double post – remove, please..

 

Just letting you all know my car passed its MOT today with very low emissions and that's with no swirl flaps and an Essing tuning box fitted.

So it's definitely not a problem removing the swirl flaps when it comes to MOT time.

 

HELP..!

I've managed to remove the Inlet Manifold ok following the guide. However i've found lots of Oil beneath the manifold. I thought it may be the valve cover gasket but the oil seems to be further down. It is not obvious where it is leaking from but the manifold is covered in oil underneath around each of the inlets

Any thoughts on where it may be coming from - as you can see it has soaked pretty much everything underneath th manifold area including the starter motor.

I'm about to remove the flaps but don't want to put it back together before I sort the oil problem out.

Pics attached..

Any tips / suggestions please..!

Thanks

 

I'm pretty sure that's because of leaking swirl flap casings. It wouldn't be the first time I ran into this.
I've talked to people who have just changed the seals to just a bit bigger o-rings. And I don't mean OEM seals, just ordinary o-rings. No big deal.
And if this is the case that black oily stuff is just soot from the intake manifold. What we can say; Thank you EGR !



What do you think, could it be? I figured this by seeing the area where the oil/soot had spreaded.
Let us know how it goes.

 

You may find that some of the oil was draining out of the centre of the swirl flap assembly where the spindle goes through, once this is cut out and replaced with a 5mm bolt or self tapper then there's nowhere for the oil to escape.

If all the gaskets look ok and the swirl flap assembly goes back in fairly tight then I think you should be ok.

 

Good point!
I stilll think that even if the swirl flap casing's gaskets may look intact, they still might be loose and let the soot through.

 

Thanks for your replies..

I'm worried why is there so much oil floating around in the intake manifold in the first place.. I would have expected lots of soot but not oil?? Could it be excessive back pressure.. car has only done 45000mls.

Thx

 

have tou checked your crankcase vent filter or seperator to see if they are blocked or restricted

 

When I removed my swirl flaps it was at a very similar mileage to yours, I did have some oil in the inlet manifold but not much, which I thought was normal.

Looking closer at your pictures it looks as if the manifold has been not quite central over the inlet ports, as it looks like the gaskets have been very close to the edge on the right and and well over on the left of the inlets, which might of let some oil blow past.
Also look around the studs at the marks the manifold has made, the shiny ring is not equal around the stud it's well over to the left.

Just make sure it's central when you refit it, I know there's not much adjustment but it does move a little.

 

I havn't checked the breather but will do in the morning before refitting.

The Flaps have now gone - I have to say they were pretty solid with no play whatsoever but hey I don't need to worry about them anymore..!

In case anyone is interested - I used 6mm self tapping screws from B&Q.