How to disassemble a kitchen faucet?

If you are wondering why someone like me who is an expert in a fine lifestyle is writing about installing a kitchen faucet, the reason is simple. I spent one day doing something that should have taken at the most 1-2 hours and I could not find anything useful on the Internet. So this is my contribution to making the Net a place for people to help each other.

We had a Moen single handle kitchen faucet (model 7385 series, ~1997) and its handle broke off. When I called Moen (wonderful customer service), I was told that it would cost me a total of $63 to get a replacement. A quick check of prices over the Ebay, Home Depot and Lowe's website told us that with another $50 we could actually buy a new one, and so we did.

Now came what I knew would be a difficult part - disassembling the old faucet, something that a spoiled guy like me had never done in my life. So here are some tips for you so that you don't waste time:

1. Working without the right tools is like working without your hands. Get every tool that you need. Most manuals will tell you what you need. You might feel that you could do without something but it is actually quite difficult and does not turn out that well.
2. Use lots of penetrating oil (WD-40) and give it several hours, or even overnight, to work.
3. Remember how the plumbers in the movies lie down on the floor and then slide under the sink. Do it. There is no other way to get in there and work without hurting your whole body.

The most difficult part of disassembling a Moen faucet

This information is very specific to the model that I was working on. There is no tool that you can find in your home tool kit that can help you take out the mounting bracket which is mounted with a nut. Literally, no tool will get in there. Initially, I tried my deep socket wrench that I bought at the Home Depot but it was less than 2 inches and was not long enough. A trip to several plumbing stores and even auto stores was no help. And there was no other way to get any other tool in that tiny space. While my wife and I were cursing Moen for such a horrible design, I decided to call them to find out if they had any tips. Well, they did. The woman was very confident that there are deep socket wrenches that are even deeper and one place to look for is Sears. We have a huge Sears hardware store close by and we rushed there. Wow, for an amateur like me, it was like a trip to a different world. There was no way I could find what I needed but with the help of a really helpful salesman, I bought what I needed: an extension for my wrench and a 11/16" deep socket.

And when my wife who ran to try it shouted that it does reach the nut, I started to work on it. In 2 minutes, it was off and the whole faucet came off pretty easy after that. Installing a new one was a breeze!