OK, so a few months back I installed all my emissions, put the air pump back on, and reinstalled the auxiliary port sleeves and actuators. It's been working great, but lately the actuators have been getting stuck closed periodically. The sleeves move freely on their own, the hose is hooked up correctly, I have new gaskets on the actuators, and the gaskets will open by backpressure after they are coaxed open a few times.

The problem is, after about a day or so they go back to sticking closed. I'm assuming the internals are just dirty and could use a good cleaning and lube. What I would like to know is, what is a good way to go about doing this? I was told to use some MMO or WD-40 by a mechanic friend to lube them up (which I did before) but what is a good method to clean them? I don't really know where to start with that so any help pointing me in the right direction would be appreciated.

Cliffnotes:

• 6th port system works, has been working, but the actuators are dirty/sticking
• what should I clean them with?
• after that, what should I lube them with to keep them in fine working order?

BTW, i've read Aaron Cake's writeup on his site. Is there any other suggestions in case this does not solve my issue?

 

Actually, nevermind. I just spent the last hour or so working WD-40 in and out of the air ports and they're working a lot better.

 

Mine were filthy and I used carb cleaner and then tried to polish the inside with a rag a bit....came out CLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAN!

 

try PB Blaster..that stuff is Good.

 

How do you take them apart? Does it have anything to do with that screw on the bottom?

 

How do you take them apart? Does it have anything to do with that screw on the bottom?

Anyways, I went for a drive to take back some movies and they seem to be working ok. I would not mind taking them apart and doing a once over, but I have no idea how I would go about that.

 

I think he meant that he cleaned the sleeves and inside those passageways. The actual actuators can't be taken apart unless you want to ruin them. All you can really do is spray WD40 or other lubricants down inside.

 

Taking apart is easy. You need to turn them to a good spot (that you can remember, so that you can restab them correctly) and then remove the actuator diaphrams and the upper and lower screw on the little bracket that acts as the end of stroke stop for the port sleeve. This will allow the port sleeve actuator shaft to be easily removed (be careful of that little "C" clip as it likes to fall out).
The sleeve shaft pulls straight out. (It has been a while since I did anything with the ports on an S4 engine, but I can't remember anything much different than the s5.)

I wish you well (the aux ports are a really good idea and should work properly for optimal mileage and power).

Edit: RotaryRocket is correct, you have to remove the lower intake to remove that actual port sleeves, but the actuator shaft is usually what gets seized and it is easily removed.

If you have new lower and upper intake manifold gaskets, it does not ruin anything to clean the sleeves, it is only a lot of work.

 

To clarify...yes I was talking about removing the sleeves and the rods inside them and cleaning both. A little time consuming and about a 5 or 6 on the difficulty scale. You have to put everything back in in a certain manner. Sorry I'm being very general but I had a FSM in front of me when I did it a year ago! =)

 

I did the sleeves a few months ago when I put the emissions back on and etc. And yes, it's a pain in the butt. Here's the part that i'm having difficulty with...



They seem to be working OK now.