Dirty manifolds (Extreme 56k warning)

[Merc123]

*********EDIT**********
I talked to a mechanic. He said to use carb and choke cleaner. I first removed the air intake system and sprayed the carb cleaner into the throttle body. I sprayed alot and you can just see the black deposits come right off. I then started up the car (giving it a little gas to get it going) and let it ran for a few minutes. After repeating 3 times I took the upper intake manifold off. I sprayed the cleaner directly into the lower intake manifold and cleaned a few of them out fully. The red coating in the second picture came completely off. I sprayed up in to the underside of the upper manifold also. I didn't comletely clean anything but each hole got some carb cleaner sprayed into it. After that I let it ran and warm up. I then took it to the open road. There was a noticeable increase in performance (torque AND HP). The car accelerated more quickly and the intake actually sounded louder. So far there isn't anything noiser and none of the teflon coatings were removed. Worth giving it a shot. I plan to get a lot more cleaner.

***********************

I took my upper manifold off and look what I found. I got some 4-Power gas tank engine cleaner.

Look @ the pics to see. Anyway to fix it or am I on the right track with the 4-Power?


Almost 70k on the car now. I have the IMRC and the altenator issues. I was thinking it could be caused by the IMRC because I haven't fixed it yet and it's been running like that for about 15k


http://pic3.picturetrail.com/VOL11/876077/2545227/30884044.jpg
http://pic3.picturetrail.com/VOL11/876077/2545227/30884037.jpg
http://pic3.picturetrail.com/VOL11/876077/2545227/30884019.jpg
http://pic3.picturetrail.com/VOL11/876077/2545227/30884012.jpg
http://pic3.picturetrail.com/VOL11/876077/2545227/30884008.jpg
http://pic3.picturetrail.com/VOL11/876077/2545227/30884002.jpg

[LostRacer]

http://brain1.tripod.com/intake/intake1.jpg
http://brain1.tripod.com/intake/intake2.jpg
http://brain1.tripod.com/intake/intake3.jpg
http://brain1.tripod.com/intake/intake4.jpg
http://brain1.tripod.com/intake/intake5.jpg
http://brain1.tripod.com/intake/intake6.jpg

[Merc123]

:P working on it.

[LostRacer]

Damn I'm slow..:tongue: :biggrin:

[pgtatx]

That's pretty ugly...

after your done crack the secondaries, so air and gunk can pass by and buildup won't be as bad next time.

[Merc123]

How do you crack the secondaries? I had a hard enough time trying to to get the upper off and I didn't completely get it taken off! There's a few things holding it down that I didn't remove.

Also, is the IMRC the cause of all that buildup?

[caenus]

Here's mine around 19k miles when I switched to the SVT UIM.

http://www.fastcougar.com/forums/attachments/Image031%2Ejpg

[99CouGSweetRide]

mine looked similar to that, and I'm at 54K miles.

Mike

[Merc123]

I think we all just figured out why these cars a low in performance!

[JScullin]

Yea, I'm hoping when I get to mine they look like that. It would explain so much.... :(

[caenus]

Jscullin, dont hope cause its already like that :) Like I said, mine were pretty dirty after only 19k. Not as bad as Merc's by far

[eurocrisp]

on the intake side, the only thing that could cause this buildup would be the EGR valve & crank case vents, right?

[CougarBalla2k5]

Is there a how-to on cleaning this........and what exactly am I looking at? UIM?? I'd like to look at Julie's because her car is unusuall slow......seriously.

[pgtatx]

Merc123's pics are of the lower IM and Caenus's pics are of the Upper IM.

Cleaning is relatively easy. Use of Carb and choke cleaner will dissolve much of that crap in there. It's best and safest to remove the upper and Lower IM to do the cleaning.

[JScullin]

I made a How-To in the How-To section :)

[DanG]

Clean like so with steel wool and mineral spirits:

http://www.fastcougar.com/forums/attachments/3LProject42.jpg

so they look like:

http://www.fastcougar.com/forums/attachments/3LProject44.jpg

Then install a:

http://www.fastcougar.com/forums/attachments/3LProject88.jpg

Air/oil separator to keep it from happening again.

[BigBlueWienke]

how much performance is gained back from cleaning the intakes? is it really noticable ?

[Blackcoog]

Hey Dan,
That doesn't look like a normal build your own PVC piping oil seperator. What are you using?

[DanG]

Viola:

http://www.fastcougar.com/forums/attachments/OilAirSeparator.jpg

[EdgeCat]

Is putting in the separator as easy as it looks? And would you be willing to outline in a little more detail exactly where it goes? This might be a good project for me to tackle between now and the start of classes. I've been having IMRC issues and a lack of power as well.

[Blackcoog]

So whats your review of this? Can you tell a difference when you pull the manifolds off now or hasn't it been on long enough? Any special fittings needed to hook it up? I have all the parts to make my own but never got around to it because I wanted to get the engine in and running at the time.

[DanG]

Edge:

I cheated, unfortunately. I used the 3L breather cap on this motor:

http://www.fastcougar.com/forums/attachments/3LProject47.jpg

Which has a single hose lead off (to the right) of it instead of the formed elbow hose that our current PCV valve sits in. This allowed me to bring a piece of 5/8" hose from the PCV breather outlet, around the transmission case, down to the separator. I then took another piece of hose and routed it around and up to the PCV valve, where I pushed the bottom of the valve into the hose.

Those with 2.5L PCV systems would have to rig something to make a good seal coming from the elbow. It's a tight fit, though.

Blackcoog:

No review as of yet, but I've already emptied about 1/4" of this oil/fuel smelling sludge out of it twice since the 3L's gone in. All that would have ended up in the manifold, so yeah, I'd say worth it.

[cwtIII]

I was talking to one of the mechanics at a dealership, and he told me than B&G makes a product specially designed to clean out intake systems WITHOUT removing the manifolds. It sprays into the intake with the engine running and cleans out everything. It cost about $40. He recommended that I do that instead of taking off the manifolds and cleaning them by hand. He was however, concerned that he was told that Ford coats the inside of the manifolds with Teflon, and that this product might remove the coating. It is TRUE that the manifold's interior surfaces are coated in Teflon? What do YOU think...should I try the "spray" cleaner? (He told me it works EXTREMELY well, and that's what they use to clean manifolds, rather than removing them.)
Opinions are VERY welcome!
Thanks,
Charles

BTW...He also mentioned that it would be a good idea to use a breather cap (filter) instead of leaving the factory setup to prevent it from occuring in the future...I understand how to install the filter, but what do I do about "the other end" of the hose?
Thanks again!

[DanG]

BG's intake cleaner will remove the Teflon coating around the perimeter of the throttle body- Not too cool. The result will be increased fouling and noise created by the turbulent air rushing past the throttle plate.

Breathers to atmosphere are an illegal emissions modification, and they break OBDII design. Our engines have a closed crankcase ventilation system. Opening it throws off the design, hence my solution that keeps the system closed.

[eurocrisp]

is a 3.0 breather cap usable in a 2.5? i dunno too much about emissions control equipment.