Phenolic Intake Manifold Spacer

[andyofcolumbusmerkur]

They sell "fix it quick and incorrectly" kits at autozone that have the quick connect on one side and a barbed fitting on the other. You are supposed to dip the end of the plastic tubing into hot water then push it on. Then hope and pray it never pops off causing fuel to spray all over the hot engine and turbo. You could make something with that stuff just to test it, or go all out and get the Russel ones from Summit Racing and do it with -an fittings.

[thesameguy]

Those fittings work just fine - I actually have one on my car now. As long as you are careful when installing the nylon hose over the fitting, there is no reason they would be unreliable. On Saabs (and I'm 100% positive other European cars), that operation is basically required for any sort of fuel pump replacement, unless you replace the entire "module." Pushing nylon fuel tube over barbed fittings is a major source of DIY anxiety for me!

But, I don't know how I would turn that into a 1/8" NPT fitting for a fuel pressure sensor. I have found some other options like quick connect to AN fitting that I could make work, but gah, that'd be a real ugly adapter and I would feel bad about myself for doing it.

UNRELATED, I did go back to O'Reilly's with the bad VAM. No questions asked, just an apology and a replacement order. After leaving, I got a call saying they had none in their warehouse. There was supposedly one in SoCal - the only one on the west coast - and they would call today to verify it was actually there and available. This concerns me a little - prior to O'Reilly I hit up Autozone and they had no stock and no expected stock. Then I went to NAPA and they said "unavailable." Seems like the VAMs are drying up, at least in Ford-land. "New" (in quotes, because I don't believe it!) one are available from BMW for $600. Ouch.

[John Brennan]

Those fittings work just fine - I actually have one on my car now. As long as you are careful when installing the nylon hose over the fitting, there is no reason they would be unreliable. On Saabs (and I'm 100% positive other European cars), that operation is basically required for any sort of fuel pump replacement, unless you replace the entire "module." Pushing nylon fuel tube over barbed fittings is a major source of DIY anxiety for me!

But, I don't know how I would turn that into a 1/8" NPT fitting for a fuel pressure sensor. I have found some other options like quick connect to AN fitting that I could make work, but gah, that'd be a real ugly adapter and I would feel bad about myself for doing it.

UNRELATED, I did go back to O'Reilly's with the bad VAM. No questions asked, just an apology and a replacement order. After leaving, I got a call saying they had none in their warehouse. There was supposedly one in SoCal - the only one on the west coast - and they would call today to verify it was actually there and available. This concerns me a little - prior to O'Reilly I hit up Autozone and they had no stock and no expected stock. Then I went to NAPA and they said "unavailable." Seems like the VAMs are drying up, at least in Ford-land. "New" (in quotes, because I don't believe it!) one are available from BMW for $600. Ouch.

Let's face it, VAM's aren't very good, anyway-- the best solution is to go to system upgrades which allow us to get rid of them.

[thesameguy]

No argument, but doing that legally in California is problematic, and relocating to solve a car problem doesn't seem like a great approach to life.

[Esteban]

Go to the JY will a multimeter and test the sweep on one before you buy. If there aren't any around you, I can pull one for you and sweep it.

[thesameguy]

I'm really trying to be done with JY parts at this exact moment. I'm tired of not knowing whether the problem is the JY part being weird or something unrelated, you know? I'm so jammed up right now I just want to give someone some money and have it work.

[Esteban]

The BMW big vams have been more reliable than the turbo coupe ones.

[thesameguy]

I suppose that makes sense. The BMW ones were in production longer and more recently. The reman I got was originally a BMW part, for whatever that is worth... Cardone does not distinguish. You can still buy new BMW ones... for $600. At that price point I would seriously take my chances with getting a Megasquirted car through smog. My XJR doesn't have a $600 airflow meter! It's crazy BMW charges that much.

[thesameguy]

A friend of a friend let me borrow a BMW VAM... from his BMW. I've only got 16 miles on it, but everything seems great so far. I'll pick up a replacement reman from O'Reilly's tonight and see how that goes. I'm REALLY looking forward to taking that section of the intake apart. Again.

I would like to put this issue to bed for now and ease into PIMP over the summer. That would be SUPER. So, here's to hoping I can log a few trouble-free, nicely-running months in the XR before making changes. That too would be super!

[Esteban]

Definitely! If you were gonna spend $600 on a BMW VAM, then I would just PiMP it. You've done so much work to the car that swapping in a VAM for smog will worth the effort.

[John Brennan]

Definitely! If you were gonna spend $600 on a BMW VAM, then I would just PiMP it. You've done so much work to the car that swapping in a VAM for smog will worth the effort.

As you also live in the PRC (Peoples' Republic of California), your input would be quite germane. Perhaps a gutted/dummy VAM (a MAF might even be better) could be 'present' when looking under the hood to stand in for a VAM, when the actual working stuffs play along, er, invisibly? Asking for some friends.

[thesameguy]

Well, I generally try to play by the rules because I believe in them. I've kept this car pretty by-the-book and I hate abandoning that effort. But, it's possible I have the last remanufactured VAM on the west coast (Autozone, NAPA, O'Reilly, rockauto are all OOS) so it may be time to get creative. When my Saab hit this point a couple years ago I had an 'upgrade path' via a newer Saab fuel injection system... unfortunately no such option exists for the XR. I'll put some miles on it over the next month, make sure it's really back to normal, then I'll see how I feel once the weather warms up. Obviously, the gearhead in me is very interested in giving PIMP a go, and it *would* give me a path to addressing my intermittently-functional instrument cluster. (Of course, by the time the weather warms up the cluster will also go back to normal. )

[Esteban]

I have thought about that John. Gutted, dummy VAM with a connector harness that goes into the frame rail. Intercoolers are legal as long as it doesnt change the intake manifold orientation. Just remove the BOV/BPV.

[John Brennan]

Well, I generally try to play by the rules because I believe in them...

I believe in what they're trying to do-- clean emissions-- as well. I enjoy clean air. However, in CA, as usual they go about it the wrong way. Here in AZ, we have dyno tests which are as strict as, or more so than, CA's hokey, hang-your-shingle, Smog Station thing. All of your original smog equipment (e.g., the EGR) must not only be there and hooked up, but it also has to work. However, one is much more free to modify as long as the actual emissions results are within spec. No CARB number bureaucracy/checkist nonsense; just create clean emissions under not only idle, but actual driving conditions. The tester drives your car, keeping the car within a pair of lines which ascend and descend on an adjacent computer screen, requiring throttle inputs, shifting gears, accelerating, decelerating, coasting-- the works. Meanwhile, there's a tailpipe sniffer up the car's butt, and there's a rigorous visual inspection for all parts, using mirrors under the car, and all of that. Whether or not you have an IC, or which way your intake faces, is irrelevant as long as it produces stock emissions.

Reasonable...

[thesameguy]

That's pretty much how California emissions work, at least for pre-OBDII cars. I guess they only test at two road/engine speeds, but otherwise everything you described happens to the same here too.