How Green is My Valley

[rundmc]

Hey all,

Due to a coolant leak in the VOD, I rolled up my sleeves and waded in today. All bolts and washers came off without a hitch. I was careful not to allow anything in the process to fall into the cylinders before I plugged the holes with shop towels (although I'm paranoid that something fell in without my knowledge while I was removing the intake manifold, because I don't trust my own luck). I also found a number of copper fuel injector washers in the valley from the P.O.'s work as I was cleaning out all of the coolant.

I have some quick questions:

1 - The fuel injectors over the cylinders appear to have some sort of o-rings and/or rubber seats when inspected. Is there a grease, oil or sealant I need to treat these with before reassembly? Should I replace the o-rings on them along with the rest of the intake o-rings?

2 - The washer and o-ring for the pipe of agony were covered in a grease of some kind that I assume acted to assist in creating a good seal on the mixture unit. What grease or sealant is recommended for this? Also, where can I get a replacement o-ring for this part as I am not sure it is offered in the manifold installation kits?

Tomorrow the real cleaning begins to prep for POR-15...

[Dangermouse]

Nice thread title!

You really seem to pick the small jobs that just blow up into big ones, don't you :(

Good luck

[rundmc]

Yep...But what ends up happening is that small jobs reveal shortcuts and problems left behind by the P.O. It's a headache, but my car will be better for it after all is said and done. (That's the theory anyway, and since the front suspension turned out so well, I'm hoping this will be the same.)

[DavidProehl]

I have some quick questions:

1 - The fuel injectors over the cylinders appear to have some sort of o-rings and/or rubber seats when inspected. Is there a grease, oil or sealant I need to treat these with before reassembly? Should I replace the o-rings on them along with the rest of the intake o-rings?

2 - The washer and o-ring for the pipe of agony were covered in a grease of some kind that I assume acted to assist in creating a good seal on the mixture unit. What grease or sealant is recommended for this? Also, where can I get a replacement o-ring for this part as I am not sure it is offered in the manifold installation kits?

Tomorrow the real cleaning begins to prep for POR-15...

I just received help on this job from Jim (DMC6960). To answer your questions based on what I learned:

The injectors do have rubber boots that they need to properly seal. No need to grease them. The injector is held in place by a metal clip that goes over the injector and the rubber boot. In my case we replaced both the rubber boot and the metal clip for good measure. They are cheap (no more than a couple bucks per injector for both parts) so I'd recommend doing it.

I didn't have to replace my pipe of agony gasket, so I'm not sure what you need. As far as the sealant, perhaps they used a gasket sealant like this (http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=gasket+sealant&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&oe=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=208699446699437199&sa=X&ei=1_kbT7mRHYqUtwfx04m1Cw&ved=0CFMQ8wIwAA). I didn't use any sealant on my gaskets, but in reading other threads it sounds like it may be advisable.

Finally, before you POR-15 the valley, verify that is what you really want to do by reading a few other threads. Maybe you already have weighed the risks vs benefits, if so, ignore this comment. There is debate among owners if POR-15 is the best method for preserving the valley. Unless you are able to perfectly clean out every bit of rust, you may be trapping some moisture in there to eat away at the valley further. Also, if over time the POR-15 cracks, you may get moisture in the cracks and not know it until the next time you go into the valley 10 years later. For that reason I left mine bare.

[rundmc]

[FONT=Tahoma]Finally, before you POR-15 the valley, verify that is what you really want to do by reading a few other threads. Maybe you already have weighed the risks vs benefits, if so, ignore this comment. There is debate among owners if POR-15 is the best method for preserving the valley. Unless you are able to perfectly clean out every bit of rust, you may be trapping some moisture in there to eat away at the valley further. Also, if over time the POR-15 cracks, you may get moisture in the cracks and not know it until the next time you go into the valley 10 years later. For that reason I left mine bare.

Wow - I didn't know this and it definitely affects my decision! Thanks so much for bringing this up! Is there anything I can treat the valley with to assist in cleaning and removal of any corrosion I might find?

[Ron]

Nice thread title!

You really seem to pick the small jobs that just blow up into big ones, don't you :(


+1

Is there any other kind? Besides being too picky (or so I'm told ;-), the domino effect had SEDOC members wondering if I really owned a D!

[stevedmc]

I've heard of people using truck bed liner instead of POR15. It isn't pretty but it offers better protection and you wont be able to see it after the intake is installed.

For what it is worth, my car came with a POR15 coated valley. I had to remove my intake just weeks after getting the car to replace my water pump and fix coolant leaks.

Can you guess what I found? The POR15 had started to come loose and in many spots it was actually trapping moisture! I scraped and dug all of the stuff out of the valley and vowed to never POR15 the stuff again.

I am in no way saying POR15 is crap, but if you don't get the surface perfectly clean it will become loose and just end up trapping moisture like what was going on in my valley.

To me it makes much more sense to remove the intake every 5 years or so for inspection whether you coat the valley or not.

[rundmc]

+1

Is there any other kind? Besides being too picky (or so I'm told ;-), the domino effect had SEDOC members wondering if I really owned a D!

The same thing happened to me in my owner's club. A few good-natured jokes were made at my expense at the many lunches in which my DMC never made an appearance. I think I'm in for the same ribbing this winter as well.

[Rich]

....The POR15 had started to come loose and in many spots it was actually trapping moisture! I scraped and dug all of the stuff out of the valley ....if you don't get the surface perfectly clean it will become loose and just end up trapping moisture....

To me it makes much more sense to remove the intake every 5 years or so for inspection whether you coat the valley or not.

Ditto on the advice regarding prep for the coating. Any paint/coating job is only as good as the surface prep.

As for making sure the VOD remains coolant-free, yes, inspecting every few years is great. Also good to keep an eye on the coolant level monthly and get a pressure-hold test when you change the coolant every other year. If leakage is indicated in either of those checks and if that leakage isn't obvious in the rest of the cooling pipes/hoses/radiator then you'd want to be sure the plumbing in the VOD is OK soon. Coolant doesn't just disappear.

[Kenny_Z]

POR15 is for rust and only rust. That's what POR stands for, paint over rust. If you don't have any rust for it to chemically bond with then it is useless. It will release and flake. Now when you use it on rust it is there forever. Plus if you get it on your skin...it is there until your skin flakes off.

I haven't done this to my D yet so I had no advice, just taking notes.

[rundmc]

Removed the old o-rings from the valley today while cleaning. Also suctioned excess coolant out of the y-pipe inlets on the block. Noticed some significant rusty deposits just inside the inlets. Is this a cause for concern and how do you clean it without the debris falling deeper into the block?