Nuts!!

Hi All
Well i have been out in the GUY-RAGE {AS MY WIFE CALLS IT}chasing down vacuum leaks.Found out i needed to replace the intake manifold gaskets.
When i finally seperated the upper and lower manifold halfs there was about a half pound of chewed up accorns in the engine valley.
No dead varmits though.I cleaned, scraped, and washed down the entire area.
Iwill start the re-assembly this morning.Got all the parts here from fast lane and again Phil goes out of his way to make sure you get the correct parts.
Dont know if any one else has had a problem similar to this but i thought it was funny
Happy Benzing all
Bob

[Bear]

Razorman your not alone out there, the tree outside my lock up has a whole family of squirrels living in it.My lock up seems to be a staging post between the beech and the squirrels feeding ground!!So once a year I have the task of emptying all the nuts out, and yes that does include some in the engine bay!!I could sort them out but my old lady says NO 'cos they're cute and we mustn't hurt little animals.
So this autumn all I can do is block the holes up again and hope that works.some chance! Bear

[Mark Herzig]

Razorman... Do the squirrels in your neighborhood drive BMW's? You see i've got this conspiricy theory going and....

Seriously, what benz are your doing the intake manifold gaskets on? Can you briefly describe the magnitude of this job as it might be something I'd attempt on my '79 450SL. Any "gotcha's"?

Hi Mark:

The change out went real easy.
I did have some stuborn bolts but all came out except for one injector hold down bolt that i did snap off.

After the manifold was off i was able to get the bolt out and re-chased the threads.

I did change out all hoses and clamps some looked to be origional.The only gotcha was the small hose from the water pump outlet to the intake manifold.
Mercedes wanted $102.00 for this hose. It seems i could only purchase the entire 3 ft. length.I only needed 4 in. max.So a trip to the parts store and i was able to get the hose i needed.
No more vacuum leaks at the manifold area now.
Not a bad job for a DIYer.
1975 450 sl 108000 mi
Razorman
1989 300se 153000 mi

[hill]

How did you determine that the leaks were coming form the intake manifold? Did you use carb spray or water to find them? The reason I ask is because my sl is only running 17-18" of vacum and I can't find a leak.

[toms]

Hill,

Your vacuum readings sound fine and don't suggest a leak at the intake manifold gasket.

If you have a steady idle and you are pulling vacuum off the intake manifold of 5 or less, it may signal a possible vacuum leak at the intake manifold gasket.

For a very good source for vacuum guage readings and possible findings, check this source:

http://www.durranceeng.com/Vacuum%20Gauge%20Test.htm

Regards,

[Mark Herzig]

Performance Products sells a Vacuum testing piece of equipment called the MityVac for $62.00. Is something like this sufficient to find vacuum related leaks in a '79 SL?