Dear Forum,
I am intentionally taking it slow on my valley hoses leak repair. It us my first time to be there,

I am down to removing the intake elbow. But first, do I seriously need to remove EGR valve and Throttle body to access the rear supercharger bolt. Hoping not…. But…

BTW, someone suggested I replace difficult hoses with silicon hoses to avoid having to go in again anytime soon. Any feedback on that?

thanks for the attention and input!

chemosabe
’09 Portfolio

 

Well, if you have progressed to removing the intake you are 30 minutes into a 20 hour job. My EGR hose had soft spots and was replaced with valley hose. That was the death of the valley hose. A soft spot had blown out.
You have to unbolt the EGR. The access to the bolts is difficult.
I was looking for a hose yesterday. Read the supercharged cars have 22 cooling hoses. No pictures or assembly diagrams I found looked like the hose that developed a leak. Those click to leak connectors go on and off easy. But have a truly Mickey Mouse sealing system.
Don recommended replacing the connector that goes to the intake. Got a call during tear down that the car needed one.
I am luckier than most, think a previous owner had serviced the supercharger. The inter coolers looked repainted, and there was no sludge in them after 16 years and120,000 miles. Just oil.
Cleaned up easy. Think some hoses have been replaced too. All but 2 of the 22 were good.
A word of caution, once you start removing the EGR and other parts, you are committed. No shop will work on it if partially disassembled. They will not accept this difficult job if car is trailed in with a box of removed parts.
Once you pull the intake it is a non-running car. It should start running again when Intake is reinstalled.

 

I just replaced my EGR, and it's not that bad. What makes things easier is remove the top cover panel (the one under the wipers, you can use a tie rod puller to remove the stalks once you have the bolts off), and remove the false bulkhead, the US passenger side firewall braces, the false bulkhead around the cabin filter and the cabin filter housing itself. Once you have those out, you can feel up the EGR pipe and when it pitches up to connect to the EGR, you'll find the 2 bolts.

The intake elbow is also secured to a bracket, and there are two bolts to remove the elbow. These can be accessed with 1/4" drive but are a PITA.

After the EGR, the hard parts of the valley job are, from memory, getting the various hoses off the intake elbow (age and heat do wonders to 'quick release' connections), accessing the bottom of teh 4 bolts that attach the intake elbow to the supercharger, and the 2 bolts that attach the intake elbow to the bracket. Oh and clean the front torx bits that hold the water pipe on before you try to remove them; it's a bad situation if you strip those.

A cheap ebay endoscope / bororscope can really be helpful in putting things back together. The one I have (it was like $40 and uses the smartphone for a screen) has a camera the size of the EGR and throttle body bolts, and you can use the camera to line up the EGR bolt holes and position the throttle body gasket around the throttle body holes (which is frustrating).

Once you have the supercharger out... examine the knock sensors, it's a great time to replace them too.

 

Panelhead,
Thanks for the reply! I did not communicate clearly… I am all the way down to the rear-most intake elbow where throttle body and EGR are mounted. Regardless, you answered my question about unbolting the EGR.

so are you aware of silicon hoses? Also, your comment about connecting to intake… which connection is that? Thanks!

 

Scooter,
Thanks for reply. I have removed the panels you speak of and it made things much easier to see. Still hard to access tho! I am in no hurry so going slowly. The EGR is the worst so far but word is it must be disconnected. I have not seen the bracket bolts you speak of yet. How will I lnow if knock sensors need to be replaced- ‘09 model w/ 54k. Thanks.

 

On the knock sensors, from what I have read they fail after they crack which allows in moisture. While mine were still working fine, on close inspection I could see spiderwebs of cracks in the plastic, so I replaced them. With your mileage you might be ok still.

 

Hi chemosabe,
I found that a dab of toothpaste inside the socket (10mm?) you use for removing the EGR from the intake elbow helps it to not slip off the bolts.
When refitting the EGR I put both bolts into the EGR and wrapped a rubber band around them to hold them in place. Then I tied a piece of string around the rubber bands to remove them once the bolts were started. It was much easier getting the bolts started with the rubber band holding them. Remember to torque the bolts.
With all that work at the back of the engine, I put a big vinyl cushion over the top of the engine and lay on it, using a head torch for light.
Pete M

 

Chemo,

- Use OEM hoses, not "silicon"
- Use a hose clamp cable tool kit
- 1/4" drive socket set and tips above will sort out EGR, etc
- Great time to do all other preventive maint work
- Definitely replace Don's intake elbow bushing

 

I have only seen one thread for failed knock sensors. But it is the same job as valley hose.
EVERYONE recommends replacing after pulling supercharger. My garage mentioned fuel injectors while apart. But do not see that shown as a maintenance item.
They may see fuel injector jobs.

 

Seeing your hose fail at 54,000 miles is another reason I think a previous owner of mine had replaced already.
This Texas heat is hard on everything under hood. Doubt they can go 16 years and 120k with almost year round summers.
I have been driving mine with an iCarsoft hooked up. Watching coolant temperature until I work on coolant level sensor. Ordering a 183 degree thermostat to replace the stock 190 degree. May not have quite as good a heater when it is turned on. But in the almost eight years I have had the XJR never turned heater on.
There is a preheater that dries the air conditioning when first turned on. Pulled fuse six years ago.