Good idea. I have the cheap Harbor Freight set, but they are nowhere near the quality of dental tools. Before doing the wiggle and pull method I thought I'd rotate the intake toward the TPS (after disconnecting two hoses) so that I can lift the spring clip as you describe while pulling. First the top, then bottom. Worth a try. Removing the spring clips from the injector connectors made removing them effortless.

NOTE Removing the spring clips from the injector connectors made removing them effortless..

Warning..........till you drop one and it goes into the cylinder through an open valve.
these are not magnetic so retrieval will be difficult

Mine are apparently made of spring steel because I did drop one into the V and my small tipped magnetic pick up tool retrieved it on the the first try. All were in a baggie with the clips that lock the injectors into the rail before I raised the intake. To keep dirt from falling into the intake through the injector ports in the intake I'm leaving the injectors in until I get it on a bench. As soon as I had the intake raised up I put rags in the inlet ports in the heads. Before reassembly I'll use my WiFi boroscope to inspect inside the ports before reinstalling the intake.

This is a great idea,..........Before reassembly I'll use my WiFi boroscope to inspect inside the ports before reinstalling the intake.

Its usually something that you dont see that falls into the cylinder ,
the utmost care must be used when intake is removed,
always blow off the sand before removal of any intake parts esp around the injectors.
every piece of hardware must be accounted for,
if your working and hear something drop and dont find it then you have to stop and find the missing piece.
also look for the 17mm bolt head sitting in the V this is the flappy stop, they fall off.

Always hand turn the engine a few revolutions before you crank up, any resistance will require investigation

Waiting for these to arrive. Lowest price was $27.75 on Amazon.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...483f9733b0.png

Freak out moment
 

So I got curious to take a look with the boroscope last night. Starting with #8 I reach in to pull the red sho rag and it's soaking wet - expletive. Quick check finds the others are all dry. Then I remember a few days ago, when high temps went from the 40s to near 80F the next day, I found a puddle of coolant under the right rear of the engine. Immediately I thought of thermal expansion of the coolant causing a bit to rise up and out the FPD and FPR bolt holes. So I get a mirror and I see what I feared...coolant pooled in the intake port. The good news...the valves are closed. I don't know how tightly valves close, but it seems that they must seal VERY tightly because it's been 2-3 days. I used mechanics locking forceps and portions of two paper shop towels to soak up almost all of the coolant. Then I broke out the WiFi boroscope. The app takes pics that are saved to the smartphone or tablet photo library. I sprayed some WD-40 in to displace what I couldn't soak up directly...then lightly stuffed balled up paper towel into the individual valve ports. This morning I'll go out and pull the towels and hope they wicked up most of it. When I get the intake off I'll clean the grime out of the upper section of the port, then because the valves are closed I'll use compressed air to blow out the individual valve ports. I'd like to see inside the combustion chamber - hoping I can do this by pulling the spark plug and send in the boroscope. I'll also inspect the remaining ports with the boroscope today....the suspense is killing me.

The amount of coolant in the red shop rag (I actually put a dry one on a digital balance and then the soaked one) and the amount I observed in the ports is less than the puddle I cleaned up with two paper shop towels. Still, I fear some went past the closed valves.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...50d253e185.jpg

#8 intake valve A. Little bit of green coolant still sitting in upper right. Before spraying WD-40.
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...cd98619cad.jpg

#8 intake valve B. less residual coolant, but that blue piece at the top appears to be a fragment of the blue clip that held the injector harness. I concur with Curt that before starting this job blowing out the regions around the intake ports is much better than vacuuming. Maybe do both several times. I'm paranoid after seeing this....obviously going to be very careful with cleaning after the intake is off.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...d3f832f880.jpg

#5 valve A. Will make an attachment to suck out every valve port. Might fit through a spark plug hole, too. Hoping I see nothing with the boroscope.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...36757a351e.jpg

#5 valve B. Interesting how valve A has carbon buildup and B looks very clean.

I would use a small rubber hose (1/2" x 2' maybe) taped to the end of your smallest Shop Vac accessory to vacuum everything in there.
That's what I did when I removed the intake.

You can use a boroscope to inspect on top of the pistons.
If you see coolant there, vacuum all that you can.

And do an oil change and you'll be good.

Thanks Bertrand! - for the great suggestion and for greatly reducing my anxiety level.

Don't worry Jon, it happened to a few of us here including me!

When you remove the bolt on the block off plate to remove the FPD bracket, it will leak after a while and coolant will go to the valley and/or in the #8 cyl. port.
This can also happen on the other side (cyl. #1).


I think it is better to put back the bolt and tight it as soon you're done removing the FPD.
Or drain the coolant before removing the intake. Or at least lower the level.

Keep up the good work. :thumbup:

Bertrand -
Yes...after swabbing up the cooling I put the bolts back in. Thinking I may want to order new gaskets for these cover plates.
I thought the same about lowering the coolant as I'll be removing the water bridge to replace gaskets. I have new gasket for the oil filler neck and everything for the cam covers. Now it's time to inspect everything and create my order list (Roger's spreadsheet).

Lots of progress in the past two hours...

Well...maybe the pliers will be useful for reconnecting
 

Using a "dental tool" pick I removed the spring clip from the TPS connector...then it came off with almost no effort. Things moved quickly from this point onward.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...95b77245a3.jpg

Rotated the intake 90 degrees, with only the ISV connector to release.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...7acf70930d.jpg

Seeing the tips of the spring clip exposed...I couldn't resist prying them over the edge of the connector, unlocking it. Using the skinny mechanics forceps the connector came off easily.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...fdbdc7b9f4.jpg

Lots of oily grime in the intake runners.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...6c63d02bf4.jpg

No red-capped fitting on this intake. Removed the diverter valve vacuum elbow and line because I've pulled the air pump gear.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...86cc20d86e.jpg

This rubber vacuum plug fit snugly. Seems like it will stay put.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...a3f81efaa2.jpg

I've read several posts stating that these plastic pieces that go in the ports of the rubber elbow should be replaced. They seem fine, no?

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...5174ba3d9f.jpg

Oily valley. The coolant was introduced by this job, and the oil mostly came from the oil filler neck base. But I'm surprised how much oil and grime there is within the breather hoses, intake runners, inlet ports in head. Hard to believe most of the valves show very little carbon buildup. The knock sensors must have been lowest bidding supplier. From one end to the other both of these are falling apart.

That's it for today. I'll remove the injectors tomorrow and prepare them to be sent off to WitchHunter. Then it's time to check the boxes on Roger's parts spreadsheet and place an order....and start the long process of cleaning. Looking forward to seeing it clean and shiny. Still planning on just a component upgrade...we'll see.

Nice progress Jon.
Keep up the good work.

Regarding the plastic piece, if it's not broken, I would not change it.

The valley in my car was just like yours the first time I pull the intake.
After a bit of cleaning and it will look brand new!
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...f4758ac525.jpg
The yellow plastic pieces are "spacers" to put the intake on when reinstalling.

Bertrand - You set a high bar! That would make a nice hi-def poster for a garage.

Did you do most of the cleaning at the stage I'm at now? (before continuing with the disassembly)