Inlet mani removal

jonny87

Active Member
Aug 2, 2019
53
6
Guys,

Any decent guides on here for removing and cleaning the inlet manifold and valves? All guides I find are so old the images are no longer available.

Reason for asking is I have misfires on 1 and 3, fitted new coils and plugs, misfire really bad under under load ( 15 or less on idle per minute) but not constant, one day bad next day ok.

Narrowed it down to clogged valves (common issue and mine has done 83k with no proof of cleaning) or HPFP leaking ( i did post a thread a while back about my oil smelling of fuel but this goes after a long run)

Any other suggestions or links to guides very much appreciated
 

Jimbobcook

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Nov 24, 2012
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Sorry I don't have a guide available but have you also checked your injectors are functioning correctly as well... As I had an issue which I sent them away and mines a 60 plate with 48k and 1 injector was near death due to the filter baskets crumbling and 1 wasn't spraying correctly.

Maybe worth looking into... Especially if you take the inlet manifold off...
 

jonny87

Active Member
Aug 2, 2019
53
6
Sorry I don't have a guide available but have you also checked your injectors are functioning correctly as well... As I had an issue which I sent them away and mines a 60 plate with 48k and 1 injector was near death due to the filter baskets crumbling and 1 wasn't spraying correctly.

Maybe worth looking into... Especially if you take the inlet manifold off...

Yes I had thought injectors and as you say if the manifold is off I will inspect them maybe just replace as a matter of cause depending on cost.

Low fuel pressure might knacker an injector though and if i replace them and not address the root cause i will be back to square one :(

My car is standard and I do plan on remapoing but not till I get it running sweet as stock, no point polishing a turd haha

Oh I did find a really great guide by the way for anyone interested....

https://forums.seatcupra.net/index....replacement-valve-port-cleaning-guide.385217/
 

Jimbobcook

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Yes I had thought injectors and as you say if the manifold is off I will inspect them maybe just replace as a matter of cause depending on cost.

Low fuel pressure might knacker an injector though and if i replace them and not address the root cause i will be back to square one :(

My car is standard and I do plan on remapoing but not till I get it running sweet as stock, no point polishing a turd haha

Oh I did find a really great guide by the way for anyone interested....

https://forums.seatcupra.net/index....replacement-valve-port-cleaning-guide.385217/
I didn't replace my injectors in the end as they were in good nick, just sent them away to be sonic cleaned and new baskets put in for about £125 delivered.

Good work finding the guide! Even the garage said it was a pain getting the inlet manifold off lol glad I didn't try. Keep us updated
 

jonny87

Active Member
Aug 2, 2019
53
6
I didn't replace my injectors in the end as they were in good nick, just sent them away to be sonic cleaned and new baskets put in for about £125 delivered.

Good work finding the guide! Even the garage said it was a pain getting the inlet manifold off lol glad I didn't try. Keep us updated


Thats a good shout, having injectors sonic cleaned, done a quick google search found a few companies offering a 2 day turnaround for a reasonable amount of coin.

All being well I plan on starting the task tuesday so yes, I will keep this thread updated
 
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jonny87

Active Member
Aug 2, 2019
53
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So today I removed my inlet manifold, following the guide linked in this thread it was all pretty straight forwards, took me 2hrs to remove.

What did I find, well I'll let the photos do the talking.....

Plates that sit in cylinder head between intake manifold and intake valves, should look a bit like this
Screenshot_20191105-152008_Drive.jpg


Mine all look like this..... split in two or three pieces
IMG-20191105-WA0007.jpeg
 

Jimbobcook

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Erm, Where is the rest of them lol does that mean you've got bits of metal floating about somewhere...

So I think that could be an issue haha how long before you get replacements?
 

jonny87

Active Member
Aug 2, 2019
53
6
Inlet manifold itself....
Screenshot_20191105-152808_Gallery.jpg


Injectors (all 4 similar condition)
Screenshot_20191105-152926_Gallery.jpg


And now the valves themselves.....
Pot 1....
Screenshot_20191105-153138_Gallery.jpg


Pot two.....
Screenshot_20191105-153232_Gallery.jpg


Pot three....
Screenshot_20191105-153330_Gallery.jpg


Pot four....
Screenshot_20191105-153446_Gallery.jpg




Apart from that it all looked ok haha
 

jonny87

Active Member
Aug 2, 2019
53
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Erm, Where is the rest of them lol does that mean you've got bits of metal floating about somewhere...

So I think that could be an issue haha how long before you get replacements?

Jimbo, not sure pal. Ive got on to andrew at listers, waiting for his reply. Not sure if euro car parts can this type of thing.

That plate i pictured was the worst, in three pieces, rest were all in half. How or what has caused that I have no idea.

Tomorrow I will clean everything up and see the true extent of the damage
 

Jimbobcook

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Jimbo, not sure pal. Ive got on to andrew at listers, waiting for his reply. Not sure if euro car parts can this type of thing.

That plate i pictured was the worst, in three pieces, rest were all in half. How or what has caused that I have no idea.

Tomorrow I will clean everything up and see the true extent of the damage
I wish I had the ability/confidence to do that sort of thing lol I'd be trying to stop all dust and insects within a 10m radius haha

You going for a sonic clean on the injectors after seeing them? Also is it worth putting in a new MAP sensor and housing now you have the manifold off? Mine decided to die a few months ago lol

If I were you I'd give them a call as they don't look at the forum constantly. Make sure you say you're from the forum.

I see why RTech maps always suggest a walnut blast of the valves etc lol
 

R3k1355

Active Member
Oct 30, 2014
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Yorkshire
Do people delete those flap things if going for more power?

After you've cleaned the valves off you might want to change the oil as well.
Chances are some carb cleaner will leak past the valves, into the cylinder and could make its way to the sump diluting the oil.

Depends on how generous you are with the carb cleaner, I know I'd be chucking it in with valves looking like that.
 

jonny87

Active Member
Aug 2, 2019
53
6
Do people delete those flap things if going for more power?

After you've cleaned the valves off you might want to change the oil as well.
Chances are some carb cleaner will leak past the valves, into the cylinder and could make its way to the sump diluting the oil.

Depends on how generous you are with the carb cleaner, I know I'd be chucking it in with valves looking like that.


What sort of power are we talking here? My future plans for it are stage 2 absolute maximum 320/330bhp max

Any carb cleaner that goes past the valves will evaporate, coils/plugs removed (easier to crank over) so should be fine. In any case it will have another oil change in 6 months.

Cars done 121k and from what ive found i would guess its never been cleaned :(

I hope this fixes my issue, if not my next port of call is to replace the HPFP, easy job just not cheap
 

Legojon

I only wanted a remap
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Do people delete those flap things if going for more power?

Supposedly they are another failure point on the MK2. As they tend to get eaten, and you can imagine how much the engine loves digesting metal. I think runner flap delete was recommended for stage 3. I know some have it earlier (I don't at 2+). But I heard it causes cold start and idling issues. So I think it's just a case of checking they are still in one piece.
 
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ash_89

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Mar 16, 2013
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My valves were pretty bad , i also had one collapsed plate luckily it only split clean in two ...proper poo your pants moment haha .
 
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jonny87

Active Member
Aug 2, 2019
53
6
Can anyone tell me if the vac line that comes from the coolant temp sensor housing on RHS of the engine is important??

Ive bust the fitting off on the housing end and am not keen on having to dump all my coolant to replace it :(

Screenshot_20191106-094720_Gallery.jpg


Screenshot_20191106-094734_Gallery.jpg
 

jonny87

Active Member
Aug 2, 2019
53
6
So today I've cleaned everything up as best as I can, its not perfect but it was the best I could do with the tools I had, besides, cant be any worse!!

Inlet manifold, with new gasket
Screenshot_20191107-155624_Gallery.jpg



Cylinder head, inlet valves (sorry for crappy photos but you get the idea)
Screenshot_20191107-155847_Gallery.jpg

Screenshot_20191107-155857_Gallery.jpg


Screenshot_20191107-155919_Gallery.jpg


Screenshot_20191107-155946_Gallery.jpg


Also, answering my own question from earlier about the vac line connected to the temp sensor housing, yes its important but I've found a work around, vac line runs straight through the housing so I will bypass it using a new piece of pipe, happy days.

Now I am just waiting for my injectors to come back from being cleaned and refurbished and I can sling it all back together and pray it works lol
 

R3k1355

Active Member
Oct 30, 2014
1,778
247
Yorkshire
Valves look loads better, also seems like you removed large amounts of crap in the ports as well?

Have you replaced any of the plates/flap things in the manifold?
 

jonny87

Active Member
Aug 2, 2019
53
6
Valves look loads better, also seems like you removed large amounts of crap in the ports as well?

Have you replaced any of the plates/flap things in the manifold?
Yeah as I said not perfect, I really struggled to get anything behind the valve stem its just too tight, I had small bottle brushes, small wire brushes, a ton of brake cleaner and compressed air/vacuum to dislodge the loose bits.

Yeah those plate things are on order from seat hence why Ive not rebuilt the intake yet.

I toyed with leaving them out but I just want the car running 100% as standard before I start messing/deleting things.

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk
 

jonny87

Active Member
Aug 2, 2019
53
6
This is just a very small sample of what I got out of one port, a very small sample!!
d8bf12b091574d06c5f4ee07fd6b63ef.jpg


Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk
 
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