Moen bathroom faucet cartridge replacement to fix leak around the handle or dripping spout.

[Don2222]

Hello
Today I am trying to fix a leak around the cold water handle on the bathroom sink faucet. It is a Moen faucet with a lifetime warranty only for the original owner! They are betting I cannot do it I can see why now! LOL
Not counting shower or tub cartridges, there are basically 2 different cartridges for the bathroom sink. The old white 1224 cartridge and the new black 1234 cartridge. Giving them the exact model of the faucet and the date it was purchased plus of it has the red and white stem extension. When installing you will see if the top of the stem extension has full splines or partial splines. A lot to learn here!
They sent me 2 cartridges for the hot and cold because I had the sink model, the cartilage number, the receipt and I sent texted them a picture. Then they sent me a link to the instructions which had all the instructions for each model and each version so I had to figure out that I had the new version black cartridges and the colored red and blue stem extensions and the partial splines not the full splines.
They also sent removal tool because Inasked about it. It did not go in all the way because it ran into a round lip protruding from the brass threads!
I had to put in my vise and squeeze the gap in the seam along the barrel hard 2 times with my vise make the diameter a tiny bit less to fit past the circular lip then I could unscrew something and it was not the cartridge nut that this tool was made for! It turns out that the brass piece the handle screws into unscrews out and ended up on the removal tool! This was not explained in the instructions or by Moen support!
After spending some time figuring that out, I could get the cartridge nut removal tool in to the black cartridge nut with the 2 tabs on the tool going into the 2 slots in the cartridge nut. However I had to grab the tool with some vise grips to turn it so I could pop the nut and then easily loosen the nut all the way. Then I could grab the stem and pull the black plastic nut and the black cartridge both out together!
When putting in the new cartridge it must be seated in all the way with the tab on each side going into the slots in the brass valve housing. Then the black cartridge nut can be screwed in all the way and the stem extension be pushed back on the new stem. Then the brass thread adapter they never mentioned can be screwed back in and the handle can be screwed back on. In my case the new cartridge was fully open so I had to make sure the lever in the handle was facing out towards me.
Has anyone’s done this with the lifetime warranty parts?