While dealing with my overheating problem I removed some hoses from the EFI unit to access the thermostat. I first pulled one of the air hoses from the power steering and unscrewed the fitting


And then I looked in the fitting and found this black, oily, I don't know what, crap packed in the fitting.


I then examined the EFI Unit where I removed the fitting and found it packed with the same stuff



I do not think this is any kind of filtering material, but to be honest, I have no freaking clue. Anyone know what this is, why it might be there, and how to get rid of it?

 

No, it shouldn`t be there. I would recomend that you pull the complete intake off and clean it out with come solvent or something to remove the carbin build up in the intake, your truck will probably run a lot better when your done.

 

mr seafoam is hungry for black carbon deposits!!

 

You guys and your seafoam.

You have two choices:
1) Leave it alone.
2) Clean it properly.

You don't want to just run seafoam throught it.. and honestly, I wouldn't use seafoam on that setup as you're going to run all the crap straight through your motor.

Take the upper plenum off.. The crapola that might bother things is in the upper. that stuff is nasty and even if you use 10 cans of carb cleaner, it's still going to be in there. Seafoam- same deal, 'cept you get to run it through the motor and I promise it won't even come close to getting it all.
If you're ambitious, take off both plenums.

I had to put mine in a parts washer for about 4 days. I'd recommend taking it to a radiator or machine shop and get it hot tanked (proper tank for aluminum) - it'll save you time, hassle, likely money.. and do the job.

 

[QUOTE=dcg9381;50511647]You guys and your seafoam.

You have two choices:
1) Leave it alone.
2) Clean it properly.
QUOTE]

uhhhhmmm, #2, #2!!

 

[QUOTE=olsy1984;50511652]The point is either you don't touch it or you clean it right. Dribble a little Seafoam or trying to clean it in place will just break some of it loose and then it ends up in the engine, ending up on the valves, in the combustion chambers, who knows. I took mine to the machine shop and they had to hot tank it to get it clean.

 

Question: How does that stuff get in there? Shell right now is advertising that you shouldn't buy from the cheap independent stations because their gas will leave deposit buildup in your engine. Their gas, they say, will clean your engine. Any truth to this?

 

when i did the head gasket on mine it took my intake plenum to the machine shop and had them hot tank it and it looked brand spankin new with zero carbon buildup at all, made a big difference imo

 

All gas will leave carbon deposits, its a by product of an internal combustion engine, some will leave more than others, and thats a choice you have to make, and how much of the marketing hype are you going to beleive? The Shell Top Tier gasoline does have over twice the detergents in it required by federal law, but I believe there is a catch, like it only applies to the premium gas or something....I know all the car companies that set the 'top tier rating' such as BMW and mercedes, all call for premium gas...so, its all in how much advertisement you want to beleive and how much you want to pay for gas...

 

Don't hot tank that aluminum intake. It will turn weird colors. Take it off, scrape as much of the black goo out at possible and then have it carb dipped. It took me multiple days of cleaning to get all that black junk out of the intake.

 

I had mine tanked and the intake came back a super bright aluminum, like brand new. The plenum came back dull gray, like a light machine gray. This was the aluminum hot tank that the machine shop uses for, well, intakes and heads. They have a whole other hot tank for iron stuff and that one is bad for aluminum.

 

actually .. it COLD tanked (chemical dip) for aluminumn ... Hot tanking it will melt it . just to set the record straight .

 

In my opinion, shell gas is over priced and sucks. I find that my truck has less power when running shell. To much detergent and not enough boom juice! Arco is my favorite.

 

That is truly some nasty goo in there!!! My motor had about 270,00 miles on it when I tore it down. That crap is a combination of all the fumes your motor recycles when it runs plus any dirt or dust that the airfilter misses. If the upper plenum is that crapped up the runners will be too. At least mine were. I,m here ta tell ya listen to the others pay a little to the machine shop and get it dipped. There aint enough simple green on the planet to clean that goo out. It will just laugh at sea foam. Which will work great to keep it clean, but the only way you will ever get it clean is off the truck!!!!
Jim

 

Oh as to the gas cleaning things, if your motor is injected the only gas in the plenum is from the vapours pulled from the charchol cannister, or unburnt from the EGR system. No cumbuston mix runs through the plenum and runner assy like it would in a carburated engine. Well except for the last couple of inches behind the injectors anyway
Jim

 

the cold start injector also shoots gas into the upper plenum.

 

Yeah I forgot about that one. Didnt mean to sound all knowing. Sorry
Jim

 

I have some (more like only a little and the guts/stupidity to try new things on my DD ) mechanical knowledge but I'm not familiar with what you call "runners"

I have called a shop and got a price that seems reasonable to getting this thing cleand, but how far do I need to tear down to get to everything that might be stuffed like in da picture?

I'm hoping to do a rebuild in the near future, but what I deem as near future and what life decides to offer me are very different. I just want to know if I should wait for the rebuild which could happen in 6 months to two years.

Would this be a possible culprit for low milage ( 14 - 15 mpg)?

 

Heres a link for a copy of an FSM newer than yours but still a lot of information You can use.
http://personal.utulsa.edu/~nathan-b...fsm/index.html

The intake system is made up of 2 big cast aluminum pieces. The plenum is the big rectangular part that all the hoses and such hook to. The gix that you actually took the pic of. The runner section is the curved tubey lookin piece that sits under the plenum. The runner section bolts to the head on one side and the plenum section on the other. I wouldnt wait as long as you say. With all those ports plugged up as they are your system's can't function properly. I think the goo is having a major impact on your milage. If you do decide to do this yourself be sure and take lots of pics along the way and label everything you take off. As you take bolts out put em in a zip lock with a note sayin where they came from or just use a majical marker and write on the bag.
Jim