Well I decided top get my hands dirty & assist my mechanic with the job. We replaced the valve cover gaskets, upper intake manifold gasket, fuel injectors and all the hoses since most of them were brittle & cracked. It was an all day ordeal; partially because when I seated the injectors into the rear rail I guess I overtighted the housing screws which damaged the injector seals; so we had to pull back off the manifold & houses and replaced the seals. After everything was finished we test drove her and she drove like a dream. Then after dropping off my mechanic, I headed home which is only 10 mins away.

Then she started it again hesitating while accelerating; I opened the hood to see WTF was goin' on & there was air escaping from around the EGR valve. I know that we had to replace the gasket when we pulled the IM; but maybe it's not tightened down enough or do I need a new one?

Okay, we re-torqued the EGR valve nuts; it started getting late last night so I guess in a hurry we hadn't tightened it hard enough. But from all the fuel fumes I'm smelling now; tells me that the seals have busted again. What would keep causing this; last night we coated the gaskets with grease before seating them; because the first time they were damaged when we did the entire job over. So do we have to use Vaseline brand or petroleum jelly in general? What gives? I'm picking up an entire new set seals tomorrow from the dealer.

Well this project is on hold pending on receiving parts from dealer. As it turns out we were only using 1 seal for the injectors; dealer parts counter said 2 are required for ea. injector. And I'm taking everyone's advice on replacing the knock Sensor. So before moving forward I have ordered:

(12) Injector seals

(1) knock-sensor harness 24079-96E00

(1) Knock Sensor 22060-30P00

(2) lower manifold gaskets

(1) Throttle body gasket

HAVE I MISSED ANYTHING?

 

I have a VE so I'm not sure if #3-5 apply to your car.
1. Make sure that you use fuel injection clamps instead of worm type clamps. Fuel injection clamps are solid and don't have any slots in them.
2. 4 Rubber grommets for the fuel rail hex key bolts.
3. Liquid gasket for the water pipe. You have to detach this from the water pump to gain access to the knock sensor.
4. Make sure you have a 10 or 12mm nut driver to loosen the water pipe bolts to the block. I'm not sure if a 1/4" or 3/8" drive socket with an extension will fit though.
5. You might want to replace the PCV valve as well. It's right behind the rear cyl head. It's easier to gain access without the intake manifold.

 

Cheers man; She's a VE too. Hopefully the dealer will have the PCV in stock; if gonna have to get it from Autozone.

 

What are fuel injector clamps; or worm clamps? Oh, for the fuel lines; no, the old ones were still good.

 

"BuTTa" IS BACK WITH NEW FOUND POWER that I haven't even begun to UNLEASH yet! Alonzo my mechanic said everything went well, the Vaseline trick works as they just fell into the seats, easily this time. I found new faith in my mechanic. He told me to take it easy on her at first, to give the new gaskets time to set; he suggested about 3 weeks????? To Hell with that I'm ready to roll. But I will try my best to take it easy. "BuTTa" IS BACK WITH NEW FOUND POWER that I haven't even begun to UNLEASH yet! Alonzo my mechanic said everything went well, the Vaseline trick works as they just fell into the seats, easily this time. I found new faith in my mechanic. He told me to take it easy on her at first, to give the new gaskets time to set; he suggested about 3 weeks????? To Hell with that I'm ready to roll. But I will try my best to take it easy. HOW LONG DID YOU GUYS WAIT?

 

Did you accidentally copy and paste? I would follow the engine break in procedures.

 

 

Your problem more than likely is the grease you applied to the seals to make the injector install easier!!!! What kind of grease? Hopefully vaseline or fuel only!

 

Could have been, he previously used axle grease; ended up using petroleum jelly. I've been good for 2 weeks now, where've u been? lol!