Change an intake manifold DIY Job ?

[humbertob]

I'm planning to replace my exhaust manifold, but the bolts that are retaining it are very rusty and I'm fear that they broke up trying to remove them, is it a DIY job, or may be I need to let a competent mechanic do the move ? Any advice ?

[azyj]

I had to remove and reinstall my exhaust and intake manifolds on my 93 and I had the same fears you did. Those bolts looked awfully rusty and I'd sure hate to break one off and have to drill it out. Well, as it turned out, the bolts came out very easily. Their torque spec is not very high so it really didn't take much force to remove them. I'd suggest doing it but just take it easy.

Also, if you have a fuel injected YJ, be gentle disconnecting your fuel line from the fuel rail. I ruined mine and they are discontinued (at least from Jeep). Even if they were available, the price would have been ridiculous. I was fortunate enough to find a used one but even that is unlikely because the junkyard keep them with the motors - they don't sell them separately.

-Roger

[humbertob]

Thanks a lot azyj, your advice is very useful for me, I'll try to do it myself, but do I really need to disconnect that fuel line to remove the exhaust manifold ?

[Tremelune]

Make sure you have a torque wrench to put them back on...They're not amazingly tight, so don't amazingly tighten them...Shouldn't just be "snug" though, at all.

[oltmann]

When I replaced mine, it took about 3-4 hrs, but I was being carefull not to break anything. I disconnected some vacuum lines, but I was able to leave the fuel line on the fuel rail, and just kind of flop the whole intake on top of the valve cover. If I remember correctly, the torque spec on the manifold bolts was 14 lbs. They also recommend a tightening sequence working from the center out. Not too bad of a job really.

[azyj]

-=- originally posted by humbertob -=-
Thanks a lot azyj, your advice is very useful for me, I'll try to do it myself, but do I really need to disconnect that fuel line to remove the exhaust manifold ?

You can suspend the intake manifold in roughly it's mounted position such that you don't have to disconnect the fuel lines (supply and return). I started out with that intention. But when I saw the gunk built up in the holes in the engine block, I decided I needed to get it out of the way so I could do some cleaning.

I have a factory service manual but, for reason, the manual describes some newer style connecters that are slightly different than what was on my Jeep. As a result, I ruined the connectors on my fuel lines. If you decide to disconnect your fuel lines, make sure you understand how those connectors work.

If you decide to remove your intake manifold complete, you'll also need to disconnect the electrical connectors from the fuel injectors. It seems there must be some special tool to depress/lift the locking tabs so the connectors can be removed. I didn't have the tool and ended up snapping some of those tabs. This hasn't proved to be a problem yet, though.

-Roger