Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Duratec Maintenance UIM/LIM cleaning and Plug changing soon...

Just out of curiosity, how many miles were on the car when you cleaned things out??

I do it frequently. Roughly about every 10,000 miles. The last time was at 180,000 miles, last Saturday.

Hey Jim, those springs/struts feeling any better? Just a question too, I am very interested in this method of cleaning; seems 100x easier AND faster (and cheaper). When I changed my TB, the intake manifold wasn't bad at all up front. Since it is a new TB, it shouldn't be too dirty. So my question would be, will this method clean the EGR passages also or how would I go about cleaning those if not? This will not reduce the life of my plugs in anyway? I just did the plugs and wires a few months ago and do not EVER want to do it again.

I'm getting an optimized TB from BNoon so I guess I'll clean them then. Good deal. Actually, the fire started about 3-400 yards up the hill from my house, you could see the flames very close. Fortunately for us, the fire split in both directions and didn't touch our area. Unfortunately, a few close friends' and family members', and the house I lived in a year ago, burnt down.

GRR... Advance Auto said 3-4 days, tomorrow it'll be a week... Better call and see where the gaskets are...

Just to add to this, I completely agree that "non removable method" is the way to go. When I did mine I used (laugh all you want) the dissposable IV kit. It has nice sliding valve and the plunger for a B-12 bottle! It makes flow controll much easier! And no, the B-12 didn't melted down the plastic, and the hoses supplied fit the vacuum hose opening just nicely! Also I did change the oil/filter, because the B-12 can says so. Besides if one is going to get dirty might change the oil while at it. As for EGR passages, one of the soft brass bristles, and pipe/gun cleaning brushes works just fine. It has to come off, the TB that is. Best be done that way.

Alright, I decided that since I had the gaskets I'd take off the UIM and clean it out. While I was in there I changed the plugs too. The UIM was pretty nasty and probably had 1mm of carbon and other crap in it, as did the LIM. I used Valvoline Carb/Air Intake cleaner which took the crud off nicely. Things went very smoothly until I went to start it up. After about 5 minutes of trying to get it running it finally started, but was missing terribly(I think I sprayed a little too much of that cleaner down the LIM tubes, which I didn't pull off. ). When it finally started to smooth out a little I took it out for a beating and it felt pretty good after it burned off the Cleaner. It ran awesome this morning(seems more responsive and seems to have a bit more low-end power). I filled it up with gas this morning so we'll find out pretty soon if the milage goes up any... BTW, it got somewhere between 23-24 on the last tank (even after the "clean house beating" )

But overerall things went very smoothly which is always a plus, although next time I think its gonna burn Berrymans.

> Find some vacuum line just the right size to slip into the hole. You need about two or three feet.

Jim,

Couldn't you just remove the vacuum hoses from the manifold one at a time and use the little tube that comes with the can of Berrymans to squirt about 1/2 can in each manifold opening? I was wondering if there is a reason for the 3 ft of tubing so that the cleaner will get to all of the ports or something.

Maybe any of the Admins will put this great Chemical-Cleaning-Method into the Howto's. I will do this cleaning maybe Jan 04 because I recently changed my oil and plugs.

Is there a way of saving threads?