be a 4 hour job.

I live in Ottawa where they spray salt on the roads in November with 0 snow. that's all I deal with when it comes to bolts. rusty ones. if you can't get something in there cleanly, you're going to have to bite the bullet and start drilling. I understand it's tight aND while it may make the job longer, try and remove as much as possible around the coil packs to make life easier.

Before drilling, you might want to try banging a slightly oversized Hex Key into the bolt - if there's enough corrosion there, this should work for you. If it winds up stripping out anyway, it should be easy enough to drill it, to get an easy out in there (you may need a right angle drill to get in there). Good luck

I hate to resort to removing bumper and mufflers, but it seems like fighting these bolts would be much easier that way. I may try to deal with the easy access coil pack without removing everything and then decide how to deal with the others. I also thought about soaking these in PB blaster or anything that might help over the course of a month. Like spray them every 3-4 days and then tackle them down the road. That may be just enough to allow them to break free before they crack apart. I also thought of taking something much smaller than the opening in the bolt to free some surface rust. That may allow the correct allan wrench to seat a little more flush.

PB Blaster/Penetrating oil(s) are always a good idea... The problem with removing the corrosion on the inside of the head is that it will make the inner dimension larger which will in turn cause the "correct sized" wrench to slip/strip - hence the recommendation to try a "slightly larger" key/wrench.

Makes sense. Car is 14 years old and has 60k miles. I am guessing these are original. Yikes.

Annoying, this part is hard to find. 900 067 089 09 pan-head screw M 6 X 25 The old style screw for older coil packs.

Maybe get the repair all ready to perform....then run the car and get it hot for a removal try ? Do they make a bolt removal socket -craftsman- ? that small ? ( you may have to bust away at the coil pack ear first ) good luck

At least I have found the replacement screws. I bet once the head is busted, the pack will come off and the rest of the screw would not fight to hard as the pressure is released.

I broke two of these when replacing my coils. They were in much better shape than yours from the picture you shared. My bolts broke just below the head and only after I had started to loosen them. I was lucky that there was enough of the bolt shaft remaining that I could get vice grips on them and slowly remove the remnants without drilling. My advice is to go very slowly and don't be afraid to use pb blaster as you go. I was was able to source replacement bolts from the local hardware store (Ace) easily.

Just PM-ed you.. I have a few left overs original Porsche allen hex screws. I converted to the new oversized coils with new Torx-tip fasteners. You are more than welcome to have.

I hear you spruden. I have had success being really patient with brake caliper bleeders the same way. Lots of pb blaster and then slowly pressure the bolt tight and lose. If possible using a very gentle tapping with a hammer to cause vibrations in the threads that loosens rust. I am only concerned that the tight clearance is going to make the whole process a bigger headache. Fun getting you know your car though, lol.

I also ordered another head shield for passenger side. The one on the left came off just fine, but not even touching the other one until new shield arrives.

Maybe stainless next time https://www.belmetric.com/index.php?...FRBWDQod-I0E9g Or VW https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...FYpKDQodoA4GmA

Man now that is some corrosion on those shields.

Probably never removed in 14 years. I am not having a spark plug or coil pack issue right now. I am just being pro-active with spark plugs. Then when it's time to do a coil pack, all this stuff with come apart much easier as the bolts are new etc.

consider the above tools, even with the mufflers off it's somewhat difficult http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarti...park_Plugs.htm

I definitely want to get that right angle bit driver kit. I have lots of extensions and swivels but I can totally see that bit driver helping. Maybe like this one.

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I wouild assume that if you are removing the coil packs, you probubly are going to replace them, unless you are just doing plugs. the new coil packs I bought came with new bolts, so no need to go to a hardware store and get generic bolts

JayG, I was only going to do plugs at this time. The good thing about doing this job is renewing all the connections (plugs, coils, heat shields.) Then when it's time to replace a bad coil, i'll know that all the bolts I need to go through are basically new.

A few things: 1. Use Aerokroil or CRC Freeze Off, they work much better than PB Blaster. Be sure to read the directions on the Freeze Off, as it's used differently than a normal penetrating oil. 2. Remove the mufflers, you'll probably break some rusted hardware in the process, but I can't imagine doing this job with them in place. Leave the bumper alone. 3. Replace the coils now. You don't want to suddenly have severe misfire problems in the middle of winter. The coils crack, and moisture gets in. There is no point in doing the labor twice. 4. Replace all hardware with A4 stainless whenever possible. Ignore zinc coated steel, that offers very little corrosion protection. 5. Be cautious of the threaded wall on the valve cover. That aluminum is very thin, and likely very corroded. You don't want to crack the valve cover by applying too much force to a bolt.

That is helpful. I was thinking about getting the muffler to cat clamps and the other two botls that hold the muffler bracket. Since I don't have a misfire or spark plug problem yet, it might be a good idea to just plan this out and make it easier. Especially since I already know I am going to war with the coil pack bolts, lol.

I will be doing new coils & Plugs when my X pipe gets installed. I have 75,000 miles and to my knowledge am on stock coils/plugs

I just jacked the car up, removed the wheels and shields and then was able to do the job with the tool kits that Fracture suggested and a pair of long handle needle nose pliers. I did not remove the mufflers. Mine was not rusted like OPs. Spark plug kit KD 41740, the extensions are attached so you won't be fishing for the socket/plug after it falls off, and Kobalt 24 piece right angle driver kit bar code 099198852324

take a look at your spark plug valve cover tubes while you're in there. Now would be good time to replace it you see any leakage. Easy DIY with all you are doing. See.. https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...-change-2.html Scroll to second post. I had some seepage, been dry as a bone since.

I agree. I'll hit the bolts a few times with PB Blaster. Then I will take the heat shield off on the side I am working. Get all the tools ready and then take the car for a drive to get valve cover up to temp. Once I bring car back, I hit coil pack bolts with freeze off and hope that this scenario creates the least amount of resistance for these bolts. I'll obviously be trying the this on the easiest access coil pack. If it works well it will give me the confidence that I can manage the harder rear cylinders.

Those bolts have very little toque on them so hopefully they're not as difficult to remove as they appear. One suggestion is use a pick to absolutely clean out all the dirt and rust inside the hex and make sure your hex bit is fully inserted squarely before applying torque. Also the penetrating oil needs to get between the coil and the cam cover where the threads enagaged. Not sure if freeze off overspray on a hot cam cover is a good idea.

Definitely going to avoid spraying the freeze off on the area until it's only warm and not overly hot. I may try to just get this done with PB Blaster and use freeze off as a second resort.

Good news. I tackled the passenger side plugs. I got the right angle bit driver and I had a few 3/8 extensions. I learned that taking the electrical plug off the back most coil pack is tough. I also learned to pull the cable down and fwd a little so I could plug the coil pack prior to securing the coil pack with bolts. Other than that. I felt like it wasn't so bad. I didn't remove any mufflers or bumpers. I attached pics of the tools I used. I also posted the pics of the old plugs. Time to do the drivers side now.

Ok, last update. I drove the car around for about 35 minutes this morning. All six plugs replaced. I dint' notice much difference in idle or throttle response. However, the occasional stutter I was getting is gone. I thought maybe I was getting that from poor BJs gas or O2 sensor, mass air flow, fuel injector who knows. Didn't really want to start replacing things as my luck would be spending $1200 and fixing it on the last thing. Not that it is bad to do that as you get all your maintenance done. At the end of the day, the very slight hesitation I was getting was not really that noticeable. But seems like it was getting a little more frequent these last two months. I have no idea when the plugs were changed last, but my car has 60k miles. The plugs came out very easy (they didn't look terrible or great) and the rusted coil pack bolts offered no resistance. Good day for me.

You left the BFH out of your pics?

Not sure if you did this when you accessed the coil packs, but I found that dropping the engine down on the mounts gives you a little more room to work. Mine were fortunately not corroded like that.

I didn't do that, but I can totally see how having the engine 1-2 inches lower would make this job much easier. One of the big challenges is connecting the electrical connection on the coil packs. Getting it off is not too hard, but being able to get your hands up that high on the last coil is not that easy.