JHM Spacers - NEED HELP URGENTLY!

[gautam]

Hey guys,

So yesterday I started working on my car, my intentions were to install JHM intake spacers, and replace the intake manifold cover since mine was flaking paint badly. So I removed the intake manifold, replaced the cover and applied black RTV to make a gasket, I installed the JHM spacers and put everything back together, started her up and low and behold, had a ton of problems!

It sounds like there is air rushing in to both sides of the intake manifold, even though I torqued the screws down to 8 lb-ft like the video instructions said to. I checked and it looks like I re-installed everything correctly, no unhooked vacuum lines or anything. Has anyone else had this problem?

I will say this, the 2 sets of gaskets they supplied are slightly embossed around where the 8 intake ports are, and I place these facing upwards, I suspect that is what I did wrong so today I am going to take her apart again and switch them. If this doesn't fix the problem I am going to pull out the spacers altogether.

Any advice would be much appreciated!!

[SprintBlueWorld]

RTV? There's no need for RTV in that job, it's gaskets only. As I recall the gaskets can really only go on one way. When you look at them the intake bolt down runner holes should fit flush with the spacer runner and bolt down holes. And each spacer should be sandwiched by gaskets.

Vacuum problems can be a dime a dozen on this job. Check check and recheck. It's possible something looks together but it's not, such as a MAF hose. When I did mine it was not fully seated, leaving a hard to see thin gap, but affected how the car ran completely.

[gautam]

RTV? There's no need for RTV in that job, it's gaskets only. As I recall the gaskets can really only go on one way. When you look at them the intake bolt down runner holes should fit flush with the spacer runner and bolt down holes. And each spacer should be sandwiched by gaskets.

Vacuum problems can be a dime a dozen on this job. Check check and recheck. It's possible something looks together but it's not, such as a MAF hose. When I did mine it was not fully seated, leaving a hard to see thin gap, but affected how the car ran completely.

There's a gasket in there when I took the intake manifold apart, I undid the torx screws and separated the top and bottom parts, the gasket in there fell apart so I had to make one with black gasket making material (high temp RTV).

I'm rewatching the JHM video right now, I think I made a mistake while installing the spacers, I will double check that they're seated down correctly and I'll thoroughly clean the area again before putting the first gasket down, I hope I didn't miss some dirt or something down there that is causing the gasket to not quote sit down properly.

I'll be tearing her apart in another hour so so.

[SprintBlueWorld]

Ahh that is a sensible application of RTV.

Good luck!

[gautam]

God I feel so stupid.

It turned out to be 2 injectors that were missing O-rings. When I pulled the fuel rail up I guess 2 O-rings got left behind in the intake manifold cover, and since I swapped this part, there wasn't a good seal and air was getting sucked into the system and causing it to idle rough. Got it fixed temporarily but I am going to have to order fresh O-rings just to be safe and I will have to find a way to replace the little red retaining clips that go on the injector to keep the O-rings in place because a few of mine broke.

[gautam]

In case anyone has a similar problem, here is the solution:

https://jhmotorsports.com/shop/catal...-s4-p-630.html

Going to order 8 and replace all of mine, the OEM config is too flimsy, I'm surprised a plastic pintle cap hasn't broken and fallen into the intake port.

[TarlCabot]

glad you got it figured out... been there and done that, was just fixing to post check your o-rings ;)

[2004B6S4]

ya, the pintle caps are pretty common to break. I doubt anyone has pulled the ruel rail after more than 100k miles on the original pintle caps without breaking a few of them

[jmcS4]

God I feel so stupid.

It turned out to be 2 injectors that were missing O-rings. When I pulled the fuel rail up I guess 2 O-rings got left behind in the intake manifold cover, and since I swapped this part, there wasn't a good seal and air was getting sucked into the system and causing it to idle rough. Got it fixed temporarily but I am going to have to order fresh O-rings just to be safe and I will have to find a way to replace the little red retaining clips that go on the injector to keep the O-rings in place because a few of mine broke.

i did this a couple weeks ago. when i removed my fuel rail a o ring decided it wasn't coming out. so when i installed it the injector didn't seat and i ended up with a misfire and rushing air sound lol

[badger.]

ya, the pintle caps are pretty common to break. I doubt anyone has pulled the ruel rail after more than 100k miles on the original pintle caps without breaking a few of them

I've pulled my fuel rail at least a dozen times since 100k and I've yet to replace a single pintle cap or o-ring.

It's fun because the first job I did that required moving the IM I bought a bunch of both as spares since everyone says they break. Still have that bag of parts in the cabinet somewhere... I do clean them and relube the orings nearly every time though

[gautam]

Oh man I was so relieved, I thought I'd have to tow it to the shop and get professional help haha thank god it turned out to be something cheap and simple to fix.

My car is out of commission for a few days though till JHM ships me new pintle caps. I bought 12 of them and the shipping cost more than the parts haha. I also bought the fuel injector installation kit from ECS and it should get here around the same time as the pintle caps. Going to replace all the O-rings and retaining clips while I have the fuel rail off.

[Jake@JHM]

Glad you got this sorted!

[Terry.Reese]

hmm, guess i should order some to be safe, what is the part numbers for that, your link wouldn't show for me. or part name.

found the pintle caps, just need to find the orings, and I cannot find them on the site at all.

https://jhmotorsports.com/shop/catal...-s4-p-630.html Injector pintle caps x8

[Jake@JHM]

hmm, guess i should order some to be safe, what is the part numbers for that, your link wouldn't show for me. or part name.

found the pintle caps, just need to find the orings, and I cannot find them on the site at all.

https://jhmotorsports.com/shop/catal...-s4-p-630.html Injector pintle caps x8

https://jhmotorsports.com/shop/catal...fsi-p-412.html

[Terry.Reese]

Thanks Jake!!

[Brettannica]

hmm, guess i should order some to be safe, what is the part numbers for that, your link wouldn't show for me. or part name.

found the pintle caps, just need to find the orings, and I cannot find them on the site at all.

https://jhmotorsports.com/shop/catal...-s4-p-630.html Injector pintle caps x8

I have a heap of o-rings you can have if you want to pick them up.



Oh, BTW, I’m in Australia.

[gautam]

This is what I ordered:

https://www.ecstuning.com/ES2593910/

Going to replace all 16 O-rings, 8 pintle caps (got 12 new ones from JHM), 8 retaining clips, and I'll keep the bolts as spares. The bolts currently on my car don't have washers so I'll put the washers in. Also, the holes they go in to got busted on the right side so I ordered a helicoil kit from ECS and I am going to install helicoils in all 4 holes.

[Terry.Reese]

got the Pintle mounts from JHM and the install kit from ECS, so now just waiting for them so I can start on fixing mine.