Hey

I'm planning on cleaning my plenum and intake manifold soon by soaking it in a solution. I know there's something specific that will destroy these things since they're aluminum and my question is what is it? Also if anyone has any recommendations as to what I should use or how to go about doing this feel free to say.

 

try leaving it in a container fill up with gasoline leave it for a couple of days (MAKE SURE YOU PUT IT SOMEWHERE SAFE) and the thing will be clean inside out make sure you rinse with water after you take it out of the gasoline, if you want your intake manifold to be shiny buy MOTHERS POLISH this thing makes aluminum really, really shiny makes it look better than new

 

methanol corrodes aluminum (over time anyway).

no need to really soak it, buy a can or two of throttle body cleaner and some brushes and rags, then yoink it and scrub it clean, lot's of elbow grease.

I pulled mine a few years ago, it was so bad there was literally a 1/4-1/2 " of gunk on the entire inside surface! yikes!

soaking it would make it easier if you have some time but otherwise good scrubbing, even with soap and water is enough to get rid of the crud.

best attack the PCV while you're in there too!

good time to run or at least inspect your vaccuum lines (all 1000 of them) and replace any that are getting bad with fuel line or whatever.

 

What you're thinking of is Lye (sodium hydroxide). It will eat through grease (it saponifies it -- turns it into soap), but won't stop at eating through the aluminum. The good news is that lye is so powerful about the only place you see it in consumer items anymore is in drain cleaner.

I used a very strong solution of dishwasher detergent to let it soak. You'll need a big container, so you might want to measure it and get a plastic tub. If you want to tackle it with paint thinner and bottle brushes, a mortar mixing tub is the right size. I would suggest pulling the plugs in the ends of the plenum; I didn't and I don't think I did a real good job inside. (There's a part number for them so check with the dealer. I think they're just freeze-plugs.)

Even with all that, at the end I had a thin layer of very clean "dirt" they I easily scraped away with a wooden stick.

You'll get a good improvement by cleaning it. Before, my idle-ups didn't work because the ports had been blocked!

 

no soaking. just a wire wheel and persistence.

and pics.....cuz I'm a pic whoore.

 

Should all the sensors be removed?will the TpS be damaged with cleaning?

 

The GPS will definitely be damaged with cleaning. So will the Throttle Position Sensor (TPS).

I think this thread is really about cleaning the plenum. To get to the plenum, the throttle body (where the TPS is) has long since been removed, and there really aren't any sensors left on just the plenum. Were you thinking of cleaning something else?

 

I am referring to the large aluminum piece that the throttle body is bolted to and which is bolted to the intake manifold.i have a 1/2" sludge inside past the throttle body that I need to clean out

 

Good pics '92

 

The big piece of aluminum lovingly displayed by '92 toy above? That's the plenum (or upper intake manifold). There are no sensors attached to that, that I recall. If you're talking about the EGR valve, EGR modulator, and about a dozen vacuum lines: those come off just to remove the plenum. You can see that 92 toy left a few vacuum nipples on and masked them before painting. Those do come off, but he might have been concerned about damaging something while removing it. It will be much easier to clean if you can just carefully remove all those items.

You can see a pair of freeze plugs at each end of the plenum. I didn't remove them when I cleaned mine, but I wish I had. While I think they are standard freeze plugs, you might want to check with the dealer first to be sure you can get the right part. You'll probably have to destroy at least one to get it out.

Last, you don't want to be one of those people posting "where do these vacuum lines go?" Masking tape labels will do, but I prefer one sheet of paper with careful notes.

 

P/N for plugs 96411-44000 about 4 bucks each.

 

Thx!

Did you actually take them out? When I've removed freeze plugs from a block, I just hammered an old screwdriver through the plug, and then pried it out. The plenum, though, is aluminum, and probably not as tough. Is there a better way?

 

Just started to do mine

 

After being bathed in solvent tank for hours , then had the hell ported out of them , then degrease wax remover spray then 4 coats of vht high heat primer coats , then four coats of vht cast iron metallic high heat spray paint , and a new badge , and used testers red model glue on the raised Toyota lettering thou doubt that's gonna handle the heat ? It's the finished product for my engine build in a few months .

 

damn ive already done all that work but after seeing all these pretty intakes im jealous

 

Here's the easy way I cleaned my (Amsoil Power foam): https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...tuneup-271923/

Though a porting would be nice...

 

Where did you guys get the new label for the plenum at?

 

This is where you can pick up a new 3VZE emblem for your intake manifold.

https://www.yotashop.com/3-0l-v6-emb...s-11291-65010/