ARL PD150 Inlet Manifold Cleaning

[iammooks]

Thought this one deserved its own thread, because after years of faffing about, I've only gone and done it. You all know how long I've been putting it off.

I'm going to do a write up once the car is back together. There's barely anything online for doing this on the ARL/PD150 engine, and I understand why now, as it's a pig - one of the hardest and most draining jobs I've ever done on the car.

Worst thing is, it's not nearly as dirty as I thought it would be, so no idea why my car is so asthmatic...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Battoussai]

So much work indeed but at least you will forever remembered like the ONE which actually did it AND wrote a DIY about it.

 

[James_R]

Years ago I cleaned the manifold on my Leon Cupra TDI with harsh alloy wheel acid. Left it soaking for too long, it turned to metallic mush

 

[iammooks]

So much work indeed but at least you will forever remembered like the ONE which actually did it AND wrote a DIY about it.

If I'd known how hard it was beforehand... I'd probably have done it anyway, as I'm an idiot who likes to make life hard for himself. The way I see it, every other job is a walk in the park after this one - and this is from someone who changed their rear beam bushes on the driveway.

In the end, I got a lot of sludge and at least two golf ball sized loads of carbon out, so not a wasted effort. From the look of the gaskets, there's been something blowing through too, on the top where it connects to the EGR and around the ports, so at least I can make sure things are properly tight with a new gasket, new bolts etc. Beautiful.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[iammooks]

[mention]BadBoy03 [/mention] - did you reply to this one about the fuel pump? Reckon it's the next most likely thing, so I'll be looking at that next - it really made a lot of sense.

The problem I get is normally in first or second gear when I'm giving it some revs - normally from cold, but it does seem to affect first a lot of the time. If the fuel pump isn't delivering, it explains the stalling and the smoke I get, and why it only affects those gears, where I'm revving harder.

Easier to access than the intake as well... Good shout.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[iammooks]

Years ago I cleaned the manifold on my Leon Cupra TDI with harsh alloy wheel acid. Left it soaking for too long, it turned to metallic mush

Caustic soda did an amazing job dissolving an old style quill stem I had stuck in a bike frame - just a couple of slivers left.

I'm amazed we're allowed some of those sorts of things. Does make me ask why I can't get a paint stripper that works though...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[MoToJoJo]

For me, the problem bolts are usually the one at the bottom of the EGR/ASV (because it's a nightmare to get to), and the three holding the EGR cooler onto the manifold (because the easy way to get the manifold out is to detach it from the cooler... until one or more of the bolts round out and you end up having to undo everything else to then wrestle the mess out)