Really gummed up intake, under the intake manifold. Advice?

ShooterMcGavin

ShooterMcGavin

New member
Maybe I am using the wrong term for this part of the engine? It's the top of the head... I am tearing things apart to fix my valve cover gaskets. I have the intake manifold off and the intake under it is very gummed up. I've seen a few threads of the intake, but I haven't seen one this filled with crud.

What should I do about this? Is there a way to clean it, and what should I use? Am I making a bigger issue out of this than it is? Any help is appreciated :)

Thanks.



*Edit*
To view photos of the condition under the valve covers, see This Post
 
Last edited:
Register to hide this ad
That is the lower intake plenum. Only way to clean it with out all the build up in the engine would be to remove the injectors so you can take the plenum off and clean it with brakes clean and a tooth brush. That is just my opinion. You might be able to leave it and run seafoam through the intake while it's running to burn some of it out. I can't really tell how heavy the build up is in the picture. Hope any of that helps.
 
For the upper intake you can use brake fluid or intake cleaner while it's off. Wear glasses.

As far as the lower portion, I don't know for sure, but I plan on trying Amsoil Power Foam this weekend.

For a preventative measure, install a catch can or two between the PCV and the intake and the hose coming off the driver's side valve cover to the intake.
 
After a healthy cleaning you should change your PCV Valve and clean the throttle body.. If the intake has that much grime I would be concerned with the rest of the engine. Like under the valve covers...

[MENTION=120071]mtbtim[/MENTION] and I made a video to help with valve cover gasket replacements. Check it out!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5fAXAuGozI

Please report with pictures when you take the covers off
 
Last edited:
infamousRNR said:
After a healthy cleaning you should change your PCV Valve and clean the throttle body.. If the intake has that much grime I would be concerned with the rest of the engine. Like under the valve covers...
[MENTION=120071]mtbtim[/MENTION] and I made a video to help with valve cover gasket replacements. Check it out!



Please report with pictures when you take the covers off
Click to expand...

You would be concerned for no reason. Oil vapors from the valve covers travel into the intake and over time accumulates.

I'm almost willing to bet his valve train is varnished with no sludge.
 
etc. said:
You would be concerned for no reason. Oil vapors from the valve covers travel into the intake and over time accumulates.

I'm almost willing to bet his valve train is varnished with no sludge.
Click to expand...

i don't know much about all that but i still would like to see how it looks under the valve covers.....
 
I had really good luck with easy off oven cleaner on my 22re manifold. I just pulled out the sensors and anything rubber and did a few cycles of spraying the oven cleaner and rinsing with water. Manifold looked new when I was done. You just have to be careful and not let the cleaner sit on the bare aluminum or it can stain it and turn it blackish.
But yes, the manifold has to be off the engine to do this.
 
Last edited:
infamousRNR said:
After a healthy cleaning you should change your PCV Valve and clean the throttle body.. If the intake has that much grime I would be concerned with the rest of the engine. Like under the valve covers...

[MENTION=120071]mtbtim[/MENTION] and I made a video to help with valve cover gasket replacements. Check it out!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5fAXAuGozI

Please report with pictures when you take the covers off
Click to expand...

Your video was really thorough and helpful! Thank you for all that work.

I will take some of the ideas and figure out what might work best when I'm back home. Can the lower plenum be separated from the head? I will look into it. the truck ran fine before this work, not perfect, but good. maybe down on power slightly.

I have many cleaners... brake, throttle body MAF, Simple Green, etc. I also have a new PCV and grommet, which really needs replacing from what I have seen so far.

I will post pictures when I get the valve covers off.
 
When I did my valve cover gasket replacement, I saw nothing like what you got going on in the intake. Seems pretty gummed up to me. But, my engine only has 138,000 and maybe yours has a lot more.

I'm also curious to see what it looks like under your valve covers. I am sort of leaning towards the possibility there's going to be significant sludge buildup under the valve covers. But, hopefully I'm wrong and it's not that bad.
 
Sludge under the valve covers comes from a lack of oil changes usually. The build up the OP has in the intake tract has nothing to do with a lack of oil changes.
 
ShooterMcGavin said:
Your video was really thorough and helpful! Thank you for all that work.

I will take some of the ideas and figure out what might work best when I'm back home. Can the lower plenum be separated from the head? I will look into it. the truck ran fine before this work, not perfect, but good. maybe down on power slightly.

I have many cleaners... brake, throttle body MAF, Simple Green, etc. I also have a new PCV and grommet, which really needs replacing from what I have seen so far.

I will post pictures when I get the valve covers off.
Click to expand...

Be careful some cleaners like purple power and simple green can corrode aluminum if you leave it on too long.
 
I would advise against cleaning it with the engine off. You can drop large chunks of it into the intake and then possibly foul up your spark plugs.

It's better to use the intake cleaning spray or Seafoam spray. I used it recently on mine and then had the plenum off. It was almost brand new looking inside and no harsh chemicals.
 
csp said:
Sludge under the valve covers comes from a lack of oil changes usually. The build up the OP has in the intake tract has nothing to do with a lack of oil changes.
Click to expand...

I was sort of making a correlation that if the engine intake looks like that, maybe the maintenance on the truck wasn't the greatest and there would be a good possibility that the regularity of oil changes wasn't the greatest either.

I'm just going by what I've learned on my own engine and I didn't see anything close to the buildup that's in his intake. What is the cause of that kind of buildup in the intake?
 
mtbtim said:
I was sort of making a correlation that if the engine intake looks like that, maybe the maintenance on the truck wasn't the greatest and there would be a good possibility that the regularity of oil changes wasn't the greatest either.

I'm just going by what I've learned on my own engine and I didn't see anything close to the buildup that's in his intake. What is the cause of that kind of buildup in the intake?
Click to expand...
If you read my reply, you will see its from oil vapors traveling from the valve covers into the intake. It's the nature of the beast and is very common on here and Tacoma forums. Actually, if you don't have some oil in the intake, the system may not be working correctly.

Someone with more knowledge maybe able to respond, but I believe Toyota installed something on 01 & 02 4runners to prevent oil buildup on the intake. I want to say it was on here or TTORA.
 
Ok so here is the deal. I had the same thing almost in my 99. So while you are there and have it that far apart pull the lower intake and clean it too. Two reasons. One it's nasty, next you will get to see the lower intake and how shot they are if they looked anything like mine. Mine were almost gone so good call to do it while I was 85 percent of the way there. It doesn't take much longer to drop the lower intake gaskets if you made it this far. It really easy.

Now as for cleaning it if you don't have a good parts washer. Go to the local parts house. While I LOVE brake cleaner it can get crazy expensive for this type of work. Go buy a 5 gallon bucket of purple power cleaner. Take it home and throw all the valve cover intake etc in there for a few hours. Clean all the crap off with a good brush hose off the rest. Same with everything else. Hose it off dry very good and boom your done. It's make a nice parts washer and it all stays in the bucket it came in.

Put it all back together and your golden.

That is how I did it. Now I hope you don't have my luck and everything works so good it blows the radiator out and then the head gasket finally gave after I fixed all the leaking gaskets but that's part of wrenching and shit happens. It's not the cars fault.

Blue
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

ECST5
Head Gasket Blown but Good Compression?
Replies
5
Views
2K
BuffaloBass
B
D
Coolant leak from pitting around intake manifold
Replies
6
Views
5K
4RunAffairs
4RunAffairs
T
2001 4runner Head Gasket Replacement
Replies
19
Views
16K
alia176
A
T
Nightmare 3rd Gen Engine Swap
Replies
5
Views
2K
T4R2014
T4R2014
D
Intake manifold gasket replacement
Replies
2
Views
3K
Down by the Water
D

Members online

Total: 3,818 (members: 4, guests: 3,814)

Forum statistics

Threads
278,316
Messages
3,554,120
Members
248,016
Latest member
Advally Service

Share this page

Trending content

Back
Top