You back on the road yet?

 

Update.. with the holidays Ive been having a hard time getting into anyones warm garage to attempt this. Its around 50 degrees today so Im just going to do it outside right now. In anycase, it seems the 10% ethanol gas is part of the problem. The last tank I had in it, it would hardly start at all when it was cold, alot of start and immediately die. I filled up the next time with the regular non ethanol gas and the problem was still there, until I cleared the lean codes and then it starts and runs alot better. I still am having some burning oil smell issues and it isnt running perfect which is why Im going to still try and change all the seals. Wish me luck!

 

So I had some success and some failures. I got the accelerator cable and cruise control off, the air intake duct off, had a little trouble taking off the EGR and EGR solenoid but got them, pulled off the vapor management hoses, and the 3 hoses on top of upper intake. My first problem came with the wiring harness that is attached on the top left part of the upper intake. I disconnected the harness but part of it was still connected by those plastic screws that I couldn't pull out. So once I got the upper intake off, I had to kind of lean it to the left because it was still attached to the wiring harness. I changed out the gaskets, but noticed they were wet with oil. Not soaked, but several of them had oil on them and it seemed like the inside of the upper intake had oil debris. That cant be good..

So the real problem came when trying to remove the lower intake. In your instructions earlier in this thread, you said to disconnect the connectors into the fuel injectors, unbolt and pull off to the right. The electrical connectors were pretty brittle. When I pushed into the clip on them to get them off, the clips broke. I got 5 of the 6 off, but the last one, on the top left, the clip broke off and I couldnt get the connector off. Then the big problem was the wiring harness that comes in from the front of the engine and splits at the fuel rail, part of it going across the top of the fuel rail and the other half is the part that is screwed into the upper intake manifold that I referred to earlier. The part of the wiring harness going across the the top of the fuel rail was keeping me from being able to pull the lower intake all the way off. I could get them up about 2 inches, just enough to see alot of dirt around the lower intake ports but not enough to change them or clean the dirt off. The wiring harness was attached to the top of the fuel rail by more of those plastic screws that I couldn't get out. The housing around the wiring harness was also pretty brittle and everytime I tried to pry them up and out, i would hear the wiring harness crack.

It was getting dark and cold, we had to put it back together. So I lined it up, bolted the lower and upper intakes in the sequence in the book. Plugged everything back in and started it.. It tried, tried.. finally got it to fire up and it ran really ragged and died. I tried again, ran really choppy and died. Then it wouldn't start anymore. I tried again today, still no start.It tries, but wont fire up. The check engine light is on, but I'm not getting any codes.

Do you think I created more of a vacuum leak by pulling up the lower intake but not changing the gaskets? Or do you think I might have rendered the fuel injection system ineffective by putting the connecters back in without the clips that broke off?

I know I will have to go back in to it and redo it once I can figure out how to de-tatch that damn wiring harness that seemed to be stuck to everything I needed to move. But its way too cold again and it wont run so I will have to wait for a warmer day, unless I get it towed to a warm garage.

I will post some pics I took when I get to work tomorrow. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

 

Two things, no , three. Break the plastic screws unless you think the wires will get cooked by the exhaust manifold or fall into the serpentine belt{get damaged}... who cares if the screw is broken. 2) you may have mixed up the COP wires on the front 3 cylinders, it's easy to cross two of them as the 'natural' routing or way they lay on the cam covers is incorrect. 3) may have gotten more intake leak with the lower manifold broken loose... the seals may have moved or the manifold distorted as it was re-installed.
W/O pictures it is hard for me to imagine the plastic screws, but there are plastic fasteners that have a screw shaped head, but actually are push-in fasteners with multiple flat 'plates?' that squish out of the way on insertion, but will gently hold whatever they are trying to fasten. You just pull them out...
The wiring may crackle, but the internal wires individual insulation should be ok even as old as this. My old truck has tape-wrapped looms of wires, and the tape is brittle. It still works.
tom

 

Ok, I got some pics for you. this first one is an overhead view of the engine with the upper intake off, and the bolts out of the lower intake. The red circles are around where the plastic fasteners are holding the wiring harness down to the fuel rail. The arrow pointing down is where I couldn't get the injector connector out. assuming I can get the two plastic screw fasteners off and the connector out, I should then be able to pull up the lower intakes to change the gaskets, right?



This second pic is a side view of the fuel rail, to give you an idea of the "screw" i'm talking about. When trying to pry this one up and out I kept cracking the housing that held the wiring harness. I suppose you are right that the housing doesn't matter so much.



This last pic is of the clips that attach on the left side of the upper intake manifold. I disconnected the top half of the wiring harness, but I couldn't get the clips off. How do I get them off?



Also, when I had everything off I got a look at the PCV valve and elbow. It was changed a few months ago by a mechanic, both the valve and elbow *looked* ok, but there was some oil residue underneath it. Is oil residue normal under the PCV valve and even on the upper intake manifold gaskets?

Ignore this last link below pls..

 

The retainers are just "push pins" or they are sometimes referred to as "Christmas trees." They just pull out, but expect some to break as they are old and have been baking for quite some time. A forked "trim tool" is useful to get them out, or you can try using slightly opened needle nose pliers to slide underneath and pry them out.

The oil in the intake is normal and comes from the PCV system and oil cooking off of the cylinders and condensing after shutdown. If the engine oil is filled above the "Max" line it will increase the amount of oil picked up by the PCV system.

Any wire harnesses or retainers that break can be secured with zip ties.

 

Thats good to know! I was prying out those "Christmas trees", had the one on the right side of the fuel rail off, but ran out of time as I was getting the one on the left side of fuel rail off. That and I couldn't get the fuel injector connector out as the clip broke. Any suggestions there? And is it ok to just push the other 5 injector connecters back in without a retaining clip or do I need to replace all that?

Also, did you see the pic where the wire harness attaches to the upper intake? how do I de-tach those? Getting those off would make things easier as I could fully remove the upper intake instead of leaning it over to the left.

So I shouldnt worry about the oil in the upper intake, or the oil residue under the PCV valve right? When I changed the oil, I put in 5.5 quarts, should I have stuck to just 5? This could be unrelated (or not), but alot of times after driving it for awhile I smell burnt oil. And looking under the car after its been sitting I can see oil drops collecting on the oil pan. But not enough to where it makes a spot on the ground..

 

The fasteners holding the connector in #3 picture are a variant of the push-pin design. Do the trick with the small-nose pliers spread open and jammed between the wire connector and the metal bracket. Same deal with the wiring harness on the lower intake shown in pic #2. These fasteners harden with time, and break. The connectors to the individual injectors have slotted flaps that slide over a retainer built into the injector. If the connectors get old and brittle, the flaps break off. I have broken many flaps{don't know proper name} off Ford connectors, and just ignored the lack of plastic. The connectors stay together in every case, but the flap 'retainers' are a good assembly indicator that the connectors are seated fully and re-assure the manufacturer that things should work when first used. Without them it would be easier to have a half-inserted connector and an intermittent problem for the new car owner. At least that's a decent explanation for why they're there {in addition to vibration and road shock working to loosen every fastener built into the vehicle}. IOW, don't worry about these plastic thingys. Use flat bladed tools to pry them apart, relieve the 'flap' things if you can, and if they break off, put the bits in the trash and keep going. Just be sure to re-assemble them properly and fully insert the parts into each other.
tom

 

I have found if those connector retaining tabs have broken off especially on injectors they will not seat all the way and thus those injectors are not working. If you got a check engine light I bet it set codes for fuel injector primary on multiple cylinders and that's why its a not start now. What you can do is use a small zip tie through the connector where the tab used to be and wrap around injector/ fuel rail and zip it down works every time. Those pigtails are very expensive. Get the a cat claw from Home Depot Husky brand its all I use for all those retainers and Christmas trees you are talking about like the ones on the side of the intake.

Oh and on the oil in the intake it's all the oil vapor form the pcv system and is normal, on the oil change these things take 5.5 qts so that is normal. You oil leak source is the front timing cover seeping down and wetting the oil pan.

 

Good to know about the fuel injector connectors. That would be the 1st situation where the tabs are a necessity in my experience. Not that I deny the use of the tabs, but I guess all my plastics are brittled with age, and refuse to come apart without breakage. I do not try to force them, as it hurts my hands to even pry the tabs up, so I use small flat blade screwdrivers to attempt to pry them up enough to release.
Is there a better way?
tom

 

For these you squeeze the tab to release so the best way to put the least stress on them is to push down on the connector then release the tab it puts allot less stress on it.

 

Thanks for the replies guys! Makuloco, can you take a pic of the Husky Brand cat claws you are talking about? I cant seem to picture how the zip ties would fit to tie the injector connectors down, might you have a pic or diagram of how that works? Would I also use them to tie down the harness where it attaches to the outside of the upper intake?

Tomw, can you show me somehow, how to use your method to get the last stubborn injector connector out? I cant even see the retainer flap in there, but I know the flap that broke off wasnt whole.

I actually am not getting any codes. Previously it would only give a code once the engine was running and sputtering. Maybe since I cant get it to fully start, its not giving codes?

I know I am going to have to go back and remove the upper and lower intakes again. I still have the lower intake gaskets since I wasnt able to change them last time. do I need to change the upper intake again? or just the lower ones since its only been a couple weeks since I changed the upper ones?

So, in review: can I just cut the "christmas tree" fasteners that are holding the wiring harness to the outside of the upper manifold? Can I also just cut the plastic christmas tree-like fasteners holding the wiring harness to the top of the fuel rail? Once I can get off that stubborn last fuel injector connector (its cyl 1 I think, top left if looking at the engine), I would need to zip tie down all the injector connectors, the wiring harness to the fuel rail and the wiring harness to the top of the upper intake, right?

If either of you have any pics or short videos showing this noob an example of what ur talking about I would appreciate it! Saturday its supposed to get up to 48 degrees which means I might be able to take another shot at this and dont want to be stuck in the same spot I was last time. Thanks!

 

Anyone? . .

 

I don't have a pic of the tie straps but you basically stick the tie strap through where the tab used to be down around the injector and fuel rail and cross over the top of the fuel injector and complete the zip tie.

You can also use them for the harness that cracked off, use the cat claw on all the retainers you had problems with before any that break just use zip tie no problem.

It will not throw codes until you have it running.

You can reuse the the upper intake gaskets no problem.

 

Thanks for your reply! As far as the zip ties, do I need to look for a specific size or are they pretty much all the same? Should I be able to find that cats claw at walmart maybe or do I need to make a trip to the Home Depot? I will be taking another shot at this on saturday, yay!