Broken spark plug tubes

[bar10dah]

Trying to pull out the tube with a set of needle nose inserted and opened up, I cracked/broke the tube. Does the broken pieces of plastic in there pose any danger?

Follow-up: The broken piece seems to be a perfect fit into the tube. So *if* any bits of plastic made it's way into the camshaft area, they're very very small.

Thanks Pelican for supplying all the parts I used this weekend to do my 60K service! Your technical articles and 101 Projects book really made it fairly easy to accomplish.

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This post was auto-generated based upon a question asked on our tech article page here: Pelican Technical Article: Replacing Boxster Spark Plugs and Coils - 986 / 987

[Wayne 962]

I would indeed try to get all of the plastic bits out of there, as they can clog oil passages if they get stuck in the wrong places. But, generally, I would say that the likelihood of that would be pretty low.

- Wayne

[bar10dah]

It appears the two pieces (the tube and the piece that broke off) fit together tightly, so I don't think any other bits of plastic made its way into the crankcase.

For the remaining five tubes, I used the 1" transom plug method I got off another forum. Picked one up at Bass Pro for $6. Works great! Pelican should start stocking these.

The car has been a blast to drive. I've been thumbing through your book. Already planning another big project. Thinking of upgrading to the ROW M030 suspension as a DIY. Will be looking to Project 63 when I do.

[adbm3]

I changed my spark plug tubes out yesterday (as well as the spark plugs). I finally found a use for the curved probe that one gets with a probe/pick set at the auto store. After miserably failing to be able to remove the tubes with a pair of needle nose pliers since there is nothing for the pliers to get a grip on, I inserted the curved probe all the way into the spark plug hole, put the point on the back of the tube (which has a bit of meat) and then used the needle nose pliers to grab the probe handle to pull the tube out from the back.

I finally figured it out by the third tube but the rest went really fast after that.