UncleMaz

74,xxx miles.

I began my intake refresh today which included the following: Fuel lines, vacuum lines, intake boots, plugs, ISV, TPS, intake gaskets and various hoses. I got everything off and need to wait for a few needed bits (hoses, o rings for ex.). Put my new service covers to good use (thanks Roger!).

A few questions:

There is no leaking, but is it a good idea to do the valve covers at this time?

There are two aluminum tubes with light blue caps on either side of the air box from somewhere under on the motor. What are these? The reason I ask is one (DS) is a little flimsy and has seen some repair (see pic). Is this something I should be concerned about? I did not have the car up on jack stands today and did not see where the other end of the tubes connect to the block (or wherever).

What is the best way to clean the valley beneath the intakes (intakes off/rags in intakes)? I have shop vac'd it, but would like to clean the remnants of oily deposits.

Below is a picture of a wire that extends from the TPS to the front of motor (injector harness). The male three prong side that sits on a bracket on the front of the motor crumbled. Is this repairable/replaceable?

Thanks.

Landseer

I like using pieces of absorbent rag to soak up the worst of it.
Use long needle nose pliers with angled ends.
Some WD 40 spray and pieces of scotchbrite pad.
Copious and careful use of shopvac to remove sand and grit.
Keep every grain of sand out of those holes.

Removing the special bolts holding 85 valve covers can be a very trying situation.
They are 13mm heads, shoulder bolts, necking down to an M6 X 1.0., mounted into an oddball standoff.
The standoff tends to snap off in the head. Just gird yourself for the mission, should you go here.

If the sparkplug holes are dry, I'd leave it. Its easy to come back later on these for cover redo.

Mrmerlin

if you remove the 3 bolts holding the throttle assembly you will have the valley clean .

remove the oil fill spout and clean it and then use hondabond to reseal both sides of the gasket plate.
If you dont see any major oil leaks from the cam covers leave them alone but check the bolts for being tight.
the TPS harness should be replaced Roger has them about 65.00, you might be able to swap in a new connector but then you wont have a solid harness, I would replace to rule out faulty connections.

The Blue capped hoses can be removed from the manifolds then fit a bolt or ball bearing to the old caps and install them

76FJ55

The blue capped tubes can be removed and the fitting plugged as stated by mrmerlin. They where installed to allow a pick up points for for exhaust gas analysis, which is rarely if ever used.

UncleMaz

Thanks fellas. Exactly the help I was hoping for. There was no oil in th e spark plug holes, so I will only check the bolts as I would rather not tackle those covers. Once I get the needed parts and cleaning and reassembly, front of motor time.

WICruiser

I did the same drill a few years ago and did not due the valve covers for the reasons stated above.

I did remove the coolant bridge, oil fill/breather, and throttle body which really opened up the rest of the top of the block for cleaning. It is a good idea to replace the rear seal for the thermostat if it has not been done before, they get rock hard and almost look like they are integral to the bridge but it is fairly easy to collapse it inward and remove it.

jbrob007

What are the "TPS" harness / wires for (what do they do?) and where do they go??? On my 86.5 one is mounted on the top/front of the engine with leads that go into a bundle under the passenger side fuel rail and the other is located below/behind the MAF. Both are three prong/flat and fit into matching metal harnesses. I ask since both crumbled while replacing the fuel lines two weeks ago... We didnt have the time, parts, or knowledge to replace them at the moment so we reconnected them tightly and wrapped snug with electrical tape & again with wire ties to keep them secure. Now, before anyone goes all ballistic on me - this is a temp fix until I can get the parts and info on how to replace them, but its all we had at the time. No issues so far and I'm staying as far away from WATER as possible...

Can either of these be replaced without removing the intake?? Any assistance (and directions) would be greatly appreciated!!!

Joel

UncleMaz

Thank you for that. I am in the throws of ordering parts. I will add the thermostat seal to my order.

What did you do about your injectors?

UncleMaz

Joel, I don't know if you can access the TPS harness without removing at least the PS front pipes. The TPS is pretty deep down. Perhaps, someone can chime in who actually knows. As Mrmerlin stated above, Roger at 928sRus has the harness when you are ready. He suggests replacement so that is what i am doing.

Mrmerlin

you will need a long pick to release the metal clip on the connector at the TPS,
it can be done without removing anything other than the cross brace.

For the injectors i just cleaned the tips of them and added silicone greaser to the O rings so they will slide into position, inspect the plastic injector tips for cracks
Roger has new tips.
NOTE soak them in hot water then use a 7MM or 8MM socket to install them on the injector

UncleMaz

Thanks Mrmerlin. I am trying to figure out if I have a budget for new Ford ones from Roger, but this sounds like a good plan A/B.

I did see some oily deposits on the caps, but did not inspect for cracking. I never really handled injectors before except the ones on my MY80 and those seem different. How do the caps come off?

From my newbie perspective and since I just did an intake refresh on my MY80 motor, I am amazed at the increased degree of complexity between the the 16v and 32v intake refresh.

WICruiser

When I did mine I had the injectors cleaned and tested. I didn't have any run history before to compare with but after they seem to be very good. The before and after inspection performance results were significantly different for 2 or 3 of the 8 in my case.

UncleMaz

Thanks Roger.

UncleMaz

Just an update: My overly ambitious plans for the weekend were thwarted by crossing the Rubicon and deciding to refinish my intake pipes. Brutal without a bench grinder at least. I also discovered, deep in the recesses of the motor's upper cavity, another frayed Bosch connector/wire. This one is grounded to the block at the back of the motor..

Anyway, here are some shots of the update.

UncleMaz

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