skl2

Got the check valve out....got everything off under the car and I went to pour techron down the hole. It runs out a few of the ports. However, I also notice is pouring out somewhere towards the front of the block...running down over the oil filter. I make sure the seal is tight where I am pouring the techron in, and it is. I then put some techron directly into the SAI check valve hole and it still continues to run out some unknown location, down the oil filter and onto the heat exchanger rubber tubing. What the heck is happening? I couldn't have screwed something up when I was removing the check valve could I??

When I hook up compressed air, I can feel air coming out all of the ports, but liquid only comes out 4 of them. I then shoot carb cleaner up one of the ports on the passenger side and it pours out all of the ports on that side...and vise versa for the drivers side.

Am I missing something here?

skl

Helping my son with this- looking thru the shop manual, I see NOTHING about SAI ports or system in Engine section... can't figure where a picture of the system is located????


Afraid we f**kied something up here in the base where the check valve screws in- that was a bitch to get out...

skl2

Check valve base out. Not broken bit there is a hole in the side??

skl2

Everything basically just sprays out that hole you see on the side. From what I can tell in the shop manual diagram, there should be nut there...does anyone else have experience with this piece? If there is supposed to be something there, I am just going to tap the hole and place a screw in it to seal it up.

Paul M

If I remember correctly, there is a metal plug that goes in there. I think it just presses in.

Edit: Here is a LINK

User 122821

I have one of those air manifolds if you need a replacement.

AOW162435

+1 - I have one as well.


Andreas

skl2

Thanks guys...I went to the hardware store and got a couple of large, short set screws. I was able to tap the holes and screw the set screws in...for good measure, I put JB weld on the threads and then covered the outside with it as well...I think it will work

MarkD

late to the party... You already have the answer
your solution will work fine. Not a lot of pressure involved.

so, how did it go then? You guys roto-rooter the ports OK?

skl2

I was getting a lot of nasty crap coming out of the ports by spraying carb cleaner up them but most of the compressed air just blew out the hole with the plug missing. I am letting the jb weld dry overnight and will get the housing back in tomorrow. Then I'll blast the ports from the top some more!

MarkD

great
be sure to run a length of bicycle brake cable up there, chucked in a drill
I mean, if you hadn't already planned to

if you put a slight bend in the tip it does a nice job of opening the choke point in the passage

skl2

Yep, rigged that up and did it a bit today and will def do more tomorrow. Good idea to bend the tip. Thanks!

skl2

All sewed up...time to go for a drive. Fingers crossed...

skl

After my son took a shower to clean off all the crap dripping on him for the last couple hours, we took it for a spin- ran great, no CEL! Luckily Dad had the cleaner job running the air compressor from the top.
Luckily we have a pit in the shop- wouldn't want to do that laying on my back!

Slow Guy

I'm really not trying to throw cold water on your work but is the SAI system one of the ones that throws a CEL error after only 1 failure? I don't remember. I think most of them require at least 2 failures to throw a fault.

I'm having the pleasure of dealing with a SAI fault on my '97 M3, I replaced the air pump (it's been very noisy for months) and the check valve but it hasn't reset the readiness indicator yet. Monitoring it with my OBDII tester now.