Upper intake plenum removal

BoogieBot · Jul 27, 2014

I've got a 2000 2.5L, 5spd w/ AC. My valve cover has been leaking oil, and I need to replace my plugs & wires anyway, so I figured that rather than screw around with trying to fish the driver side plugs out from behind the upper intake, I'd just take the thing off anyway since I need to remove the valve cover.

This is my first time trying to take the intake plenum off, and I want to make sure I'm doing it right (also, I've run into a problem)

I've managed to loosen 6 of the 7 bolts that attach the upper plenum to the lower, and pulled the main vacuum line. Now, I'm trying to unbolt the EGR from the plenum, and that's where I'm running into trouble. Those bolts are STUCK!

I've hit 'em with WD-40 a few times, but no dice. The bolt heads face the firewall, leaving little room for a large breaker bar or ratchet.

Any tips for getting those bolts unstuck? Or, is there an alternative method of disconnecting the EGR from the plenum? Or do I need to remove it at all?

Thanks.

tomw · Jul 27, 2014

Can you leave the EGR valve on the intake, and disconnect the tube leading from the exhaust manifold? It seems I was able to get a large adjustable on the fitting and remove the tube from the valve w/o having to fiddle with the other end of the tube.
tom

XLTsplash · Jul 27, 2014

You can just remove the throttle body and valve cover without removing the intake. Having the throttle body and intake out of the way will give you more room to get to the spark plugs.

BoogieBot · Jul 27, 2014

XLTsplash said:
You can just remove the throttle body and valve cover without removing the intake. Having the throttle body and intake out of the way will give you more room to get to the spark plugs.

Great! Saved me a lot of heartache. 3 of the valve cover bolts were loose - one of them had nearly backed itself completely out - so instead of going to the trouble of pulling the whole cover & replacing the gasket, I just re-torqued them to spec. Hopefully that will solve the oil leak problem.

I went to do the plugs & plug wires, starting on the passenger side. The boots are STUCK. The only one I've gotten out so far was #3, because the rubber just crumbled in my hands. Looks to be the factory original plug wire, too. Yikes! Never changed in 175k miles, no wonder she's running rough!

I went to remove the plug, and ran into a MAJOR problem. The #3 plug is rusted into the head. As, I assume, are all the other plugs.

What to do? Just take a breaker bar to it? Go buy an impact wrench? Give up and pay a pro?

XLTsplash · Jul 28, 2014

Try soaking around the spark plugs with PB Blaster .

tomw · Jul 29, 2014

The cylinder head is made of cast iron, so you don't have the problem of delicate aluminum threads and dissimilar metals doing electrolysis. You should be able to put a breaker bar on a socket and loosen the plugs.
One other alternative is to get the engine hot and stick some candle wax into the plug area such that it will melt and flow around the thread area. As the engine cools, the wax can be drawn into the threads by capillary action. PB blaster and a 50/50 acetone/AFT mix are also alternatives. The latter is rated the most effective penetrating oil by ... someone who did a test.
Make sure to clean around the plugs with compressed air or a brush of some sort if you can before removing the plugs. You don't want to get debris in the cylinder.
The rearmost plug seems to be the most difficult. As I remember, I put the socket on the plug, used a very short extension, and put the ratchet wrench 'arm' in the down (~6:00 o'clock )position so I could pull towards myself rather than push, and have my hand collide with whatever if I pushed and it finally freed up quickly. My hand 'brakes' are slower than my hand muscles... and pulling just seemed easier. I think it was pretty close with the HVAC plenum, but doable.

Upper intake plenum removal

BoogieBot

New Member

tomw

Well-Known Member

XLTsplash

Active Member

BoogieBot

New Member

XLTsplash

Active Member

tomw

Well-Known Member

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