does anyone have expierence with pulling off inlet manifold. as i notice there is 4 screws 2 at the end is easy to untwist, but does 2 in the middle it is impossible. i tried to figure out with what tool this can be done. any expierence and help is useful.
Oh yes, bitter experience... Hello mate, I'm probably not the person to advise on best tools to use, 'cos I played around for ages with mine, using poor tools . Two things that I would recommend using are a small but powerful torch (mini Maglite type), and a small mirror. These things enable you to at least see where you're heading for with the tools. Oh, and taking the carb right off makes it easier. Watch out for any of the bolts having rusty heads too. One of mine had rusted so much that my efforts to undo it just rounded off the hexagon [:^(] . Had to use a square-ended Allen key as a kind of rotational crowbar (i.e. leaning it at a horrible angle into the bolt head) to get that f***er out. If you can shift the first four, or even five, giving the manifold a few (gentle!) taps in various directions with a soft-faced hammer may help to break the corrosion bond between the head of the bolt and the aluminium. Good luck Pete
a 5mm hexagonal bar socket with an extension bar about 150 mm long. try tightening the bolts up slightly before undoing them to try and crack free the joint, then undo. o and patience
It's a long time since I did one, but I think there are 6 allen bolts holding the manifold, plus a couple more normal bolts (at each end) holding the inlet and exhaust manifold to eachother. I thought the allen bolts were 6mm, but it's been a while, as I said.
A little tip on stubborn female hex heads, is to thread a ring spanner around an allen key, then use its head on the bolt. That way you can gain a good leverage and a long depth into a recessed area, without the bulkiness of sockets and ratchets etc.
Defo 6mm. paul_c: that sounds like a very useful tip indeed, in many circumstances, cheers for that .
this is hardest thing i have ever seen, no idea where to start. from front of the car or bottom ;(. how ti reach those 4 invisible bolts ;(
Have you managed to remove the inlet manifold support bracket? You won't be able to get to the inner bolts otherwise. And the nut where this attaches to an exhaust manifold stud is a bugger, 'cos it will be rusty as hell. Then you need to bend the 'warm-air' shroud down out of the way quite brutally. Use a torch, and borrow the girlfriend's make-up mirror to see the two 'really invisible' bolts, they're the same distance 'in' (toward the engine) as the outermost two. The second ones in from each side aren't so deep, and are easily found with a finger... Patience, and a range of socket extensions, 150mm, 75mm, and maybe one in between, will be good. If it's any consolation, once you've done it once, it doesn't seem so bad!
You'll need a new manifold gasket when you put it back together. The bolt holes in the new gasket should help you work out where the bolts will be.
stand in front of the engine bay, bend over and wrap your arms around the head like your hugging your engine. this is easier if you take out the airfilter box to give you a bit of elbow room. with one hand you can feel for the hole and use the other to slide the 6mm allen key /hex socket in. i didnt have a mirror so i had to do it by feel. fiddly job if you are trying to make do with limited tools ( i had every size hex socket but the right one)
I did this job yesterday, admittedly I had an advantage as the head was off and sitting on my workbench. It is indeed 6mm, what you ideally need is a long 6mm hex drive, ie a straight 6mm hex bar, at least 130mm long and then drive this hex drive with a 6mm socket. there are 4 hidden bolts, not two and on my head they were not at all tight. I managed with a random combination of 3/8" and 1/4" socket drives and a short 6mm hex bit (and sellotape to stop the hex bit falling out of the socket whilst I manouvered it into place. Very fiddly. good luck I found the exhaust manifold bolts tougher, but not as tough as my grinder
I'm really confused with the tool terms here!! I thought they were all just normal bolts! What's a hex drive? Is it a large allen key? Any one got photos of the tools needed? It would probably make more sense if I'd tried it myself!
yea ez_pete you were right that support bracket is problem. there is a three screws and one in the middle is from exhaust and it is burned, it is impossible to untwist it. and there is no other way to untwist two bolts in the middle.
did not pull off inlet but i think i solved problem. you have link here continued: http://www.clubgti.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123267
That's a real blockage! First: Well done for finding your coolant-channel o-ring, but I bet you didn't expect to see it there! Second: Can you resize (smaller!) the pictures in your other thread, so that all the text is readable? Third: I guess you could get a coolant leak into cylinders with the o-ring missing, but I think the gasket would probably prevent that, at least for a time. More likely is a coolant leak to the outside world, I think, but I can't remember whether the gasket goes round the top of that o-ring position. If you are not losing much coolant, not a problem for now... Fourth: Yes, that rusty nut on the support bracket was my first nightmare on the way to getting the manifold off. I finished up cutting it off with a hacksaw blade, parallel to the threads, so that the stud was undamaged for a new nut to go on (stainless steel nut!). But read a few threads about removing exhaust manifolds, there must be some better methods for undoing those rusty nuts, even with the horrible access, that I know all about... Pete
afterall blockage of coolant channel has nothing with perfomanse as i notice, i have same results. idling in the morning is perfect for the first start in the morning revs is at 2000 and droping in slowly to 1000 after sometime perfect. fuel economy is little bit better as i notice, but i did not test it yet on economy.
