I've run into an issue that has required me to remove my intake manifold in order to permanently cap the whole used to install the IMRC (?) shaft through the butterfly valves.

I tried to put the OEM hard rubber plug back in with RTV, then later JB Weld. Both failed. Now I'm going for a brass plug & RTV.

Tools:
Breaker Bar
7mm socket (not much)
8mm socket
10mm socket (majority of bolts are these)
Flat tip screwdriver.

Here's what I have so far.

 

First thing up is getting all the stuff out of the way on the front of the engine.

1. Remove the air tube.

8mm bolt on driver's side for the big intake resonator.
7mm bolts on the "2.3L 16v" plastic cover on top of the throttle body.
Flat-tip screw driver for the 2 worm clamps.
Pull out the hardline from the valve cover to the air tube.



Disconnect the MAF sensor and remove the harness from the air tube. Set air tube aside.

 

2. Remove Serpentine Belt.

3/8" Breaker Bar on the tensioner.

I normally don't take mine all the way off. I just loop it over a fan blade to keep it out of the way.

 

3. Dismount Power Steering Pump. Don't need to disconnect it, just take it off the mount in order to get around behind it.

4x 8mm bolts.
The bottom bolt is best accessed from the bottom of the engine bay. That bolt will not come out all the way on its own because the pressure line from the pump is in the way. You have to turn the bolt out and then move the pump out in order to get it all the ay out. If you have a ratchet wrench, it will help. I was on my back under the truck to do it.

I forgot to take pictures of this part.

 

4. Disconnect Throttle Position Sensor

 

5. Disconnect IAC sensor and vacuum line.

 

6. Disconnect brake booster vacuum line and the (??) MAP sensor or whatever the hell that thing was. I don't remember now.

 

7. Disconnect:

- EGR tube clamp
- Vacuum lines on the firewall side of the manifold
- Wiring harness plastic mount push-pin.

If you have big hands there may not be enough space for you - I had to get my wife (small hands) to pull those 2 lines for me.
There is not a good view of the harness push-pin, hence no picture.

Top view of the 2 lines disconnected from rear/top.

View of EGR tube mounting clamp from drivers side.

Isolated shot of what the area looks like after being removed.

 

8. Disconnect and Dismount Throttle Cable

Flat tip screwdriver.
- Take the cable end off the ball at front.
- Use screwdriver and push the wings in to dismount cable from manifold.

Pull the Fuel line off that clip on the manifold so you can maneuver around it.

 

9. Remove EGR tube from manifold.

2x 10mm bolts.

 

10. Dismount wiring harness at front/bottom of manifold runners.

I used my flat tip.

 

11. Dismount the main wiring harness from the lower outside of intake runners.

Don't need to disconnect it, just get it off the bracket and pull it to the side. That large vacuum line is the one that connects to the manifold beside the IAC sensor. I ended up disconnecting that small one next to it in order to prevent damaging it when I pull the big one out of the manifold.

 

12. Disconnect the vacuum line next to it.

 

This is where some of the aggravation began for me.

You see the plastic mounting push-pin at the bottom of the picture (right) for #12. The wiring harness goes from the mount to that push-pin, then to the right (toward the firewall). I didn't know that until I tried to pull the manifold out after I had the bolts off. Real PITA. Do yourself a favor and pull these before the manifold is freed up.

In this picture the main harness bracket is at the upper right. Harness goes from there to the one in the middle, then down to the one at the bottom. However, before you can get to that back push-pin without breaking anything, you'll have to take off the IMRC vacuum control valve first.

 

13. Disconnect / Dismount IMRC vacuum control valve.

10mm bolt.
2x small vacuum lines
1x electric line

 

14. Disconnect IMRC vacuum valve.

Had to have my wife help with extra hand on this one. Is located back by the firewall on the inside of the runner curve.

You also have a very good view in the second picture of where that rear push-pin is located.

 

15. Manifold removal.

5x 10mm bolts.

You can see the front 2. The rest have to be done by feel. And because I didn't know about that harness being mounted where it was, the back bolt was a RMF.

You can run your extension and socket through the slots in the runner bar to get to the 2 top bolts.


Here's a view of the pattern. Front is to the right.


View from the bottom of the rear bolt (against the firewall). Can just barely see the bolt head between all the hoses.

 

16. Dismount Intake Manifold.

There might have been something I've forgotten to mention since this afternoon when I did the work. I hope I got it all.

Here's the problem I had. The factory plug that covers the end of the IMRC shaft had popped off.

The first time I tried fixing this, I left the manifold on, cleaned up the plug and port and RTV'ed it back in place. That worked for a couple of weeks till I had to rev it past 5k to avoid these f*cking idiot Texans and it blew the plug back out. The second time I used JB Weld. That lasted about 6 months. Now I'm going to try a brass plug and RTV to see if that will hold permanently.

View of front end of intake manifold where IMRC shaft plug has come off.

 

Its amazing how much plastic is on the 2.3 these days. My 87 everything is metal all of the intake even the map sensor has a metal body!

 

I took a brush and some Simple Green and cleaned up the manifold a bit so it wouldn't have Georgia clay on it anymore. Then ground the shank down so the head would sit flush when I screwed it in. Went a little overboard with the RTV and had to clean it up with a Q-tip.

NOTE: the brass plug I bought is not solid, it has a hollow inside to accommodate the end of the IMRC shaft.

 

I've got it in the garage, curing overnight. I'm tired. Calling it a night.

Tomorrow starts the hard part - putting it back together.

Hope this stuff helps everyone.

 

Just started looking for a replacement (performance) intake manifold in case this does not work.

Found this:

 

Reassembly is reverse order of disassembly. If you can figure out how to get it apart, putting it back together for me was much faster than the Learning-as-I-go tear-down. I do think going overboard with the RTV on the IMRC plug might have been a good thing. Its a round shaft with a square head on the tip. The excess RTV partially filled in the hole the shaft runs through before it opens up on the outside where the plug sits. Might help reduce the noise it makes for a few miles. And the square-head of the shaft is sitting inside the plug, so there will be no torsion issues due to the square head.

Got my manifold cleaned up, RTV cured. Had another issue I tried to address while I was in there, temp gauge on dash is not reporting.

Took the valve cover off trying to get to one of the temp sensors (the one on the back of the head) and got it replaced but it turned out that one was the one that handles the temp reading for the PCM, so my gauge still is not reporting. Now I have to find the other temp sensor and replace it - I did not see it while I was in there.

Did an oil change (with a quart of Marvel Mystery Oil).

Got everything put back together. Started up and ran smooth! No issues so far. We'll see how long it makes it this time with the brass plug.

 

yes thank you for your input job well done with pics very helpful

 

Good thread... i remember trying to get the intake manifold off and couldn't do it.. what a pita when trying to replace the valve cover gasket...


-Nigel