“1) Make sure you turn off water until the replacement is complete ie. atleast until you put the pin (dont think its fine keeping water on while wiggling the cartrige because the pressure pushes it out)2) Tip 1 : If the new cartridge does not easily slide in remove the black flaps from old one and put on the new one (no glue required)3) Tip 2 : If the cartrdige doest not easily slide in, dont push or tap the stem (gold color) too hard, instead push the plastic one, otherwise, the stem will push the back part out resulting in water always going into the cartridge, which means the shower does not turn off even if the handler is turned off... ( made this mistake, so i had to redo, remove the shower handle, cartridge again, turn the stem of both old and new and realized how that works, it was interesting, otherwise this would have been a 15 mts job, not 1hr)4) Tip 3 : Notch should be down (plumbingsupplyandmore video has it wrong, but its correct on the cartrdige website "moen", check pic)5) Always keep tools handy (needed a 7/64 allen wrench to remove shower handle, had to do an additional trip just because i didnt have this small wrench)”
“We bought a replacement value and it worked. The removal tool did not help as the vale stem was broken off after 20 years. There are lots of videos about drilling out the cartridge and threading it to pull it out. I found that using a dremel tool to cut off the end tabs, shown in pic 2, allows some pliers to rotate the cartridge. This eventually allowed the cartridge to be pulled out half way. The rubber seals got stuck in the pipe, pic 5, so removing the cartridge the second half took a lot of constant pressure, while holding the pipes in the wall. You are sort of ripping the rubber seals apart as you pull it all the way out.We used the extraction tool to install the new cartridge 9/10 of the way in. I used a socket and extender to push on with my chest while holding the pipes to push it in the final bit. It all works now so hopefully its not something that will be a problem for another 10y - 20 years.”
“Note that the design has changed slightly over the years and the back end of the cartridge is now larger than the older versions. Meaning, it's difficult to install and you MUST shave a little of the plastic body off before it will fully seat. Use coarse sandpaper or emery cloth to reduce the size of the end equally, all the way around but only at the very back end of the cartridge. 80 grit should work just fine.”
“The video on the moen website makes changing the cartridge look very easy. In reality you will likely face some challenges.1. Once you have drained the water from the pipe make sure you cover the plug hole so you don't lose your screws.2. If the hex but holding the handle has stripped a star shaped bit should work (it did for me).3. Depending how far back the cartridge has been set, you may need to remove the circular housing also.4. You may then find a plastic disc right in the way of where you need to pull the pin out. I snipped the top so I could flex one side forward and the other backward which allowed me about space to get the pin out (felt like I needed 3 hands though).5. Removing the cartridge was extremely hard. I had ordered a remover tool and even using that it was very difficult. Do not be tempted to use WD40 To loosed it. You can use vinegar safely. It took some time but eventually got it out.6. Take the time now to get some sandpaper, roll it and clean the inside of the pipe. Also use the sandpaper to quickly clean off the other parts.7. The kit comes with a little packet of lubricant. The video says to just lubricate the black oval parts. I did this but I used the rest of the lubricant on. The inside of the pipe. Use it all!8. Even getting the new cartridge in was hard. It wouldn't easily go back the whole way. In this kit there is a small white square shaped adapter that is meant to be used to help remove the cartridge (which is a joke). BUT it is useful for getting the new cartridge in the last bit. Slide it on and use wrench pliers on the square part to do small backwards/forwards turns whilst pushing the whole thing into the wall.9. Putting the pin back in. The original pin simply would NOT seat flush. It was infuriating. I had already ordered a new pin which went in just fine. Again, if you have the plastic disc to work around, a third or fourth had is useful!10. Ensure you put everything back in the reverse order.11. Expect lots of air through your pipes at every water outlet throughout your house after turning the mains water back on.It took me significantly longer to do this job than I anticipated (I had to dig out a lot of soil from the water mains box to even be able to turn the water off and then seems to hit a problem at almost every step). However, it is perfectly possible.If you are the original purchaser of your home or the shower parts then Moen will send you the cartridge for free under their lifetime warranty.”
