Spark plug, coils and spark plug tubes time.
Whole job took about 3 hours including faffing around with axle stands I didn't actually need. You don't need to remove the rear wheels for this job, but jacking the engine up a bit does make things a bit more comfortable.
I started by removing the rear bumper and exhaust. Removing the bumper is a piece of piss and as I'd replaced the exhaust recently removing that was no trouble either. I'd highly recommend doing this if you're attempting this job, you really need the space.
Was left with this:
Note evidence of leaking spark plug tubes! Almost all the tubes had a leak of some description.
coil pack, plug and tube removed. I used this tool, which I made myself out of some threaded rod, nuts and washers:
It worked incredibly well. I'd highly recommend using a tool like this instead of the boat plug the american forums seem to recommend. One of my tubes was stuck tight and I'm not sure the boat plug would have done the trick.
All cleaned up, new tube and plug. Well, partially cleaned up. Hopefully the rest will get washed away next time I'm on the motorway in the rain.
And with new coil packs, plugs and tubes installed all round. Couple of things to note: I had trouble confirming the connectors were engaged with the coil packs so I had to wrestle a bit to get the rubber boots pulled back on the cables to visually confirm that the clips were engaged on the bump on the pack. Rubber boot then pulled back down.
This picture also previews an issue I had installing the heat shields - the coil packs are larger than before and so the heat shield hits the fixing bolts before it bottoms out on the post on the cam cover. I'll make some ~10mm spacers out of aluminium to rectify this and get some longer bolts.
Finally, check out the state of my plugs:
Interestingly the coil packs were dated 11/2016 so they had been changed relatively recently, how long do we reckon these plugs were in there? Car had a fully stamped dealer and specialist service book!
