I went to the track, and I was able to get 2.0 60 fts but my best time was a 13.8, I was very confused. The other day I raced a Cobra and the car would not pull hard any more, I did beat him but not bad. Yesterday I decided to remove the intake cover since Nealoc removed his the week prior just to find two of the butterflies fell off. I dont have any pics but two of my butterflies fell off as well. out of the four mini size screws I only found one.

My car also made a tick tick tick noise on two occasions and it felt sluggish. I am here to inform you if you have a Middle eastern Variable Intake you may want to check and ensure your butterfly screws have not fallen off. I was lucky I had a magnetic tool that was long enough to scoop those suckers right up and not have to remove the complete intake. Use loctite to keep them from coming off.

If I didnt make sense is because I am on meds and I am sick, just trying to get a point across

 

does that mean you did use loctite the first time around?

 

hmmm.... with all these incidents of VI screws reaking havoc on the VQ I think I'm going to have to bust mine open and make sure everything is still in-check

 

I would do it ASAP. Neal was probably one drive to the store away from a new engine.

 

so everyone who had screws falling off didnt use loc-tite?

 

I just put loctite on each screw the other night. Geez maybe we should get those screws welded on!

 

how about a drop of super glue on each screw

 

whats loc-tite?

 

loc-tite is a liquid you put on the screws so that it wont back out and fall out such as in this case

 

I also want to know if you used loc-tite? Let us know.

 

Hopefully you didn't use loctite the first time around, otherwise loctite+crazy glue like Nizmo said wouldn't be a bad idea

 

Well I had a single screw come loose but I was not so lucky. I am now currently rebuilding my engine because the screw was embedded in my cylinder head and the piston keeps hitting it. I would recommend using loc-tite red. I am even considering welding the screws on although this is not an ideal solution.

 

I don't see any drawbacks to welding unless you plan to take the butterflies off. But why would you? Maybe loctite won't work! Is the green rod metal or plastic?

 

with all this news, i went out and checked mine yesterday. i used loctite from the start and all the screws are still in place

--Paul

 

Im kinda scared to install this thing now...


Jaime you must not have had loctite on them from the start?

 

I checked mine the other night, and they are all ok. But, I am still a little paranoid because I used the blue loc-tite, which is only the medium strength one. I didn't want to try to turn the screws now, because I would break the bond, so I left them. I might take them off and clean them and use the stong stuff.

 

Ok if my car came from Japan with the VI stock, would I still have to check these screws you all are talking about or is this problem only specific to those who installed the VI themselves??

 

IMO, this is only if the VI was installed.

Hm, I had better make sure to get some loc-tite when I finally get the VI...

 

Which loc-tite do you get though...

 

I just checked mine and the screws are good.. knocking on wood.. I used the red lock-tite about a year ago when I installed it.

Super glue may not be a good Idea.. if it vibrates alot, the HARD super glue may come off.. welding is not a bad idea.

 

People I did not use loctite thats my fault and I should have known better. In two occasions there was serious knocking noises coming out of my engine. What I did was punched really hard and dont know what happened to the screws. I did hear the noise again and and I know now for sure what had happened. The noise is now gone completely, I am loosing lots of low end and mid range torque. I did check the rest of my screws and yes they were starting to come loose. I had two little tubes of loctite so now all of them have loctite. I used the one that has red letters and is a white paste comes in a white tube. They should not come loose, if they do then Ill spot weld them on.

 

Spot welding is what I was thinking. Since I took welding in school anyways.

 

Have you done a compression test?

 

People, it's a good idea to always use Loctite on any fastener that might find it's way into the intake. Red is best, but blue will work, too, since it is engine vibration that is working the screws loose and not some other mechanical load. Spot welding is overkill.

 

I concur. These incidents are from user installation, so if you used locktite check your screws but they're probably fine. If you didn't use locktite go put some on. Many of us have had our VIs on for over a year.
-hype

 

**** more bad about MEVI???

dont know bout this thing. 700 bucks...i lose hp and TQ throughout the range until 5,000+ when it stays steady instead of dropping? doesnt seem worth the $$$$$$$$$$

 

ever driven one?

 

I used Loctite Quicktite. Strong as hell.

 

no I have not done a compressin test. I did go to the track like that and ran 13.8 @ 103 and got 2.0 60fts since I lost some torque.


If you think a MEVI is bad why dont you race someone that has one? I bet once he hits 5K and in third gear youll be reading his plates. People you just cant go off talking bad about some sh@t because someone made a mistake. Its obviously the installers fault. I did not post this for folks to be saying I aint getting that ****. No is not even like that. I dont like people that do that **** you see lots of that on this forum. So what if the screw came off?, no loctite plus 10PSI running down thru there is bound to come off. Like hype just said, people that used loctite they are still good to go. I posted for those who didnt install loctite to use it, and for the nooobs that are planning to buy this manifold, word to the wise use loctite. Learn from someone elses mistakes thats what this forum is for

 

loctite will be used when i recieve mine this month

 

Stupid question, I have never used loc-tite. Do I need to take the screws out of the butterflys and put the loctite on the threads or just put it on the heads of the screws while they are attached to the butterflys?

Also when you put back on the cover for the VI is there an order for tightening the bolts?

Thanks a lot.

 

It's best to take the screws out and apply the Loctite to the threads. Considering the potential damage that could occur, I wouldn't try to take any short cuts.

Be careful not to drop a screw down the intake!

Concerning tightening the cover, I haven't seen any specific instructions, but it wouldn't hurt to use a cylinder head bolt tightening scheme where you start with the center bolts and move outwards from there.

 

jason, you have to pull out all 12 little screws and dab the loctite on the threads and then put them back in. and on the resonance chamber cover i usually just tighten every other bolt until i have done them all.

--Paul

 

Pull the screws and put locktite on the threads. When the locktite hardens it locks the screw in place.

Whenever you're replacing large items like the VI collector, valve cover, etc always hand tighten all the bolts first. Then tighten from the center out in a crisscross fashion (meaning top left, bottom right, bottom left, top right or something similiar).
-hype

 

Wow thanks for all the answers guys, I really appreciate the help

 

they do make a loc-tite green that is for pre-assemblies, and it is designed to be put on after screws are in place. I have never used it, so I can't recommend it, but if you don't want to take the screws off I was just letting you know there is another option. IMHO it can't be as good though.

 

You really don't even have to remove the screws to get loc-tite on the threads. Just loosen them enough to see the threads then add the loc-tite and tighten the screws.

 

That would work, and then you don't run the risk of dropping a screw into the depths of the intake. Good idea.