Hey all,
Thought I'd do a little write up about the weekends project of cleaning the intake system out. Feel free to drop me a line if you have any questions.
After much reading I thought I would set aside a few days and rip into it and clean the intake system of carbon build up from the EGR system. I'd already looked into the throttle body of the intake and seen that there was a fair amount of carbon already built up, so I knew I was in for a job and a messy one at that.
I own an ex NBN 2012 GX auto with 140k kms. Love the car and I'm trying to gear it up for a long trip around WA, including heading into a number of very remote areas. So whilst I'm chasing some more power, I'm really just looking for reliability. The bonus is that doing things like this on your car is that you get to become pretty intimate with the engine in case anything happens later on. I also found a few vacuum lines that were very loose or that had holes in them so I used this opportunity to replace them as I went.
I installed a catch can on the car when I first got it knowing that carbon from the exhaust and oil from the rocker cover was a bad mixture for any engine and I have no doubt at all that doing this about a year earlier made my job so much easier. Still messy, but not as bad as it could have been. I'll explain why later.
So armed with a link from newhilux.net (How to clean the D4D intake and EGR sytem) lots of photos, a workshop manual, some tools and half a clue I got into it.
It all came apart pretty easy with only a few minor hiccups along the way. A crow foot spanner is great, but a set of crowfoot wrench nuts are better. These allow you to have a 3/8th drive attached and make getting into the tight spots around the injectors so much easier. So after a quick stint on the bicycle to go get a set from a nearby ports store, I was back on the job.
I took my time and used lots of masking tape to remind me where vacuum lines and plugs went. I also used the tape to wrap bolts up together and label them so I knew where they come from. I've found over the years of back yard mechanic'ing that this is worth its weight in gold (being that a few cm's of tape is not very heavy probable explains why I'm still broke). I find that it helps me put things back where they are meant to be. As I put things back, I take the tape off. As the tape stands out (bright blue) against all the other black cables and hoses, it makes finding that plug or hose a breeze. Far easier than trying to find it be feel only or guessing why the car runs rough.
Let's get into it.
As I said earlier, I had already had a look inside the throttle body and noted that there was allot of oil and carbon build up.
From the front - https://i.imgur.com/NspmBKy.jpg
From the back - https://i.imgur.com/2Sazda3.jpg
This is the straight section between the throttle body and the EGR. Note that there is a vacuum line off there somewhere.
https://i.imgur.com/7gsSoGs.jpg
The intake elbow - https://i.imgur.com/HlGBSBm.jpg
Here is the EGR Valve itself in all its sinister glory, Damn you EGR valve!!!! - https://i.imgur.com/i5ZQH1d.jpg
This is where most of the articles I read stopped. I can see why, but it's only half a job. Yes this is where it gets allot more complex, but still, half a job is half a job.
I had seen a few manifolds in different articles so I was expecting something bad. I was still shocked though.
It's not as bad as i had read about, but still. :-x
The Clean
It was caked full of carbon and toward cylinders one and two there was this thick oily grunge that was the equivalent of diarrhea and grease having a love child during a bad acid trip. Most ports were about 15-20% blocked into the head. There were large clumps of carbon built up and number one port was about 25% blocked but that oily mess was something else. It felt like super glue that was about to go off and stuck to everything leaving black residue that was next to impossible to get off.
By this point it was night, so please excuse the average photos.
Cylinder 4 port - https://i.imgur.com/tUvdKUv.jpg
Cylinder 1 swirl port - https://i.imgur.com/tdGbCGn.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/9MHa9bc.jpg
Cylinder 2 port - https://i.imgur.com/yRQ1byM.jpg
So armed with a teaspoon, a small scrubbing brush and wishing I had used the gloves I bought instead of remembering them about an hour into the clean (My hands are still a shade of black three days later), I got stuck into it.
This is what I found.
https://i.imgur.com/Xk3mf2c.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/e5PhhOx.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Un4sbKK.jpg
That's right. 127 grams of carbon was inside the intake system. Most of it within the intake manifold.
This is where I can honestly say that installing a catch can paid off. As this catches the oil from the rocker cover, stopping it from entering the intake system the carbon that was built up in the intake was dry(ish). I think if I hadn't done the catch can, or if it was only recently put on, this process would have been way worse.
I used a combination of carby cleaner to break down the carbon and degreaser to wash the part off. It was a really good combo to use and made the cleaning process easy. It still took time, about 2 hours in total, but with some tunes playing and a few coffees it was enjoyable to see the system clean and ready for reinstall.
Here's what they should look like.
Egr Valve - https://i.imgur.com/WdRWmx4.jpg
Intake Mainfold - https://i.imgur.com/wNjI6PX.jpg
Straight section - Hello little vacuum line - https://i.imgur.com/IC4ayVH.jpg
Elbow - https://i.imgur.com/NGqdb46.jpg
So after spending nearly two days like this. https://i.imgur.com/X5sDoHD.jpg the car was back together and running.
Results
I wasn't expecting much to be honest. Whilst the intake did have a build up of carbon, it wasn't that bad. I can say that there has been an improvement in throttle response and revving. I want to say it feels more torquey low down, but I think it's just wishful thinking. There is a definite change in how the intake noise sounds with a deeper growl being present.
I'll hold out before I make any comments on fuel consumption but I'll let you know if there is anything or not.
Overall it was a good complex job to get done. No way could I afford someone to do it for me with it taking about 17 hours to strip, clean and reinstall. I know someone with more experience could do this quicker than me, but I'm still glad I did it myself.
I know someone is going to ask if I blocked the EGR port and the answer is no.......so far.
Any build up that occurs over the next few months before I get a custom tune done will be negligible. I may look at blocking the port off via the ECU, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.
Anyways, thanks for reading and hopefully someone finds it useful and or interesting.
Cheers.
Nelly
Thought I'd do a little write up about the weekends project of cleaning the intake system out. Feel free to drop me a line if you have any questions.
After much reading I thought I would set aside a few days and rip into it and clean the intake system of carbon build up from the EGR system. I'd already looked into the throttle body of the intake and seen that there was a fair amount of carbon already built up, so I knew I was in for a job and a messy one at that.
I own an ex NBN 2012 GX auto with 140k kms. Love the car and I'm trying to gear it up for a long trip around WA, including heading into a number of very remote areas. So whilst I'm chasing some more power, I'm really just looking for reliability. The bonus is that doing things like this on your car is that you get to become pretty intimate with the engine in case anything happens later on. I also found a few vacuum lines that were very loose or that had holes in them so I used this opportunity to replace them as I went.
I installed a catch can on the car when I first got it knowing that carbon from the exhaust and oil from the rocker cover was a bad mixture for any engine and I have no doubt at all that doing this about a year earlier made my job so much easier. Still messy, but not as bad as it could have been. I'll explain why later.
So armed with a link from newhilux.net (How to clean the D4D intake and EGR sytem) lots of photos, a workshop manual, some tools and half a clue I got into it.
It all came apart pretty easy with only a few minor hiccups along the way. A crow foot spanner is great, but a set of crowfoot wrench nuts are better. These allow you to have a 3/8th drive attached and make getting into the tight spots around the injectors so much easier. So after a quick stint on the bicycle to go get a set from a nearby ports store, I was back on the job.
I took my time and used lots of masking tape to remind me where vacuum lines and plugs went. I also used the tape to wrap bolts up together and label them so I knew where they come from. I've found over the years of back yard mechanic'ing that this is worth its weight in gold (being that a few cm's of tape is not very heavy probable explains why I'm still broke). I find that it helps me put things back where they are meant to be. As I put things back, I take the tape off. As the tape stands out (bright blue) against all the other black cables and hoses, it makes finding that plug or hose a breeze. Far easier than trying to find it be feel only or guessing why the car runs rough.
Let's get into it.
As I said earlier, I had already had a look inside the throttle body and noted that there was allot of oil and carbon build up.
From the front - https://i.imgur.com/NspmBKy.jpg
From the back - https://i.imgur.com/2Sazda3.jpg
This is the straight section between the throttle body and the EGR. Note that there is a vacuum line off there somewhere.
https://i.imgur.com/7gsSoGs.jpg
The intake elbow - https://i.imgur.com/HlGBSBm.jpg
Here is the EGR Valve itself in all its sinister glory, Damn you EGR valve!!!! - https://i.imgur.com/i5ZQH1d.jpg
This is where most of the articles I read stopped. I can see why, but it's only half a job. Yes this is where it gets allot more complex, but still, half a job is half a job.
I had seen a few manifolds in different articles so I was expecting something bad. I was still shocked though.
It's not as bad as i had read about, but still. :-x
The Clean
It was caked full of carbon and toward cylinders one and two there was this thick oily grunge that was the equivalent of diarrhea and grease having a love child during a bad acid trip. Most ports were about 15-20% blocked into the head. There were large clumps of carbon built up and number one port was about 25% blocked but that oily mess was something else. It felt like super glue that was about to go off and stuck to everything leaving black residue that was next to impossible to get off.
By this point it was night, so please excuse the average photos.
Cylinder 4 port - https://i.imgur.com/tUvdKUv.jpg
Cylinder 1 swirl port - https://i.imgur.com/tdGbCGn.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/9MHa9bc.jpg
Cylinder 2 port - https://i.imgur.com/yRQ1byM.jpg
So armed with a teaspoon, a small scrubbing brush and wishing I had used the gloves I bought instead of remembering them about an hour into the clean (My hands are still a shade of black three days later), I got stuck into it.
This is what I found.
https://i.imgur.com/Xk3mf2c.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/e5PhhOx.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Un4sbKK.jpg
That's right. 127 grams of carbon was inside the intake system. Most of it within the intake manifold.
This is where I can honestly say that installing a catch can paid off. As this catches the oil from the rocker cover, stopping it from entering the intake system the carbon that was built up in the intake was dry(ish). I think if I hadn't done the catch can, or if it was only recently put on, this process would have been way worse.
I used a combination of carby cleaner to break down the carbon and degreaser to wash the part off. It was a really good combo to use and made the cleaning process easy. It still took time, about 2 hours in total, but with some tunes playing and a few coffees it was enjoyable to see the system clean and ready for reinstall.
Here's what they should look like.
Egr Valve - https://i.imgur.com/WdRWmx4.jpg
Intake Mainfold - https://i.imgur.com/wNjI6PX.jpg
Straight section - Hello little vacuum line - https://i.imgur.com/IC4ayVH.jpg
Elbow - https://i.imgur.com/NGqdb46.jpg
So after spending nearly two days like this. https://i.imgur.com/X5sDoHD.jpg the car was back together and running.
Results
I wasn't expecting much to be honest. Whilst the intake did have a build up of carbon, it wasn't that bad. I can say that there has been an improvement in throttle response and revving. I want to say it feels more torquey low down, but I think it's just wishful thinking. There is a definite change in how the intake noise sounds with a deeper growl being present.
I'll hold out before I make any comments on fuel consumption but I'll let you know if there is anything or not.
Overall it was a good complex job to get done. No way could I afford someone to do it for me with it taking about 17 hours to strip, clean and reinstall. I know someone with more experience could do this quicker than me, but I'm still glad I did it myself.
I know someone is going to ask if I blocked the EGR port and the answer is no.......so far.
Any build up that occurs over the next few months before I get a custom tune done will be negligible. I may look at blocking the port off via the ECU, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.
Anyways, thanks for reading and hopefully someone finds it useful and or interesting.
Cheers.
Nelly
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