NCSUmoomba
CEG'er
Okay, finally dug into the top of the engine, and as everyone said, the upper and lower intake manifolds are pretty gunked up, and the EGR passage to the throttle body is caked with soot and possible clogged. Also discovered that the secondary linkage to the left side intake ports was missing.
So, cleaning and repair is in order, but I have a couple of questions:
1. The intake ports, valves, and valvestems in the heads are pretty gunked up as well. What is the best way to clean those without causing problems in the cylinders? If I just spray and scrub them, will the crap falling into the cylinder be a big issue? When it gets burned, will it affect the cats?
2. I have done some searching and reading about adding an oil separator to help with this problem. However, I know that the car has a factory "oil separator" in the valley between the heads. What is the deal with these? Do they get clogged up and need replacing or cleaning? What is the benefit of adding something already there? If an external one is added, should the factory one be bypassed or removed? Also, I hear that the heads have to be pulled to get the factory one out.
3. What are everyones thoughts on screened EGR gaskets? I need a new one, and saw that this is available, but am not sure about it. Is the idea that the screen gets caked up and periodically cleaned?
Thanks for the help! Hopefully this will solve my CEL/idle/running problems and I can drive my car again. I think it has been since December since I have driven it.
Brian
So, cleaning and repair is in order, but I have a couple of questions:
1. The intake ports, valves, and valvestems in the heads are pretty gunked up as well. What is the best way to clean those without causing problems in the cylinders? If I just spray and scrub them, will the crap falling into the cylinder be a big issue? When it gets burned, will it affect the cats?
2. I have done some searching and reading about adding an oil separator to help with this problem. However, I know that the car has a factory "oil separator" in the valley between the heads. What is the deal with these? Do they get clogged up and need replacing or cleaning? What is the benefit of adding something already there? If an external one is added, should the factory one be bypassed or removed? Also, I hear that the heads have to be pulled to get the factory one out.
3. What are everyones thoughts on screened EGR gaskets? I need a new one, and saw that this is available, but am not sure about it. Is the idea that the screen gets caked up and periodically cleaned?
Thanks for the help! Hopefully this will solve my CEL/idle/running problems and I can drive my car again. I think it has been since December since I have driven it.
Brian