JHM intake Manifold Spacer Question

B6/7 S4/RS4
#1

Soooo ive had these JHM spacers sitting in my basement for about a year now. Ive heard great things about them and am planning on having them installed sometime in the near future.

What kind of job are we talking here? My normal guy told me its approx 4.5 hours to do the whole thing. Does this sound way too long to anyone here who has already had this done??

Just don’t wanna get ripped and have a hard time believing its almost a 5 hour job! $300 to install some spacers wtf?!?!?!?

Thanks in advance for your input guys!

#2

4.5 hours is too long for a seasoned mechanic. I did my JHM IM install in less than that and I had never taken apart this engine in any way before that.

Spacers are not a worthwhile mod if you have to pay to put them on.

#3

Thanks. Kind of what I thought. I honestly thought I would be giving my guy a twelver and pack of smokes for something like this.

#4

Krellio23, I suggest doing them yourself. It’s not that bad escpecially if you have a second set of hands. I’m no ace mechanic and I pulled it off in way less time than that. JHM’s video is a pretty good tutorial. One tip if you do decide to give’r a rip yourself - clear around the IM as best you can with some shop air or, if you dont have a compressor, a can or two of compressed air. Dirt, sand and crap builds up around the base of the manifold and can drop into the valves when you pull it out. Apart from that the only dificult part is reconnecting the f’n sensors on the front.

#5

Perhaps I missed it, but are these S4 or RS4? RS4 is a little more involved with the fuel system, but you can still do it pretty easily.

#6

S4

#7

Solid advice. I wish I would’ve known this before I did mine. Ended up spending an extra two hours cleaning all of my intake valves.

Another good tip that Beemercer gave me is to loosen up the radiator support if you have trouble getting the knock sensors back on the front of the intake manifold. It gives you a lot more room.

#8

Yeah on a B6 it’s maybe another 30 min to get the bumper off and core support slid up. That’s what I’d do

#9

[quote=“BWT,post:7,topic:3434”]
The repair instructions by Audi say to loosen the lock carrier so you can disconnect the sensors. That is why it payed so well under warranty to replace the intake manifold gaskets for when the bolts would back out. Which is why the 4.5 hours that the OP posted sounds about right.

#10

lol inside info.

Nice to see you posting here jbones.

#11

I try man. I have the same name on Audizine and I worked at two different local dealerships near me.

The intake spacers and piggy pipes along with a few other things are just stuff that you should do yourself IMO.

#12

I just did this modification last Sunday. I watched the JHM included DVD and it felt like it was too easy during the installation.

I mean people came by and were horrified that my intake was off the car and you could see the valves through the intake ports like I was rebuilding the engine or something.

The only part that took a long time was that I decided to clean off the very thin layer of sludge/carbon whatever it is off the intake ports and in the cylinder head. that killed my back because I cleaned all 8 cylinder ports and while it was a thin layer it still takes some effort and the car is so low. Also, I used the vacuum with a straw method to clean out the small dust and dirt particles that inevitably fall onto the valves.

The only thing I didn’t do that is kind of annoying is I couldn’t get 2 of the 4 sensors that you unclip from the manifold back on. They were the ones on the right side of the manifold when you’re looking at the front of your car. The wire was not long enough with the increased height of the manifold bc of several zip ties holding the wire down stream.

Also, I was a little upset the JHM kit did not come with washers for the new bolts. So I am thinking of picking up washers for all the bolts and messing with the zip ties to get the sensors back on.

#13

for the sensors, did you try leaning the core support forward?

#14

No I did not try that, the 2 on the left I was able to snap into place with the intake in it’s final position, the 2 on the right did not have enough slack in the lines to do that. I feel that if I were to lean the core support forward there still would not be enough slack in the wires to snap them in unless I cut some of the factory zip ties holding down the wires downstream.

#15

having a second pair of hands to tilt the manifold for you makes a world of a difference!! I also suggest doing all connections on the left side of the IM (as you look at it) and then getting the right knock sensors slid into their bracket. Then drop the manifold down and connect everything else.