08 LGT Upper Intake manifold removal/TGV and other....advice.

Everyone hates long stories....

 

2008 LGT.

71K

Stage 2

Cobb OTS / V2

Perrin TMIC/GFB BOV 50/50

I want to say CTS?? catless down pipe.

 

Parts ordered:

Grimmspeed Upper intake manifold to TGV

Grimmspeed TGV to engine

Orings for throttle body.

PERRIN turbo Inlet tube.

Replacement Upper intake manifold.

 

Bought a 08 LGT about a month ago. Been chasing multiple problems with the car that previous owner (s) either A: neglected to fix, or B: Did not fix it the correct way.

 

Symtoms: Misfire at blow off. When i say blow off, i mean when you blip the throttle it will stumble then quickly rebound. I would like to say this only pertains to cold weather climate, but this is also when the engine has reached operating temperature. When i posted in another thread, infamous stated it appeared to sound like blow off valve lift off? I dont quite know what that is....I will attach a video so you can hear it.

Start up. You can hear either a missfire or lift off or something...a direction on where to look or where to go would be nice...

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i171/Crucifix79/Mobile%20Uploads/th_20151117_063038_zpsxiz7qikw.mp4

 

 

 

Blipping of throttle. no explanation needed.

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i171/Crucifix79/Mobile%20Uploads/th_20151117_164852_zpsql7fyob3.mp4

 

 

 

Oil residue on all 4 corners of the upper intake manifold to TGV's. and also oil residue on turbo inlet tube to turbo, and the tube does not look to be in the healthiest of shape. There are zip ties everywhere on all most all of the vacuum lines, and there was zip ties on number 4 cylinder Coil attaching wiring to plug.

 

What i have done: I replaced the plugs right off the rip as soon as i got the car. Just replaced the Coil over plug. Im not having no zip tie holding wiring together.... Threw a from AF sensor ( 02 ) at it for giggles to see if it would help, it didnt..

Sprayed Carb cleaner around vacuum lines to see if i could spot a leak. Didnt hear no apparent dip. Unless i take off the Top mount and look under there, im not seeing anything top side.

 

Ordered upper intake manifold gaskets. Originally ordered the orange Orings, then the more i have read and looked, i re-ordered the grimmspeed gaskets, and TGV Grimmspeed gaskets, and going to use those unless someone has negative feedback with them. I also have the throttle body Oring ordered, and also going to replace the Turbo inlet tube with the perrin. its in the garage as we speak. I have the vacation pixs....But is there a walkthrough for removal of upper intake manifold and TGV's. More so worried about the fuel lines on driver side etc...

 

 

Keep in mind, i have so much going on with this car due to neglect from the previous owners im trying to consolidate here. I still have to swap CV axles here before too long too. Any help is greatly appreciated. If i left anything out i will try to add to it afterwards so you dont have to go back through and re-read.

I just did TGV deletes last month. It's a big job, but very doable for a DIY project. I used the vacation pix and gave myself plenty of time. An extra set of hands goes a long way.

i imagine it does. approx how much time did you have invested in the deletion?

I used the KS tech deletes and I did not remove the center divider. They take like ten minutes to do once the tgv is separated from the mani.

Any tips or tricks for doing this project?

I did tgv's. Plugs, injectors,turbo,header, vac/coolant lines, new fuel lines, and a few other misc things. My only advice is to take your time. The most difficult part is dealing with the damn electrical connectors and their finicky releases.

RaGe- i need to do this too. I have some TGV deletes and a Perrin inlet I want to install. You will probably tackle this before I do. I'm in for your results!

 

Sent from my LG-H811 using Tapatalk

I am not looking forward to it i will tell you that right now lol. I will be throwing in the perrin turbo inlet tube while i have everything off as well. I will try to get pictures.

Update: Finish this project.

 

Note: Do not under any circumstances use the grimmspeed gaskets. Once i got everything disassembled, and the orings removed from the upper intake manifold, i thought it would jsut be easier to just the gaskets in and be done...wrong. massive massive intake leak. Not designed for these cars. I had already ordered OEM orings and had them on standby. Sucked though i got to do it all over again.....sucked really bad.

 

So...

 

Was not able to fully able to remove the upper intake due to fuel lines and the lack of the tool to remove the lines... So i opted to just lift the upper the inch and install the orings and hopefully it would cure my problem. Worse of advice...Do like i done, and also purchase a throttle body oring, because the throttle body hose was a big problem on my car as well. i had alot of oil residual in that area as well. i did not get a picture due to spacing. After i had to remove the intake a second time my pictures became a little limited to say the least.

 

I would recommend a good quality set of picks...and by good quality i mean snap on. i had a set, and used a couple of them. Your best bet though before even touching the oring with the pick is to attempt to go straight down with the tab with a set of needle nose. i was able to do 2 out of the 4 like this. the other two i had to fish out. A long set of needle nose pliers will be your friend too, especially the ones that are bent at the end. i will write down the tools that came in real handy if it will help and include pictures. I did not install the turbo inlet tube due to not getting off the upper intake manifold.

 

I also purchase a new perrin throttle body hose, and that thing wasnt worth a crap. I fixed the stock one and made it work. I fought with the perrin one too much, and invested too much time with nothing to show. so dont waste your money with that.

 

*Snap on wobble extensions 1/4 drive.

1/4 will remove all of the 10mm upper intake manifold bolts. You will have to use a pry bar to push the wiring harness out of the way just a bit on the rear passenger side.

 

*Pair of LONG curved needle nosed pliers. You will thank me. It makes sitting the new orings alot easier as well as removing the old ones.

 

*Good quality picks. Short as well as long. These are a MUST. Do not even start this project unless you get a good quality set of these.

 

*When you remove the upper coolant reservoir and the lines, you will loose coolant. Be prepared to replace the coolant with OEM coolant.

 

*Parts cleaner. Clean the area you are working on before hand. I.E.. the upper intake manifold to TGV mating surface. Once you separate the two half's, The dirt/ oil residual can and will go down into the TGV. I cleaned the area before hand. It is also best to have shop rags on stand-by.

 

Even with the gasket mix-up, i had this done in 4 hours. Not bad doing it twice. Any questions dont hesitate to ask. Im sure i messed it up the first time or cussed it lol.

 

Car has been running pretty good though. no missfire. No rough morning starts etc..

 

The culprit / problem. see the oil residue?

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i171/Crucifix79/Mobile%20Uploads/20151111_203116_zpsyiqddrql.jpg

 

Removal process of upper intake / Note the Long needle nose.

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i171/Crucifix79/Mobile%20Uploads/20151228_115050_zpssmog083m.jpg

 

Orings removed as well as throttle body.

 

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i171/Crucifix79/Mobile%20Uploads/20151228_112058_zpskotbjh0n.jpg

 

Oring part number / these are the new revised ones...alot thicker...

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i171/Crucifix79/Mobile%20Uploads/20151228_140503_zpsl5gyeiya.jpg

 

 

Done:

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i171/Crucifix79/Mobile%20Uploads/20151228_154843_zpswiudnlxj.jpg

 

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i171/Crucifix79/Mobile%20Uploads/20151228_154827_zps0vwvphn5.jpg

Thank you for the info you have collected here.

 

I am having your same symptoms and have the upgraded oem gaskets here.

 

I have a few questions.

 

I am passable with tools but I am struggling for clearance to get to the inside rear passenger side upper intake bolt. I have loosened the wiring harness but my stock TMIC is still in place. I initially tried using a prybar for clearance to the bolt head but there was a last vacuum line below the wiring harness and what looks like crankcase vent hoses(they are covered in the plastic mesh and visible in your pics.) This vacuum line attaches to a tee near the wastegate and looks old and fragile and I was not interested in prying on it. Did you run into this same issue? If so any suggestions at that specific site?

 

Another thing that is curious is that the front passenger side, again assuming here, crank vent hose has no clamp at the valve cover or behind the intake whereas the rear passenger crank vent hose has what looks like single-use oem clamps at the valve cover and behind the intake. That's kinda worrying me as I see no reason for a difference there. It did however let me detach that front hose and at least eliminate one of the three bigger barriers to getting to that specific inside rear upper intake bolt.

 

TIA

ss

Here is a pic of where these two hoses attach at the valve cover. That's the loosened and canted upper coolant tank in the foreground.

 

http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/senotype/IMAG3745_zpsnnihlhwc.jpg

 

ss

Ill chime in and say that when I did this on my 09 LGT I bought the fuel line disconnect tool and completely removed the IM. While replacing those damn orange gaskets I also removed the air pump plumbing and installed the block off plates, new OEM inlet and extended the lines that normally are a major PITA that run to the inlet so once the IM was reinstalled I could deal with any future inlet changes. I tried the lift the IM method but then I conveniently started throwing the P2431/3 codes made the decision to correct all those problems at once.

 

You really dont need any major tools more like patience but disconnecting the fuel lines allow unrestricted access to fix those nagging issues. I too bought the OEM IM to TGV gaskets but i left the TGVs in place that was the only thing I would have changed, I would have deleted the flapper or used delete housing.

Finished this job up on my 07 Outback XT.

 

This is how I went about it.

 

At the outset I removed the airbox intake pipe, loosened and raised the upper coolant reservoir, pulled the front crank case vent hose off its fitting at the rear of the engine near the wiring harness(left it attached at the valve cover) and removed the passenger side wiring harness bolt. These steps basically got me a shot at all 12 IM bolts but that inside rear IM bolt still had some clearance issues I described above.

 

I did a lot of reading and observing and realized even if I got all twelve IM bolts out I could only elevate the driver's side of the IM about 5mm before it would hit the fuel line bracket on that side. How anyone is getting these gaskets out on the driver's side with that fuel line bracket still in place is beyond me. So I decided that at least being able to loosen that fuel line bracket on the driver's side was a requirement. That triggered a cascade of other things because in order to release those fuel lines the "bracket of death" has to be removed on the driver's side.

 

To accomplish that I removed the intercooler, the air pump pipe bolt at the rear of the IM, the driver's side wiring harness bolt, the battery, the air pump motor, the drivers side air pump pipe, the oil fill tube, the TGV motor and finally the "bracket of death." That took about 2.5 hours with most of that time invested in the rear bracket bolts removal.

 

Here is the write up I followed to get past the bracket:

http://www.wrxforums.com/forums/11-s...stall-diy.html

 

With all that done I removed the 2 drivers side fuel line bracket bolts and lifted the bracket (leaving the injectors seated in the lines not the engine side) which enabled me to lift the drivers side of the IM about 3/4". I know this because I used a specially cut piece of 3/4" thick mdf to wedge between the two center TGV bolt heads while swapping the gaskets out on both sides. I suppose an inch of clearance is possible with the IM still attached but you are applying some serious pressure to that plastic manifold to get there, beyond my personal comfort zone. The 3/4" of clearance is viable though if you are patient and have the picks. I did not remove the passenger side "bracket of death" and did not need to remove or release a line from the upper coolant reservoir. I just elevated the reservoir enough and held it out of the way with a bungie cord. In terms of getting the gaskets set in place I personally found sliding the tab into place with needle nose pliers in one hand and then tapping about 1/2" to either side was sufficient to stop the gasket from falling and then simply working my fingertip around the perimeter from that starting point worked fine. I did not drop the IM until all the o-rings were fully seated up in the IM all the way around.

 

Also I felt it was necessary to spend some time cleaning before installing the new o-rings if you had the oil residue at these locations like I did and I think the OP did. I live in a coastal area so my oil residue always has sand stuck in it, I don't like mixing that with any inside part of my engines.

 

I am kinda curious as to the source of that oil residue at these o-ring locations. It seems like an excessive amount to be exiting at these sites. Anyone got any theories on that?

 

ss

The PCV vents back into the intake as blow by oil accumulates it migrates throughout the Intake tract. My IM had a thin layer of oil in every runner.

Makes sense GEE, just gotta apply enough time. Clearly mine have been leaking a while.

 

ss

Yeah I would put in 10 clutches before having to deal with the top of the EJ255 again good thing is once you sort that out the next you'll have it apart is when you need to rebuild it anyway, so I guess that's something positive to take away from it all.

 

But in my case I started out with a torn turbo inlet and it ballooned into those little orange gaskets, rubber bits, and that damned air pump!

But in my case I started out with a torn turbo inlet....

 

GEE where was your turbo inlet torn specifically if I might ask?

 

ss

GEE where was your turbo inlet torn specifically if I might ask?

 

ss

 

 

Mine tore just past the inlet flange between the outside edge of the clamp and the rigid section is that makes sense. From my readings the blow by oil actually contributes to the degradation of that fragile flubber section of the inlet.