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TSI Intake Manifold Removal DIY + Valve Cleaning

steelcurtain

Go Kart Champion
I've shared an album of pictures of the removal. Look for the red arrows pointing to the bolts, screws, sensors, etc. I apologize for the iphone quality.

Link to Picture Album:

http://s758.photobucket.com/albums/xx221/steelcurtain_4550/Manifold Removal/

Overall the removal is pretty easy and straightforward. Just take your time removing and disconnecting everything. Take pics so you can reference during the reinstall. Overall removal time is about 1-2 hours depending on your speed and access to tools. Having the right tools makes it simple.

Tools Needed

• Sharpie marker and plastic baggies to store screws / bolts and label where they came from
• 3/8’ inch ratchet with 90* adjustable angled head
• Socket that will hold torx bits
• #10 triple square (12 point)
• T-30 bit for all manifold related screws
• 9” ratchet extensions
• Protective gloves
• Respiratory mask for valve cleaning
• 17mm open wrench
• 10mm socket for disconnecting battery
• Sockets for hose clamps on throttle body, etc.
• GM Top Engine Cleaner, Part# 1052626 (aerosol can)
• Shop rags
• Wire brushes (cylinder bottle type)
• Metal pics
• Compressed air
• Vacuum cleaner
• Good ventilation


Manifold Removal

1. Lift front end of car
2. Disconnect fuel pressure sensor on top of fuel pump; turn on car and let idle for 10-15 seconds to lower fuel pressure from pump and rail.
3. Disconnect battery
4. Remove air intake (I have a Carbonio intake; I could have probably kept it on the car but it made it much easier to get to the fuel pump with it off)
5. Remove throttle body pipe
6. Disconnect PCV hose from manifold and PCV assembly on engine.
7. Disconnect sensor located on head beside PCV assembly.
8. Remove the 2 T-30screws that hold down the fuel rail and the 1T-30screw holding EVAP hose on top of mani. Use wire tie to suspend fuel rail out of the way. (I used the hood bracket and engine lift bracket to tie wire-ties around.
9. Remove 1 T-30screw on top of mani that is holding down fuel hard line .
10. Remove 2 T-30screws for wiring harness assembly that connects to the mani on the right side; remove sensors from assembly and take note of their orientation so you can assemble them into the wiring bracket later.
11. Remove 1 T-30screw located left of throttle body that holds the coolant line harness to mani.
12. Remove 1 T-30screw located on far left side of coolant harness (about 6” left of throttle body).
13. Disconnect spring clamp from purge valve and pull purge valve hose from valve. – store hose out of the way.
14. Place rags underneath bolt attaching fuel line to fuel rail assembly under intake mani , disconnect bolt using a 17mm open wrench then disconnect bolt under fuel pump using 17mm wrench. Use caution cause fuel will spill and may be under pressure if step # 2 wasn’t followed correctly. Use eye protection.
15. Disconnect vacuum actuator flapper sensor by sliding off of assembly mounted to mani and remove the vacuum line.
16. Disconnect fuel pressure sensor located underneath 1&2 runners.
17. Remove throttle body sensors.
18. Remove throttle body by unscrewing 4T-30bolts located underneath the throttle body assembly.
19. Disconnect EVAP hose from manifold located underneath runners 2&3
20. Remove the M10 triple square bolt for the intake manifold support bracket to the engine. This bolt is difficult to see. The location is below the intake manifold and behind the throttle body.
21. Remove the 5 upper T-30 bolts fastening the intake manifold to the cylinder head.
22. Remove the 2 additional lower T-30 bolts are accessible just above and to the left and right of the TB Module.
23. Remove the additional two M6 nuts located on the underside of the cylinder 1 and 4 intake runners.
24. Disconnect sensor on right side of oil filter / left side of mani; I believe this is the power source for the fuel injectors IIRC
25. Verify that all sensors are disconnected
26. Verify that everything has been disconnected then gently pull up on manifold making sure fuel injectors don’t stay connected to fuel rail assembly. It’s okay if the injectors stay connected but it will most likely leak fuel onto the engine.

Valve Cleaning

1. Wear protective mask and gloves at all times. The GM cleaner is very strong and harmful to inhale and touch!! Use caution and common sense.
2. The GM cleaner works very, very well. It does most of the work for you. You just have to be patient mopping up the carbon soup it creates in your intake ports.
3. Remove intake flaps and soak in GM cleaner. Use wire brushes if necessary to scrape off the excessive amounts of carbon. Use rags to wipe away the carbon. Keep applying cleaner to areas that have the most build-up.
4. Hand turn the belt around alternator to turn the crank so it closes off valves on intake side. Once closed, spray GM cleaner into each valve one at a time. Let soak for 10 minutes then scrape with wire bottle brushes to loosen carbon. Tear apart 2” x 2” rags to use to soak up GM cleaner from each valve port. Use picks to move rags between the front and back of valves thoroughly cleaning all sides and “mopping” up the dirty cleaner. Keep repeating until valves are shiny silver. Use vacuum to suck out carbon bits. Use compressed air to assist with cleaning. Be careful not get bits of carbon in your eyes.
 

Halvie

WOOSA
Awesome! Thanks for the write up++

This is something I would like to be able to do on my own. Slowly working my way up doing stuff on the car. If I could clean them myself I would do them every 5k lol
 

steelcurtain

Go Kart Champion
Pictures should be in the post to make it easier to follow the DIY...

Maybe, but if you can't follow those steps without pics then I don't recommend you attempt this yourself. You can litterally stand over the manifold with these instructions and do it. I don't have a pic for every single step so I decided not to take that approach.
 

steelcurtain

Go Kart Champion
Awesome! Thanks for the write up++

This is something I would like to be able to do on my own. Slowly working my way up doing stuff on the car. If I could clean them myself I would do them every 5k lol

NP dude!:thumbsup:
 

steelcurtain

Go Kart Champion
how bad was the buildup when you got it all opened up?
Not too bad. All stems were well coated at about 1/8" as well as the edges of around the valves. Cyls 1 was caked. Double the buildup than 2&4. Cyl 2 was half as bad as cyl 1. I just remembered I took better pics with my wires camera. I'll post them up.

I think this is the first TSI manifold removal DIY posted on the forum. Sticky?
 

Bruh Man

Go Kart Champion
Rad post, definitely something I want to try sooner than later. How many miles were on your car?
 

Chainspike

Ready to race!
Are you Stage III K04 or Stage III Gt28. I am just curious because I'm looking into getting a upgraded turbo and was wondering what track times each kit had for the average user. I know companies post this and that but I wanted to hear it straight from someone who owns one.
 

steelcurtain

Go Kart Champion
Are you Stage III K04 or Stage III Gt28. I am just curious because I'm looking into getting a upgraded turbo and was wondering what track times each kit had for the average user. I know companies post this and that but I wanted to hear it straight from someone who owns one.

2860RS

Here's a good comparison of track times.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?4930783-Official-1-4th-Quarter-Mile-Drag-Strip-Times.

K04 falls off at 5k. 2860 pulls all the way to red line. The 2860 is a better driving experience cause the k04 still has a lot of that low end torque like the k03 which causes wheel spin and requires more throttle modulation.
 

steelcurtain

Go Kart Champion
I've updated the photo album with some better pics of the dirty valves and removed the bad pics. I've also placed some helpful installation notes in the description fields of the photos that have titles (excluding the cylinder pics).
 
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