if you are good at reading the DIY- have tools and know how to use them- its 1.5 hours at a casual pace
Any job this important is worth doing right or suffer from poor job
egr ports are always in action and cause probs too- wikipedia for system info
DIY should always be the highest quality standard-- in my opine
my work should exceed dealer spec for sure~

 

it looks daunting to see the intakes exposed like that in the pics- buts its really no big deal

its just bolts and metal- you clean the metal and rinse- get the rinse water OUT and DRY fully so no water is left in the manifold

if you want better mileage and live where its hot- install a p2r or outlaw engineering manifold spacer/heat insulator while its apart--search for them here or look in sponsored sales threads

 

lube the throttle/cruise cables and throttle return springs since they are sitting there and will appreciate it

harbor frieght has a cool `cable lube tool` for motorcycles- works perf on the TL- $3, clamps around cable housing and has place for lube straw- goes right in!

 

yeah im gonna take it off to fully clean it out...Should i un- bolt the throttle body to make it easy?

 

remove the entire manifold and TB together as one unit- its easier than trying to get the bottem corner bolt on TB
The acura method in the diy doesnt remove TB from engine bay because they are not going to work on it, just manifold for single port egr on 99s for a recall- fast is what their goal was

seperate them on the workbench where its easier-
TB may be stuck on, get gasket remover/softner and spray thru edges, wait

You will flip TB over and remove the round cover- clean disc inside- thats idle control valve IACV
also clean the big round plate inside TB throat- both sides and edges- toothbrush and carb cleaner as needed

 

If you take off the TB you need to buy a new TB gasket. The other Intake manifold gaskets can be reused.

 

good call Kris-
Im used to people installing the thermoblock kit at the same time and it has all the gaskets included to install its spacers

 

the only way to properly clean the manifold will require removal of TB from it so you can twist and shake it out-
you clean and rinse thru the throat of the manifold- where the TB attaches~

 

Ok just finished clean the egr ports, took of the manifold was no that hard and even poilshed it while it was off...lol

 

Hi Kriz,

what torque did you apply on the 10mm bolts when re-attaching the manifold cover plate? Thanks!

 

10 ft pounds on the plastic cover,,thats just snugged so it doesnt come off

the real mainfold bolts hidden under the oil you saw on other thread- are 16

go back thru this thread for detail specs

 

I finally got around to cleaning out the EGR ports and saw this messy goodness. These are the channels in the IM cover where some of the exhaust is routed to the EGR valve, upstream of the main port. Some of the channels are totally blocked, which, understandably, gives you the P0401 (EGR insufficient flow). The main port in the intake manifold itself wasn't blocked very much, but I cleaned it out anyways. The 6 little ports in the intake manifold upstream of these channels were almost all the way blocked. Got that junk cleaned too.



Here it is midway through clearing out the solid junk


Oh yeah, I broke one of the bolts that hold down the IM. What is it with torque wrenches that are set BELOW what it it's supposed to be but still breaks the bolts? I was pissed. I ended up using one of the bolts that attached the TB to the IM, then using a replacement bolt from an auto parts store for the TB.

I ended up leaving the throttle cables on the TB when I disconnected it from the IM and just let it sit in the engine compartment, while I cleaned out the IM. Why is it a total pain to get the old gasket off? While I carefully scraped away the old gasket with an x-acto knife I wondered if there was a chemical way to dissolve it.

This project took me 6 hours to do, but I was very very slow and methodical. And there were no problems at start up.

11 years and 151K miles of yuck all gone!

 

^ sounds like the TQ wrench isnt calibrated correctly if its set properly and you snapped a bolt ??

 

Set at 10 ft. lb. when the instructions said to torque at 16, I wanted to slowly ramp up to the recommended torque...just bought it from Auto Zone.

 

It could have been the shitty torque wrench from AutoZone, or it could have been you. Do you know how to use it properly?

You should have been able to tell that you were going way past 10 foot pounds.

 

I started thinking more about it, and I believe the bolt may have been partially yielded from being overtorqued by someone else before. Because I know how much I was putting into it and it was below what I was putting into the other bolts. I was just lucky that thing didn't break all the way and leave a piece.

 

Been trying to follow the DIY EGR Port cleaning (for my '01 TL) but haven't seen anyone comment on draining coolant. Do you need to drain the coolant before proceeding as you mentioned above? Also, relieving the fuel pressure is done by taking off the gas cap and slowly loosening the fuel pulsation damper one complete turn, right?

Thanks for all your help!

 

There is a DIY here for draining coolant. There is a plug at the bottom of the radiator that you unscrew to drain the fluid.


The egr ports and the coolant flush and relieving the fuel pressure are all separate jobs and doesn`t have to be done in any particular order.


But if your egr port is caked like the pic above then just assume that the egr valve, IACV valve and throttle body have similar issues. Very easy and inexpensive to clean.

 

Yeah, basically just grunge work cleaning out all the old residual shit that accumulates.
Just what is your list of things ya wanna do ?.....just tackle one thing at a time and see how things work out.

 

I am going to clean the EGR ports and Throttle Body and IAC valve. I have directions from the Helms and Chilton's manuals and both as I recall list relieving the fuel pressure and draining coolant as part of the steps before removing the Upper Intake Manifold. If I don't need to drain the coolant when cleaning the EGR ports, its one less thing to have on the ground/get in the way/me to potentially screw up at a time should something not work when I put the manifold back together after cleaning the EGR ports.

 

Is the DIY for draining coolant that you're referring to, the one for the radiator removal where the guy upgrades his (and his pics no longer appear)? Any tips for accessing the drain plug that just needs loosened (I'd like to avoid putting the car on jack stands just for that little thing!).

Thanks in advance.