ShortyNavros
Member
How-to Guide: ZD30 Air Intake Manifold Removal
I by no means declare this how-to the proper way of cleaning your air intake manifold and if you decide to follow these instructions you do so at your own risk, but I have done it this way and my Nav is still working.
Okay, originally when I was looking at doing this I was trying to find info; I found some stuff on the patrol forums.
http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/showthread.php?21954
this and
http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/showthread.php?13144
This is my original thread: http://www.navara.asia/showthread.php?t=25369
I wanted to do this because when I blocked my EGR I saw all the crap which was in my throttle body y-pipe section and I wanted to make sure the manifold wasn’t the same. Albeit the manifold was no where near as bad as what I was thinking it was going to be, however my Nav only has 115000kms and has had a catch can and EGR block since 110000kms.
I don’t think I have really gained any performance or fuel savings from this as in my situation the intake build up from soot/oil was minimal. But others with lots of build up may find their Nav feels amazing to drive after.
The workshop manual is very vague on the removal process so hopefully this can help a few people. When I was first looking at this I almost got scared off by other people saying they had done it and it was not a job for beginners. I am by no means hopeless with a spanner but I wouldn’t call myself an expert, I have no trade qualifications as I am actually a university graduate and work in the health field. This job can be done with basic tools and know how; the main pain this job presents is the time it takes. If doing it for the first time, probably allow at least 5-6 hours.
Tools Needed (from what I can remember):
• Needle Nose Pliers (to undo the clips securing electrical looms and plugs)
• Socket Wrench (I used ½ inch drive)
• Socket Extensions (I think I used 125mm) and one of the uni-joint flexible extensions is probably handy to get in tight spots, this is my socket set I have for reference: http://repcoequipment.businesscatal...rchID=27763566&ObjectID=5626070&ObjectType=27
• Breaker Bar (I used a long ½ inch drive one)
• Standard sockets (8,10,12 and 14mm)
• Standard spanners (8,10,12,14, 17 and 19mm)
• Gasket Goo (not essential)
• Degreaser with Plenty of Rags
• Replacement Intake Manifold Gasket (Not needed, as the one in there is one of those aluminium jobbies which you can just put back on if you are cheap bastard like me haha)
• Extra cranking power (spare battery or a mates car) with jumper leads.
1. Okay first things first You should really take pictures of your engine before you start, so you can work out where everything is if you get stuck trying to put it back together.
2. You need to remove all the wiring harness crap sitting above your intake manifold. This is basically all held by a single bracket which is held in by three 12mm bolts. This wiring harness is the one which has all your solenoid for your swirl control and EGR plus all the vacuum lines. Also there are four grounding points located on the edge of the front of the manifold which are also secured by 12mm bolts so remove that as well. To remove all the wiring looms and plugs, disconnect them and then unclip them from the bracket, use your pliers to compress the backs of the little securing pegs which allows you to wiggle them so they pop off. Also remove those vac lines so you can take the whole bracket off.
3. Remove the y-pipe intake from above your crankcase, you’ll have to pop off the vacuum lines from the EGR valve and Swirl valve controls either side of the y-pipe. Then the easiest way to remove this part is to loosen the clamp on the silicon hose closest to the turbo and then undo the 3x12mm bolts holding the y-pipe to the intake manifold and lift the entire thing out as one long L-shaped piece.
4. Also once you have freed all that wiring up you should be able to just push it out the way so it sits near the back of the engine. There is a clip at the rear of the manifold holding the bulk of the wiring, just undo the 12mm bolt holding that is so you can push all the wiring back to where those two silicon hoses are at the rear of the engine.
5. Remove the oil dipstick, it’s held in by one small bracket with a 12mm bolt, once the bolt is out you can just wiggle it round till it comes out, as it isn’t secured at the bottom in the sump, it just sits in there with a o-washer at the far end. Take note of where this hole in the sump is, so you can put it back in when the time comes.
6. Ok now you need to remove the EGR volume control unit and EGR pipe which connects to the intake manifold (As a note most of the bolts here are pretty tight if they have never been moved and a breaker bar will be useful here). This for me was probably the hardest bit because I went about it the wrong way. What I would do is first remove the bolts (2x12mm) securing the EGR tube to the manifold (this is the place most people place their EGR blanking plate) and then leave the bottom bolts (2x14mm) which are a pain in the ass to get to at the bottom.
The bolts on the bottom face forward to the front of the car and its virtually impossible to get a socket in the bottom bolt because the fuel pump is there and I think I ended up getting mine out with a 14mm spanner for the bottom and a 14mm socket for the top bolt, you’ll see there isn’t much room to use a spanner on the bottom bolt due to the proximity to fuel lines/other shite there. Plus if that bolt has never been moved and it’s stuck in there nice and tight, unless you have hands made of steel its going to be hard to budge it with a little 14mm spanner.
So I would say to make it easier leave those bottom bolts connected to the EGR volume control and just undo the bolts on the EGR tube (2x14mm) coming from the exhaust manifold round the back of the engine. This will allow you to pull out the EGR volume control unit with the intake manifold EGR tube connected to it. Also you will have to undo 1x12mm bolt holding the EGR volume control onto a support bracket, once that’s off the volume control unit should just be hanging there connected via two coolant hoses.
Now here is a trick I thought of, instead of draining the block and all your coolant before you start this, you can just unplug the two hoses from the control unit and block the one hose up which will leak coolant once removed from the control unit. The hose with the coolant coming from it when you disconnect it will be the one which runs into the engine block, whereas the other hose is connected to a fixed metal pipe leading round the back of the engine. Now to block up this hose which is leaking coolant all over your engine bay, just use that 12mm bolt which came out of the bracket you just undid to remove the EGR volume control to plug up the end of the coolant hose as it is almost a perfect fit for the internal diameter of the hose, once you use your pliers to move that little spring clamp back over the end of the screw to secure it, it SHOULD stop leaking coolant everywhere. Failing that you could use some sort of adhesive tape to seal up the end as well. Just make sure when re-assemble everything that you run the engine for a bit to bleed the cooling system of air and then refill the lost fluid as inevitably you’ll lose some on the ground.
7. There is a small y-shaped bracket beneath the front of the intake manifold which is secured by 2x12mm bolts and just provides a point to clip in two holders for a wire which runs past it, it is virtually useless and you hardly need to re-install it as it serves no real purpose other than to support a single wire which can just dangle there if you like. Also there will be a vacuum line coming up through the front part of the manifold, you can just pull this off and remove it to give you clearer access.
I by no means declare this how-to the proper way of cleaning your air intake manifold and if you decide to follow these instructions you do so at your own risk, but I have done it this way and my Nav is still working.
Okay, originally when I was looking at doing this I was trying to find info; I found some stuff on the patrol forums.
http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/showthread.php?21954
this and
http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/showthread.php?13144
This is my original thread: http://www.navara.asia/showthread.php?t=25369
I wanted to do this because when I blocked my EGR I saw all the crap which was in my throttle body y-pipe section and I wanted to make sure the manifold wasn’t the same. Albeit the manifold was no where near as bad as what I was thinking it was going to be, however my Nav only has 115000kms and has had a catch can and EGR block since 110000kms.
I don’t think I have really gained any performance or fuel savings from this as in my situation the intake build up from soot/oil was minimal. But others with lots of build up may find their Nav feels amazing to drive after.
The workshop manual is very vague on the removal process so hopefully this can help a few people. When I was first looking at this I almost got scared off by other people saying they had done it and it was not a job for beginners. I am by no means hopeless with a spanner but I wouldn’t call myself an expert, I have no trade qualifications as I am actually a university graduate and work in the health field. This job can be done with basic tools and know how; the main pain this job presents is the time it takes. If doing it for the first time, probably allow at least 5-6 hours.
Tools Needed (from what I can remember):
• Needle Nose Pliers (to undo the clips securing electrical looms and plugs)
• Socket Wrench (I used ½ inch drive)
• Socket Extensions (I think I used 125mm) and one of the uni-joint flexible extensions is probably handy to get in tight spots, this is my socket set I have for reference: http://repcoequipment.businesscatal...rchID=27763566&ObjectID=5626070&ObjectType=27
• Breaker Bar (I used a long ½ inch drive one)
• Standard sockets (8,10,12 and 14mm)
• Standard spanners (8,10,12,14, 17 and 19mm)
• Gasket Goo (not essential)
• Degreaser with Plenty of Rags
• Replacement Intake Manifold Gasket (Not needed, as the one in there is one of those aluminium jobbies which you can just put back on if you are cheap bastard like me haha)
• Extra cranking power (spare battery or a mates car) with jumper leads.
1. Okay first things first You should really take pictures of your engine before you start, so you can work out where everything is if you get stuck trying to put it back together.
2. You need to remove all the wiring harness crap sitting above your intake manifold. This is basically all held by a single bracket which is held in by three 12mm bolts. This wiring harness is the one which has all your solenoid for your swirl control and EGR plus all the vacuum lines. Also there are four grounding points located on the edge of the front of the manifold which are also secured by 12mm bolts so remove that as well. To remove all the wiring looms and plugs, disconnect them and then unclip them from the bracket, use your pliers to compress the backs of the little securing pegs which allows you to wiggle them so they pop off. Also remove those vac lines so you can take the whole bracket off.
3. Remove the y-pipe intake from above your crankcase, you’ll have to pop off the vacuum lines from the EGR valve and Swirl valve controls either side of the y-pipe. Then the easiest way to remove this part is to loosen the clamp on the silicon hose closest to the turbo and then undo the 3x12mm bolts holding the y-pipe to the intake manifold and lift the entire thing out as one long L-shaped piece.
4. Also once you have freed all that wiring up you should be able to just push it out the way so it sits near the back of the engine. There is a clip at the rear of the manifold holding the bulk of the wiring, just undo the 12mm bolt holding that is so you can push all the wiring back to where those two silicon hoses are at the rear of the engine.
5. Remove the oil dipstick, it’s held in by one small bracket with a 12mm bolt, once the bolt is out you can just wiggle it round till it comes out, as it isn’t secured at the bottom in the sump, it just sits in there with a o-washer at the far end. Take note of where this hole in the sump is, so you can put it back in when the time comes.
6. Ok now you need to remove the EGR volume control unit and EGR pipe which connects to the intake manifold (As a note most of the bolts here are pretty tight if they have never been moved and a breaker bar will be useful here). This for me was probably the hardest bit because I went about it the wrong way. What I would do is first remove the bolts (2x12mm) securing the EGR tube to the manifold (this is the place most people place their EGR blanking plate) and then leave the bottom bolts (2x14mm) which are a pain in the ass to get to at the bottom.
The bolts on the bottom face forward to the front of the car and its virtually impossible to get a socket in the bottom bolt because the fuel pump is there and I think I ended up getting mine out with a 14mm spanner for the bottom and a 14mm socket for the top bolt, you’ll see there isn’t much room to use a spanner on the bottom bolt due to the proximity to fuel lines/other shite there. Plus if that bolt has never been moved and it’s stuck in there nice and tight, unless you have hands made of steel its going to be hard to budge it with a little 14mm spanner.
So I would say to make it easier leave those bottom bolts connected to the EGR volume control and just undo the bolts on the EGR tube (2x14mm) coming from the exhaust manifold round the back of the engine. This will allow you to pull out the EGR volume control unit with the intake manifold EGR tube connected to it. Also you will have to undo 1x12mm bolt holding the EGR volume control onto a support bracket, once that’s off the volume control unit should just be hanging there connected via two coolant hoses.
Now here is a trick I thought of, instead of draining the block and all your coolant before you start this, you can just unplug the two hoses from the control unit and block the one hose up which will leak coolant once removed from the control unit. The hose with the coolant coming from it when you disconnect it will be the one which runs into the engine block, whereas the other hose is connected to a fixed metal pipe leading round the back of the engine. Now to block up this hose which is leaking coolant all over your engine bay, just use that 12mm bolt which came out of the bracket you just undid to remove the EGR volume control to plug up the end of the coolant hose as it is almost a perfect fit for the internal diameter of the hose, once you use your pliers to move that little spring clamp back over the end of the screw to secure it, it SHOULD stop leaking coolant everywhere. Failing that you could use some sort of adhesive tape to seal up the end as well. Just make sure when re-assemble everything that you run the engine for a bit to bleed the cooling system of air and then refill the lost fluid as inevitably you’ll lose some on the ground.
7. There is a small y-shaped bracket beneath the front of the intake manifold which is secured by 2x12mm bolts and just provides a point to clip in two holders for a wire which runs past it, it is virtually useless and you hardly need to re-install it as it serves no real purpose other than to support a single wire which can just dangle there if you like. Also there will be a vacuum line coming up through the front part of the manifold, you can just pull this off and remove it to give you clearer access.