UIM removal - what the heck?
 

I'm trying to remove the upper intake manifold to fix a leaking fuel damper. After unbolting it and whacking it and prying on it, I busted out the engine hoist and even gave it a yank or two. At this point, I'm pulling the engine and tranny up off their mounts, and the UIM still isn't budging. Anybody have any tips/suggestions?

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...9bc45f15bb.jpg

IIRC, on the right side of the UIM, there's 2 bolts with a 10 or 12mm head.

Yeah, there were two bolts and two nuts, 1 of each on each corner. Then there was 1 long bolt in the center. That's it, right? This thing is stuck on there...

have you remove the bolts on the driver side? its nearby the BAC valve and AWS system

This is what I was talking about. There's 2 on the drivers side that hold the rats nest. It also holds the UIM to the block.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...601a7e6319.png
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...7240d605d7.png

Yes, I had removed those.

I ended up popping it off with the engine hoist. I ended up moving it over to the other side to get a better angle on it. It was just stuck on there after 30+ years. I can't imagine getting that off without the aid of an engine hoist.

For future searchers, the photo below shows how I was hooked up. I ran a bolt into the driver's side UIM and looped some paracord around that. And by the way, the fitting on the damper requires a 22mm wrench.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...c8962b926d.jpg

You shouldn't pull up on your UIM because it won't come off. I'm not trying to sound like a dick but it just doesn't seem like best practice.

How would you get it off if it's sealed on there?

I wonder if the previous owner had it off and used some sort of super sealant? Hondabond is pretty hard to seperate sometimes and, who knows, maybe he had access to aircraft sealants. They make Hondabond look like plain clear silicone sealer. It would be interesting to know if your issue was actually with a 30 year old stock seal or a previous owners whim.

Heat would be one option. I just dont want someone to come along and think that its normal for a UIM to be stuck like that, but really forgot to take a bolt out, then starts trying to pull the UIM off with a hoist, and end up damaging it somehow.

And i'm not trying to accuse you of anything, but you made no mention of those two bolts on the drivers side in your previous posts.

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I actually took a bunch of stuff off that wasn't necessary, in the off chance it might somehow be impeding removal. There was a bolt holding a bracket on the front left side, a few on the rear left side, the rod for the OMP, etc.

For clarification for future searches, there are only 5 fasteners holding the UIM on. However, there are a handful of other things you will need to disconnect in order to raise the manifold up far enough to access the damper.

You say 5 fasteners, but why are you not counting the 2 on the drivers side? I hate to drag this out but it's confusing.

There's actually 8 total fasteners.

You got this for a T2?