Alright,
So I've finally got some time to finish this thread, or at least complete some more of it. I have about an hour and a half window before I have to go pick up my wife from work. We have an ultra sound appointment for my first child, her second. So I took the day off (Big ass smile). I can't currently edit my thread, but I'm getting in touch with staff so that hopefully they can allow me to edit my thread and complete it. But I figure I might as well use the valuable time I have now to get some of it done, then I'll just move it to the top of the thread later. So here goes...
I'll start by saying that this is FAR from a step by step write up on the process. And that I'm not going to tell you exactly which order to disassemble and reassemble for this install. Simply because it's been a good 6 months since I did it, and I'm not going to mislead or give false information. That being said, I'm going to provide you with some preventative damage info, tips, as well as some photos.
First off, you don't need a garage. Would one be convenient, of course. But if you can turn a wrench and are at or above par with the knowledge of common society (Hopefully above par), you can do this job. Give yourself the peace of mind by doing it yourself, and spend some quality time with your baby. Want to see the exquisite workshop I used to complete this job?
It took me a good week and a half or so. I'd wake up at 8am and work on it until 2pm. I'd then shower and go to work from 2:30pm to 1:30am. Don't be alarmed or overwhelmed, you can do this much faster than me. I'm meticulous with my car. Everything I disassembled, I also cleaned to showroom condition. When I disassembled something that gave me access to clean other areas I could otherwise not get to, I did so. You don't need to do all that. Not to mention I was practically babysitting my 2 year old nephew that was moving my tools all around and trying to "Help".
If you want this to go smooth, give yourself a good weekend. Or two consecutive days with nothing on your mind but the curves of your LS's ass. Get all the tools together that you will need, and be organized. Keep everything you disassemble together with accompanying parts. I.E., when you unbolt something and remove it, put the bolts back in it and thread them in a few threads. There's nothing more irritating than spending 45 minutes looking for a bolt that was in your pocket the whole time. Trust me.
Now for some tips to prevent you from making this job more expensive than it needs to be. Once you've removed the obvious things such as your Engine Cover (If you have one), your intake assembly etc., you're going to be getting into the meat. I personally went the route of removing the entire Intake Manifold assembly. Simply because I was going to replace the Intake Manifold gaskets while doing all the cooling plastic components (I highly recommend replacing the gaskets, can't think of a reason not to). If you decide to do this as well, there will be a point where you will need to disconnect the EGR valve's exhaust pipe. It's the metal pipe the runs from the EGR valve then under the intake towards the rear of the car. Here is the EGR valve assembly and of the exhaust pipe I'm referring to.
The issue here is the fact that the nut that connects this exhaust tube to the EGR valve assembly is not only snug, but it emits hot gases and goes through hot/cold phases often (Engine on and up to temp, engine off and cooled). Therefore this bolt is also adhered somewhat from the years and years of engine cycles. Anyhow, I personally used an open end wrench but I can tell you right now I had to use some force to turn this nut off. The issue that arises is when you attempt to break the nut loose by putting some muscle to the wrench, your fuel pressure regulator/sensor is DIRECTLY in the damage path of your wrench. There are two bolts that hold this unit in place, I highly recommend you remove them and move it out of the way. If you don't, your chance of breaking it is greater than your chance of not breaking it. Anyhow here is a pic of the unit removed.
And here is a pic of the wrench having room to do it's job.
Also, be sure to have some paper towel or shop towels handy. There will be many parts and areas sucesptible to dirt and other contamination, plug those areas up.
Now let's say we're at the point of removing the intake manifold assembly. This may be normal to most of you, but I was in WIRING HARNESS HELL. Personally I unbolted the brackets on each sides of the Fuel Rails that held all the Fuel Injector wiring harness/clips in place. I then disconnected all of the wiring harness clips. Be careful when you do this, if it seems like it's hard to disconnect then you're probably not doing it right. These clips are brittle, be gentle. Look for the release tabs and spend some time inspecting before your go crazy. Patience is key.
Now, for what I'm sure everyone knows to be a COMPLETE pain in the ass, removing the wiring harness junction behind the Intake Manifold. This pissed me off beyond words. And no, not the removing of the well known PITA nut. My issue was even more irritating, but I'll get to that. When you are removing the wiring harness junction behind the Intake Manifold, it is held in place and mounted by two or three nuts. And one of those is not the friendliest (Like if it were to send a Facebook request I'd instantly deny, send a raging message, then block). The problem is this particular nut is directly behind the junction plastic, and there's only an inch and a half between it and the firewall. Not to mention you're basically doing this blind, your fingers are your eyes here. I personally used a 1/4" drive rachet and a socket. And I won't give you the "If I had to do it again I'd...." speech, because once I got the bolt off I drop kicked it into the yard. But this bolt wasn't even the most irritable part of this wiring harness junction removal. My issue was the fact that I dropped my rachet and it somehow fell down and got all snugged up in the transmission area. Like it got stuck on the cooler lines or something, and I spent literally an hour to an hour and a half slowly jerking it here and there until I eventually got it all the way accross the top side of the transmission and had it fall out the back. I never swore so much in my life.
Anyhow, once the wiring harness junction has been freed up you can now remove the Intake Manifold. Break the bolts loose and take them out. There are two bolts near the back that have a thread on top of them. Remember to put these back in the same spot, you have things that mount to them. Once your Intake Manifold is free, remove it with caution. Do note that there is a hose connected to the bottom rear of the Intake Manifold. You will not be able to remove it entirely until you disconnect this hose. Here is a picture of the hose.
Also be cautious when removing this hose, for it doesn't like to come off easy. DO NOT scrape or dig into the metal line that it's connected to. If you do, there's a good chance it will leak. If you need to, step away and yell at your dog because it's his fault. Then when calmed down, continue. Be patient, don't break stuff.
Once you get that hose off, you can remove the Intake Manifold completely. Handle with care, it's very expensive and just as fragile.
Now you will notice that once you remove the Intake Manifold, there should be two heat insulators. If there aren't, then your Intake Manifold has been removed before. I don't know the importance of these insulators, but they were their from the factory so I'm sure they serve a purpose. Personally I'd assume they deflect some of the EGR exhausts heat and keep the Manifold cooler. Anyhow, take note of how these insulators are in place because they need to go back in the same way to serve their purpose. Now my 2003 Lincoln LS 3.9 had 95k miles when I did this, and my Intake Manifold Gaskets looked like this...
I don't recommend skipping a new gasket install. Anyhow, clean up your Intake Manifold and Engine Block ports and surfaces real well. And don't be lazy about it, the cleaner and smoother the surface will be the cleaner and smoother the seal. Once you've cleaned them, plug your ports to prevent any contamination or foreign objects entering your valve system...
Sorry guys but this is going to have to be continued. I plan to continue it today, but it's 11:30am and I have to go pick up my wife for our ultra sound appointment. God bless
