White plastic cover on shower cartridge?

[Steven Michelsen]

I am working to replace my shower's cartridge, or at least replace an o-ring or two. In the process of removing the old cartridge, I came across this white cover which prevents me from removing it. I can rotate the cartridge with a pair of pliers but the white cover prevents me from taking it out. What to do?

 

[Twowaxhack]

You need a moen cartridge puller.

The white piece is part of the cartridge and it’s not stopping you from removing the cartridge.

The cartridge is retained in the valve by a clip and I see you’ve removed the clip.

Moen cartridges are bad about sticking in the valve and being difficult to remove.

Make sure the puller you buy is for a Moen Positemp cartridge.

 

[GReynolds929]

Pull harder. The white is part of the cartridge.

 

[Rossando]

Grab a vice grip pliers, or a good channel lock and pull on that stem part. You took out the retainer clip just don't lose it. That brass shaft sticking out is the key from where to get leverage. If only had to use the moen tool one time in my life usually my channel locks are good enough. Please make sure water is off before attempting.

 

[TomFOhio]

I wish I could get the moen cartridges out with a pair of channel locks. If he pulls that brass piece out of the cartridge
he'll wish he got the correct tool.

 

[Steven Michelsen]

Thanks for all the good advice. I got a puller, and (at first) bought a Home-Depot-generic 1222 cartridge. It was only after I got home that I read the reviews for that cartridge, which were overwhelmingly negative - and most of them finished with "then I bought the Moen cartridge and it worked great". So then another trip to Home Depot to swap it out...
I did find that even with the puller I needed more torque to crank out the 22-year-old cartridge - see the photo.
At certain points of the extraction I had to grab the pipe that the cartridge was sitting in to counteract the pulling - all the plumbing behind the shower enclosure was not fastened to a 2x4 and was just floating around back there, so all that pulling otherwise could have put the plumbing and the fiberglass wall at risk.
All's well that ends well. Hopefully I am good for another 22 years. Thanks again for all your help!
- Steve

 

[BlueSkyHigh]

I was toying with the idea of going generic on the Moen 1222 replacement but didn't. I got a 1222HD, all brass and no plastic, from Amazon in hope that this cartridge will outlive me.