auxilary port actuator question about it's movement
 

With a properly working auxilary port actuator should I be able to move the port actuator up with my hand without much effort? I can't, so I'm wondering if it is nonfunctional.

<a href="http://s769.photobucket.com/albums/xx331/thash1127/?action=view&amp;current=picture5.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i769.photobucket.com/albums/xx331/thash1127/picture5.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

i dont think so, try pulling off the vac tube and blow on it with your mouth. that should be able to move it, otherwise possibly frozen post sleeve.

"post sleeve," is that inside the actuator? working properly, about how high does it move upwards?

That would be "port sleeve". That is the cylinder inside the iron the actuator moves to open up air flow into the port. The rod in the pic you posted extends enough for the pivot disk to hit the stopper. But yeah if you really want to see if its working take the vac line off the actuator and hook up an air pump and see the pump will activate it. It should only need a few psi. Just don't over do it with the pump and wreck the actuator.

If you have it off,squeeze it IN,and cover the tube or hole,(whatever),if it sticks in that position then it is good.
That tells you the diaphragm is intact and doing it's job.

Yours look like it is stuck down so you need to pull it up, if you look at the piece on the top where there is a metal tab sticking out that is the stopper.

That's an S5 actuator, so it pushes OUT to move the port sleeve to the open position. S4 actuators would be the opposite, and pull IN with pressure applied. You should be able to pull it up by hand, but they can be somewhat stiff.

You can let the engine idle, then rev the engine up to 3800+ RPM. I'm not entirely sure the ECU will power the 6PI solenoid with no load on the engine, but it's easy enough to try. If it doesn't work, then swap the relief solenoid (blue) plug onto the 6PI solenoid (brown) if it's long enough, and rev to 3500+ RPM. That should power the solenoid, and allow the air pump to apply pressure to the actuators.

its been a long day, so my brain gave up hours ago, but could you mix and match actuator/manifolds to get it to pull the sleeves open with VACUUM?

if so, that would be COOL, cause NA motors have vacuum

I think you would need to adapt some aftermarket actuators for that. Despite moving in opposite directions, both S4 and S5 actuators require pressure (~ 2 psi) to move. But other actuators like the ones used for the double throttle system move with vacuum applied.

But I think operating them off vacuum would create a problem. Manifold pressure should be roughly atmospheric when you're flooring it with an NA, so I'd think vacuum-operated actuators would just stay closed. The supercharging effect from port closing supposedly can even build a tiny bit of positive pressure. I think the best way would be to use solenoids to directly move the port sleeves. There was a writeup on globalvicinity somewhere, but I can't find it.

this is one of the actuators, it works fine, but the other one which i posted a pic of is now stuck half way up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=966nCKEAZj4

Remove the sticking actuator, and see if you can loosen it up. But if it's the sleeve that sticking when it tries to rotate, that will mean the LIM has to come off to clean out the port.

damn, driving the car well above 3800 rpm wont have any chance of fixing the actuator will it? just to avoid the work, but the car isn't drivable at the moment since i'm waiting on a cat-back exhaust section. it runs but lounder than hell with exhaust only up to the main catalyst. it is an s5, 1991 coupe if that information is important or not i don't know but you probably already knew that :)

It should take you less than 10 minutes to remove the front actuator. Once the black plastic intake duct is out of the way, it's a fairly straight shot to reach down and remove the 2 nuts.

okay, only two 2 nuts to remove the actuator, not bad

I'm watching this thread with interest. One of the ports on my S5 sticks in the open position. I can manually push it closed by hand, and watch it re-open when I rev the engine. Does that sound like a bad actuator diaphram?

Well, they're not supposed to stick. Remove it. Clean it. Lube it. If it still sticks, replace it.

hey rotary, i tried taking off the two nuts you mentioned, which can also be seen in the picture at the top, but there's a screw and a bolt as well after you take off the 2 nuts keeping the actuator on. i don't think i want to undue those because they are connected to the linkage rod :/

There's no reason those have to come loose. The actuator will slide off the pin on that arm once you undo the 2 nuts. I just went out in my garage and took an actuator off an S5 LIM I have in a box to verify for you.

okay ill try again...

i took off the two nuts and couldn't get the actuator off, am i doing this right?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtP6W97Nklw

Pull the black plastic piece on the rod towards the shock tower. You're making it bind up at an angle by pulling on the actuator like that.

i had one that was a bear to get off because the actuator was stuck on the rod! the sleeve turned out to be totally unjammed

okay, i didn't not think of that at all when i made that video and i didn't completely understand how they came off as well. thanks for telling me that, both actuators are off and it was rather easy. both actuators seem to be similar working condition, the reason i thought the actuator was not functioning correctly is because there is something which isn't moving at and really seems to be jammed. idk the correct term but my my picture shows it. this piece will not move at all on the auxiliary port closest to the front of the car (rotor 1). the same piece on the actuator which has been working correctly and can be fully opened by me simply blowing into the hose (as shown in my video) can be moved easily with my hand now that the actuator is off.

this piece will not move at all (closest to the front of the car). i am really wondering if that auxiliary port is ruined? :/
<a href="http://s769.photobucket.com/albums/xx331/thash1127/?action=view&amp;current=Picture059-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i769.photobucket.com/albums/xx331/thash1127/Picture059-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

very simple.
I had a stuck s5 actuator pulled it off and lubed up the shaft coming out worked it back a forth and blew air into the actuator and pluged the line with my tongue or my finger to see if the diaphragm will hold while under pressure and sure enough it did.
Its vey simple 2 nuts and it off.

As rotaryrocket said, you'll have to remove the LIM and free the sleeve. I doubt it is ruined, it is probably just stuck from not being used.

On a similar line of questioning, how hard can you try to rotate them to free them up without damaging anything?