Removing Cross Inlet Manifold Supports?

[m1tch]

I just need to ask about something on the inlet manifold for the 1.4 TDCi engine, last night I tried to see if I could torque up the injector bolts using a crow foot adaptor, I could see that I could possibly get the adaptor onto the bolt without needing to remove the covers and inlet manifold.

I couldn't quite get onto the bolt using the adaptor, but could still get a spanner end on onto the bolt, the things that were getting in the way were some thin plastic stringers going across the manifold, below is a photo of the manifold taking from Gombal's thread (found on Google image)

I can see that each side of the inlet manifold/breather setup is held in place with either the 8 bolts on one side, or the manifold itself plus 2 additional bolts on the other - my question is, could I simply remove some of the middle supports from the inlet manifold to give me access to the injector bolts or would this cause an issue?

[iantt]

It would alter the rigidity of the manifold, the inlet side of manifold is relying on the cam cover bolts to keep pressure on the seals. Just take it off and do it properly as from what I remember you had the seals and washers to do it?

[m1tch]

It would alter the rigidity of the manifold, the inlet side of manifold is relying on the cam cover bolts to keep pressure on the seals. Just take it off and do it properly as from what I remember you had the seals and washers to do it?

I do indeed, was just wondering if there was a way to check the injectors were torqued down correctly without needing to remove the whole inlet manifold - will just put a few days aside to do the work, to be fair most of the parts such as the airbox are already off the car - its the bolts down the side of the engine that I am most worried about due to limited space.

[iantt]

If you have the stuff , it doesnt take long to do, time consumer is cleaning the bores for the injector washers. And not let any hard carbon debis go down hole in to combustion chamber

[iantt]

You mean the timing cover bolts, just move the coolant expansion bottle out the way, and you may need to support engine from below and remove the engine mounting studs to wiggle the timing cover out,

[m1tch]

I am going to double check to see if the seals are indeed leaking first, I can see that its fairly gunky around that area however the car starts fine and idles without issue - the seals might have been replaced but they simply didn't clean the top of the engine. I can hear what sounds like a noisy tappet above 3k rpm which makes me think its just 1 that might be leaking/not fully torqued, might see if I can perhaps spray some soapy water/detergent around the base of the injectors to see if there are any bubbles before I remove everything as its a fairly involved job.

[iantt]

If its leaking you will smell it for certian, a nasty smell, and hear it. Just let it run and have a sniff near the manifold

[m1tch]

If its leaking you will smell it for certian, a nasty smell, and hear it. Just let it run and have a sniff near the manifold

Will do, I checked on Youtube for the injector seal sound, it doesn't sound like air escaping and there isn't a real smell of diesel at all - makes me think that one isn't seated correctly but seals ok at lower RPM but when at higher RPMs and on boost it then leaks slightly - its why I want to check the torque of the bolts etc.

The diesel on top of the engine could be a leaking return line etc as I know that there are some quite useless clips holding some of them in - 2 of the 4 electrical injector clips are also damaged so I am guessing who every was there before me wasn't the most gentle so could have messed up reassembly.

[iantt]

Its not a diesel smell as such , combustion gases when hot smell horrid, doesnt sound like there leaking to me if you cant smell anything as such, give it a thrashing and lift bonnet after if you think it only leaks under higher pressures.

[m1tch]

Its not a diesel smell as such , combustion gases when hot smell horrid, doesnt sound like there leaking to me if you cant smell anything as such, give it a thrashing and lift bonnet after if you think it only leaks under higher pressures.

I will ask someone to hold the engine at a slightly higher RPM to see if I can see any leaks, hopefully will be something simple rather than the injector seals leaking - will also ring the garage to confirm that they carried out the work agreed before purchase.

[m1tch]

Just rang the garage, apparently the seals had been done before I bought the car so I am guessing that the surface wasn't cleaned when they did the work - will check to see if the brand new seals are leaking or if its something else, might have to take everything apart anyway to check the work and clean everything!

[m1tch]

Just had a check again after a long drive, at various RPMs I cannot hear any leaks or see any smoke/spray coming from the engine at all. Also, the small puddle of diesel around 2 of the injectors are just vibrating with the engine rather than bubbling etc - I think the injectors are actually sealing ok but have a feeling that it might be a leak off line. 2 of the injectors are dry around the leak off lines where as there is 1 injector next to the diesel puddle that is damp. This makes me think that the seals have been replaced, however the the leak off lines aren't 100% sealed meaning that a small amount of diesel leaks.

I think that the tappety noise at higher RPMs could be an injector on its way out at 106k miles - will probably run some diesel purge through it and swap out the fuel filter. Apparently the fuel filter has been changed, however I still don't fully believe the garage.

Will keep this thread updated if I find the issue which should hopefully give anyone else some ideas for a solution.