Rednroll

So far I watched 2 videos, one on a JK 3.8L and another on a Caravan 3.8L, and also found a copy of the Chrysler installation guide and none of them mention any lubricant or lock-tite for those bolts.

Now that I go back and look at those videos, it looks like I picked up the wrong bolt.

There are 10mm bolts and there are 13mm double sided stud bolts. The 13mm head bolts are the same diameter and length as the 10mm bolts. The only difference is the 13mm bolt is double ended bolt so you can mount on the top of it. I had looked up a Mopar diagram and it showed (2) 13mm bolts were needed and even the guy at the dealership mentioned I needed two...but the broken bolt I found and the videos now that I look closer seem to indicate there's only (1) 13mm bolt. Oh well, hopefully it won't matter, and I'll just have (2) 13mm stud bolts on the front of the manifold.

Rednroll

My main alternator wire and the fuel injector wire looms needed to be replaced. I had some loom laying around from HF that was the same size and used that. Definitely not as good as the stuff you mentioned, but better than what was on there. As longs as there's some loom there providing some protection.

Mark Doiron

Maybe file away for later, but this is what I use for wire loom to replace that poor OEM stuff (at ten years, mine literally falls apart when touched). It's rated to over 300°, which may not seem high, but is significantly higher than the OEM wiring insulation (around 200°). It is split down the length of it, and forms a nice cylinder around the loom without the hassle of removing a connector, or winding it around for long stretches. It is pricey, however, but they do sell random lengths ...

Spectro Wire and Cable: 3/16 inch roundit

resharp001

I got serious sticker shock when I saw that price tag , then I noticed it was 492' ...LOL.

Seizer

I am familiar with that if not a similar product too. My only issue with that stuff is I've always had to zip tie it along the run at intervals of my choosing. If it's in an area that won't see movement not a big deal. If there is movement I've seen wires slip outside it's protection. This stuff I use in a pinch https://www.amazon.com/F4-Tape/dp/B01IVNQ7RC. Problem with it is think heavy duty electrical tape. You certainly need some flex in the wire bundle to spin this stuff around it.

Rednroll

Well, it's done........and the good news, it seems to be running and working great but have only driven it 25 miles to work so far.

I ran into 1 additional problem after the LIM bolt situation.

HF torque wrenches are sh*t!!! Before I started this repair, I knew the only torque wrench I had that read in in-lbs was a HF 1/4" ratchet torque wrench. I stopped into Sears and Granger after deciding I was going to do this myself because I didn't really want to rely on the HF. Sears didn't carry a torque wrench that read in in-lbs and Granger didn't have any in stock. So I was stuck with the HF, where it was still brand new since I bought it during one of their sales and never used it. I tried it out on a couple bolts on my bench to see if it would suffice, and it seemed ok.

It seemed to work fine when I was torquing the lower intake manifold bolts. However, when I got to the point of torquing the upper manifold bolts, on the 4th bolt I was torquing down the wrench started to act funny where the gears were intermittently slipping. As my luck would have it, on the very last bolt I was torquing down, the wrench must not have been working because there was no click when I was torquing down to 105 in-lbs and I snapped the front driver side upper manifold bolt. Luckily it was the bolt in the front, and those bolts go in through the top and the bottom comes through the lower manifold. So the bottom of the bolt was partially sticking out, where I could get a pair of needle nose vise grips on it....but I could only turn it about a 1/16th turn at a time due to limited clearance space. It took me a good 2 hours to finally get that broken bolt out of there by turning it so it would come out the bottom. I put a temporary bolt in there I had on hand, but need to order a replacement bolt from the dealership to finish this job off.

All complete besides replacing that bolt.

Rednroll

I'll probably post this in the write-up section but here's my step by step guide of everything I did and the majority of tools used for each step. I may add some pictures for the write-up section. I was taking pics during disassembly, so I could remember how this all went back together just in-case I wasn't sure.


Upper intake Manifold Removal
1. Fuel system pressure release.
a. Start JK, pull M25 fuse and let run until it stalls.
b. Disconnect Neg battery terminal – 10mm open end wrench
2. Remove air box
a. Disconnect Air intake temp sensor wires
b. Disconnect Air duct at throttle body – Flat head screw driver
c. Disconnect Air hose
3. Drain coolant
a. Disconnect lower radiator hose on radiator side – vise grips
4. Remove electrical connector at back of upper manifold
5. Remove upper intake manifold hose – vise grips
6. Remove upper manifold EGR valve bolts- 8mm socket (2) bolts
7. Remove upper manifold vacuum hose- Trim pry tool
8. Remove Rear/Left 13mm nut from upper manifold next to the trans dip stick. Remove dipstick for clearance. -13mm socket
9. Disconnect Alternator bracket by removing (1)13mm nut and (1)13mm bolt – 13mm socket
10. Disconnect fuel line near left/front of upper intake manifold
a. Remove retainer safety clip
b. Separate fuel line - 5/16” fuel line disconnect.
11. Remove Engine side mounting studs (x2) – 13mm Deep well socket
a. Remove EGR Mounting stud
b. Remove Alt bracket mounting stud
12. Remove heater core hoses from engine side and move to the side to create space to access EGR bottom mounting bolts. – Vise grips
13. Remove EGR tube
a. Remove EGR bottom bolts (x2) – 8mm socket
14. Remove coil mounting bolts(x2)- 10mm socket
15. Remove Coil mounting bracket- 13mm Deep well socket
a. 2 bottom bracket 13mm nuts
b. Upper right 13mm stud
16. Remove upper manifold mounting bolts (x8) – 10mm socket
a. Back left bolt is difficult due to interference with wire harness. Universal/swivel needed.
*Reassembly: Use Blue loctite and torque to 105in-lbs.
17. Remove electrical connector from throttle body.
a. Pinch 2 tabs, while pinching tabs use a plastic pry tool/screw driver to unseat connector.
18. Remove brake booster hose connected to rear of upper manifold.
a. A pick or screwdriver helps to get the hose off.
19. Lift up upper manifold and remove.

Lower Intake Manifold Removal
20. Cover lower intake manifold ports with painters tape.
21. Blow out area around manifold – air compressor
22. Remove Upper radiator hose from Thermostat housing – Vise Grips
23. Disconnect large electrical fuel injector harness connector (lower large connector near brake booster).
24. Disconnect electrical connector above water pump by sliding red lock, pressing tab and pull. (3 wires)
25. Remove air intake temp sensor harness from valve cover stud anchor mount.- Flat head screwdriver to pop plastic piece off of stud.
26. Disconnect coolant intake temp sensor electrical connector.
a. Pop off plastic piece from valve cover stud anchor mount.- Flat head screwdriver
b. Disconnect connector. This is hard to see and will need to be done blindly by feel since it is hidden behind a pulley housing. Use a long (6in) thin flat head screwdriver and put it between red locking tab and connector and pry to unlock tab.
c. Press tab on connector to remove.
27. Remove Drive belt by releasing tensioner– 3/8” ratchet with 3in extension
28. Remove lower intake manifold bolts- 3/8” ratchet, 10mm and 13mm deep well sockets, 3in extension, 3in swivel end extension.

Bolt size and approx. location to access.
Going in from left side of manifold, bolts on the right side of manifold and locations (front to back)
- In front of fuel rail (10mm bolt)
- Right of the 2nd injector on left side (10mm bolt)
- Left of 2nd fuel rail mounting bracket (10mm bolt)
- Back of manifold directly behind manifold intake (10mm bolt)
Going in from right side manifold, bolts on the left and locations (front to back)
- Stud on left. front of manifold (13mm stud bolt)
- Right of 1st manifold intake on right (10mm bolt)
- Right of 2nd manifold intake on right (10mm bolt)
- 1in back from end of manifold intake (10mm bolt)
29. Clean any debris from around manifold before removing manifold– air compressor
30. Remove lower intake manifold
31. Remove lower intake manifold gasket
a. Remove 10mm bolts (x2) – 10mm socket
b. Remove gasket
32. Plug the holes on the engine to prevent debris from falling into it.
a. Cover top of engine with shop rags.
b. Stuff shop rags inside of intake holes (10)
33. Clean mating surfaces of lower intake manifold and engine block. A pencil style dremel with brass brushes works well to get all the old gasket material off these surfaces. (x6 brass brushes used)

Install
1. Put ¼” bead of RTV in each corner of engine block where LIM gasket sits
2. Put lower intake manifold gasket in place and tighten (2)10mm bolts to 105in-lbs – 1/4in torque ratchet, 10mm socket ;;;
3. Install Lower intake manifold.
a. Follow the tightening sequence diagram
b. Tighten in the follow torque orders
- Snug so washers are seated against manifold (FCA install instructions calls for 10in-lbs, good luck finding a torque wrench that does that).
- 100in-lbs
- 140in-lbs
- 180in-lbs
- 200in-lbs
- 200in-lbs



4. Go to step 27 and start working backwards
5. When complete, change oil.

Rednroll

I'm hoping this is a secondary benefit, but on my 25 mile 1st drive my EVIC is reading 18.5 MPG, where prior I was in the 14.5 to 15 MPG range.

Rednroll

WOW!!! Great news for me. Now, that I got this LIM problem fixed, my heater is now working great!!! That has been a problem I've spent countless hours trying to diagnose and fix.

Today, I put the heater front vents on and if I held my hand in front of the vents for too long, it got too hot where I could no longer hold my hand up close to the vent.

It hasn't been that way for the past 2 years and seems to be back to working how I originally remembered how hot they got when it was new.

Hop45

I just had my intake gasket replaced. 2.5 hrs labor billed, total cost was a little over $400.