Intake Boot Spacer Modification for Boost Leak

[no1b4me]

Here is my DIY/homemade boost leak detector , once you regulate to the desire pressure close the ball valve and monitor for leaks and boost gauge activity.....troubleshoot for leaks if necessary..... to bleed down the system pressure , simply disconnect the air supply quick connect and slowly open the ball valve to release air pressure .

 

[jonlafon1]

****WARNING THIS MAYBE LONGWINDED ****
Well let's start, after finally doing a boost leak test due to the odd knock light (3x) one on each tune level last season , I have a leak ! This is on a brand new sled with 0 miles, so it is obvious that the factory spec for clamping force on the intake boots may be suitable for stock power, it is not for any tuned sled. The knock light would only occur on high speed long runs , corner to corner there is no issue of knock light activation.
When I was conducting the test I could hear the leaks at 13 psi , the Turbosmart Kompact BOV has a inherent engineering flaw and will always leak a little from the top overpressure assist , there is no seal/ring on the upper portion of the piston valve so it leaks downward along the inner body of the assembly , the bottom of the valve has a O ring and seats and seals correctly, the leak is minimal which won't cause any performance issue , just a engineering oversight.( partial remedy is to disassemble and coat the piston valve and inner body with a tacky lithium grease ,this will minimize the leak ).
Onward, used a soap solution to detect the source of the leaks , all the intake boots were leaking ! $hit Fuzz !!! I was hoping for easy fix like a loose intercooler clamp or Plenum .... I dreaded this job because of how yamamarc and few others commented on this ugly job.
So , decided to go the ugly route ,though the other route is ugly as well.
I disassemble all the hoses and plenum and a couple of electrical connectors to gain access to the clamps ,remove all the bottom clamp spacers and nuts and the same for the top , just take your time so not to loose the spacer or nuts . The nuts are magnetic however the spacers are stainless steel so they are difficult to retrieve if you drop one on the engine assembly. That was easy , the disassembly part...... I used a good metal file and adjusted the spacers to 0.170 , after speaking with Hurricane Dave,he recommended the removal of 0.080 off the spacers and from the pictures you can visually see the boot bulging due to the additional clamping force.
Reassembly was my anxiety , I started on the MAG side ,figuring let's start EZ....started with the head side clamp and reassembled easily , to aid in spacer install apply a bit of tacky lithium grease into the barrel of the spacer and slide it onto the cap screw, this will prevent it from sliding off. Then went to assemble the TB side of the clamp from the top, got it because it was somewhat accessible .
Now , got brave and decide to do the centre one next, did the head side easily because it again is on the bottom , moved to the top and I said "what the fuzz" now thinking ok need to go to ugly route 2..... then looking at the turbo , I remembered I had to clock my turbo on my Buick Grand National (bigger turbo install) ....then it came to me , the head side clamps are easy because they are all located on the bottom and there is just enough room to get my mitts in there to assemble . So I assemble the TB side clamp from the bottom and clocked it into it's proper position , just assemble all 6 clamps from the bottom and clock them into position , just start threading the nuts about 2.5 threads ,this leaves the clamp loose enough to clock it into position,there will be a bit of resistance during the clocking until it gets into the boot key. For the most part you will be working blind because you can't get your pumpkin into the compartment to see what your hands are doing .
The top centre one literally took me 15 mins , the PTO side both clamps installed within 15 mins.
I have attached some pictures and scribed some details.

TOOLS must have to ease the task
1/4" drive ratchet along with a 14" & 4" extensions
4mm ball end allen head socket 1/4" drive
tacky grease
long narrow flat blade drive to assist clocking clamps.

Now after doing this ugly task , I feel confident that I could do this within 2.5 hrs without having to deal with coolant or fuel spillage ....though minimal spillage , I am OCD and sooner not disturb something that ain't broke ,plus clean up of fluids.

Hope my experience will aid you in your intake boot modification as well.
Cheers
Rob

Going this route tonight,, I have been going back and forth for a day or two on which way to go.. To pull the throttle bodies or not???? Will report back on the method of spinning the clamps to clock them into proper position. Anyone have further tips? Thanks

 

[fatchance]

Yes, put on your minuscule hands! I went into it with this in mind and just couldn't get near them.

 

[jonlafon1]

Yes, put on your minuscule hands! I went into it with this in mind and just couldn't get near them.

I started last night with a few hoses and I just cant stand disturbing things that don't need to be. . WILL see If I can do it the "hard way" LOL. Otherwise I will call the "help hotline"

 

[justinator]

I started last night with a few hoses and I just cant stand disturbing things that don't need to be. . WILL see If I can do it the "hard way" LOL. Otherwise I will call the "help hotline"

Soooooo much easier to pull the throttle bodies, everything is simply plug ins and they cant be mixed up. I clamped the coolant lines with needle nose vise grips and didnt lose more than a teaspoon of coolant. I took pictures as I like the wires to be routed the same way as factory. Didnt take long at all and found it a pretty simple job. There is no way I would of bothered with it without removing them , dont have mini hands and I have plenty of other frustrating projects I could tackle. It looks like alot to pull the tb’s but I assure you its pretty simple.

 

[kviper]

Going this route tonight,, I have been going back and forth for a day or two on which way to go.. To pull the throttle bodies or not???? Will report back on the method of spinning the clamps to clock them into proper position. Anyone have further tips? Thanks

I was not able to rotate the clamps due to not enough clearance for the center one to clear the other tb's.
With the upper steering bushing off i propped the steering shaft up, lifted up on the throttle body's and popped the boots off and took them to the bench and did the clamps. Helps a lot to have a second person to pull up on tb's while you pull the boots off and out between the tb's and the head. Make sure to get the boots back in the exact place they came frome. There are alignment tabs on the head side and notches in the boots to assure proper clocking of the clamps. The job wasn't really that bad once my son and I figured it out.

 

[jonlafon1]

Just finished and it sucks! I actually was able to turn all 3 of the clamps that need to be tightened on the upper side. I loosened them up and turned the clamps down and then removed the nut. I was able to finish without removing the throttle body assembly. I packed the space below with shop rags so incase anything fell. What’s funny is I never dropped a nut or spacer. But managed to drop a socket into a black hole!! Lol. That was slightly difficult to retrieve. I did follow the first post and it was great to have a little insight before doing this.

 

[STAIN]

I just finished this also. It wasn't too bad. I feel it would go much faster next time.
I ended up removing the throttle bodies. Pinched off the coolant lines to the throttle bodies. Turned the barrels down on the lathe. I have yet to ride it too see if my erratic RPM is fixed.
I ended up buying Snap-on double ball end, low profile, hex wrenches as my local hardware stores were out of stock on the cheaper version. The good news is that the Snap-On wrench, with its unique design, made getting to the lower clamps easy.

Pricey??? YES!!! But, as they say, buy once, cry once.
I will say this, while wiggling the intake off, the throttle bodies fell off the in take boots without even touching the clamps!!

 

[jonlafon1]

BALL END 4 mm is a must if not removing throttle bodies. Just to hard to get a straight shot on a few of the bolts.

 

[kviper]

To get to the clamps that are back/top i reached in behind the chain case and over the spark plug/coils to get the center and chain case side clamps. The clutch side i got by using a cut off 4mm ball end Allen taped in a 4mm 1/4 drive socket and extensions. (Was going to buy a set of long ball end sockets but none available local) I went in near the recovery tank area for that one. Some tips from Mike Knapp and some time to think it through and it wasn't to bad. Next one would be a lot easier.

 

[Turboflash]

Practice makes perfect! I've done 5 now and it does get easier and faster with each one.

 

[Fleecer]

Soooooo much easier to pull the throttle bodies, everything is simply plug ins and they cant be mixed up. I clamped the coolant lines with needle nose vise grips and didnt lose more than a teaspoon of coolant. I took pictures as I like the wires to be routed the same way as factory. Didnt take long at all and found it a pretty simple job. There is no way I would of bothered with it without removing them , dont have mini hands and I have plenty of other frustrating projects I could tackle. It looks like alot to pull the tb’s but I assure you its pretty simple.

Just did it using Justinators method, pretty straightforward.
1. Remove left frame rail
2. Unbolt steering and toss it over
3. Unplug 7 electrical plugs,
4. Disconnect throttle cable,
5. Visegrips on antifreeze lines and disconnect.
6. Loosen clamps holding boots to cylinders.
7. Remove throttle body rack and put it on the bench. Remove clamps in comfort and grind the spacers.

Took about 1.5 hours to disassemble, 1 hour to grind spacers, another 2 hours to re-assemble. Pretty low stress and straightforward, plus you dont have to be a contortionist.

I chose this route because with my luck, I would have dropped one of those little spacers in the abyss of the bellypan, and the spacer would have been backordered until June.

 

[DMCTurbo]

Home made!!


View attachment 156457

Where do you attach the tester?

 

[no1b4me]

Where do you attach the tester?

You attach the tester to the hose/tube exiting the turbo compressor leading into the intercooler.

 

[yamamarc]

Where do you attach the tester?

If you want to borrow mine let me know.. I'll be in sudbury over the weekend sometime