i was checking out my 5th and 6th ports today and noticed that the one on the left is stuck open and the one on the right is stuck shut. what can i do to get them to move freely? they are VERY stuck. i shot them with pb grease and some wd40 and tapped on them, let them sit. then tried pulling them with pliers. nothing worked.

is there any safe way to get these unstuck without taking the actuators off?

 

Not really. The actuators are very easy to remove. 2 10mm nuts each. But they are usually not the ulprit - most likely it is the actual shaft/sleeve inside the LIM that has seized. For that, you must remove the manifolds.

Good time for a vacc hose job and injector cleaning!

 

pb grease and wd40 promote dirt/carbon to further the seizing. So, you are going from bad to worst.

The Actuators are actually real easy to remove, as mentioned already. your problem likely exists where the sleeves are housed. To throughly clean them, you ust remove the entire Intake assembly.

 

WD-40 and other products might promote dust and dirt to gather but if they already aren't move then you really have nothing to lose by giving them a little squirt. It may even free them up in the interim before you get them replaced.

 

As I did, remove all deposits and reinsert dry. Doing It this way, won't come back to haunt you for another removal of the entire Intake.

Maybe the latter point Is an overkill but It will definetly allow for free moving actuators, rods, sleeves.

 

I took off the actuators and used carb cleaner and some elbow grease to work them loose. Just keep turning the part that the actuator moves up and down and spraying carb cleaner in until they feel pretty good by hand....or at least movable by hand......just go at it for a while (my fingers got pretty tired doing this)

I put the actuators back on and then i took two containers of Techron fuel injector cleaner....you can get it at NAPA and a piece of vacuum hose and plugged into the little vacuum nipple that is capped on the manifold....its tiny, but fits a small hose. I turned the car on and had my friend rev it to above 4000 rpm where the actuators would open the sleeves, and sucked the techron out of the container. Its gonna smoke ALOT and you have to hold the revs up....i went through two bottles.....

After that i picked up two new actuators for about $5 bucks each with new gaskets from Maztec in tampa and put them on.......the actuators i had were leaky.

I did this on my s4 and my friends s5 and it worked....now our six ports open.....

if this doesnt work for ya then you are gonna have to take apart the manifold

 

i thought the actuators only opened under a load... so that would mean that you were just running that stuff through the other 4 ports.

have i been living a lie?

 

they do open under load.....but the point is to get that fuel injection cleaner in the intake manifold to loosen up that rod......its not all gonna run through when you finish the bottle.....then you drive it around and you'll still notice white smoke coming out the back for up to and hour or so.....as long as its in there, its loosening dirt and grime......it worked for me bro.....

 

interesting.

 

it only costs like 8 bucks for the two bottles of techron and two new actuators...maybe you can pull them off another FC......anyways, it saved me the hassle of pulling off both manifolds- just for that it was worth a try

 

it only costs like 8 bucks for the two bottles of techron and then whatever you pay two new actuators...maybe you can pull them off another FC......anyways, it saved me the hassle of pulling off both manifolds- just for that it was worth a try

 

well, regardless, i dont think my sleeves are stuck. i think its the actuators because i cant move the shafts at all and i can turn the sleeves a little bit cause of the slight bit of play where the sleeve meets the rod. so should i just order some new actuators?

 

you can check your actuators easily.....take them off.....if its an S4 push the rod down and plug the two holes with your thumbs...the rod should stay down....if it comes up, its leaky and you need a new one

On an S5, the actuators work with the air pump...therefore if you take them off and blow into a vacume line pluged into the actuator (as hard as you can) they should go up, and go back down as soon as you stop blowing

but if you say one is stuck open and one is stuck closed, then it sounds like the sleeves are stuck

 

My actuators were initially siezed as well. Took them off and used lots of wd40 and some pounding with a hammer in the vice to work the lube in. They move freely now and have yet to cause any problems.

 

see thats what i think is wrong with mine. thanks jimmy

 

just tack the damm manifold out . to remove the actuator i belive they have a 10 mm on one side and on the other side they have a philips screw wich it can be a pain in the ***. the hole prcess might takelonger but the again you will be surpriced how much junk is holding the shaft and sleeve

 

here is a side view shot of the manufold just to give you an ideahttp://www.villagephotos.com/image.asp?id_=1572597

 

About the actuators only opening under load......Mine dont If I rev the car just sitting in neutral, I can watch my actuators open my ports. IS there something wrong?

 

I just took my UIM off, and there's all kinds of crap in there. I'm going to take my LIM off and clean it all out. If you have the time to take it apart, you'd be surprised what all is in there. It's not hard to do.

 

Get new gaskets if you take the thing apart with old ones. I know the gaskets on my parts intake ripoed to shreds when I took it apart. (newer gaskets might still be soft enough to seal again)

The aux ports open under rpm not load.

 

God I hate NA's. Give me this car jacob and buy a tII

 

Series four open under exaust gas pressure only. A lot depends on what kind of exaust you have. No solenoids or input from the ECU.

Series five open at 3850 rpm using a solenoid and input from the ECU to it, and air from the airpump to actuate them. If you will take the time, look at the Relation Ship page of the 89 manual online. Look a the Fuel section. There is more than just rpm's involved in their opening.

Free manual from the http:.//www.iluvmyrx7.com

A series four can be opened in the driveway by reving the engine really high. Nothing wrong with that car if its a series four.

 

well i took out the actuators and they were definitely stuck. with a little wd40 and a toothbrush, i got them to be like new again and go up and down easily by blowing in the air hose that comes off of it.
after getting those to work easily with a little air pressure, i went and checked out the sleeves to see if they were stuck. the sleeve closer to the firewall was on stuck at all and was easy to rotate. the sleeve closer to the front of the car was not easy to turn but i squirted some lube in there and worked it a little (damn that sounds perverted) and got it to be as smooth as the other one.
so after re assembling everything, i went for a drive and there was no change.
the actuators moved easily with pressure, the sleeves rotated easily, and everything seemed to be ok.
and still, i have no change in power from 3000 to 8000 rpms. infact, i have a little bit of a dropoff of power between 7000 and 8000... any ideas?

 

Perhaps the solenoid's screwed up that opens them?

 

anyone know waht it looks like?