Intake Manifold Cleaning

[josh_arby]

My wife has a 2006 Vue with the 3.5V6. We have had a problem with shuddering/stumbling at low rpms while driving for a while now. We had saturn clean the fuel injection system and it was a lot better for about a month but than got worse again. My wife took it to another mechanic and he said we should clean the intake manifold because of carbon buildup. Basically she was told that he would remove the manifold, hot tank it and than clean out the fuel injection system again. He quoted her 4-500 dollars to clean the intake. Does this sound like it would fix the problem? Also, I'm pretty sure I can do this myself but what, if any, gaskets would I need to replace? Sorry about the length but I appreciate any help.

[YourMainParadox]

That sounds average for what a dealer would charge. If you go to an independent shop they would more than likely do it cheaper. I know a few people have mentioned shuddering related to the transmission fluid needing a change if it had more than 60k miles on it... you might want to look into that as well.

[Tom92SCm]

Sounds fishy to me. Unless the intake manifold is REALLY dirty, which would be hard to do unless you are seriously abusing your VUE, then I think the problem lies elsewhere.

The Honda transmission NEEDS to have good clean fluid. Several weird problems have been associated to old fluid on the Honda transmissions.

Does the Honda motor have an EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) valve ? If so, cleaning/replacing that might be another place to check.

[josh_arby]

yeah, the car has more than 60k on it, but its been doing it since before then. I guess it wouldn't hurt to change the trans fluid and filter while im working on it. My wife likes to sit and idle a lot so I figured that might be why it would be so gummed-up, plus she always waits until the light is on to refill. I guess ill change the fuel filter too. Does anyone know if the gaskets are re-usable or if they need to be replaced? Thanks.

[XRL]

You could Seafoam it and get the same benefits.

You should be able to remove the intake manifold relatively easily and look inside of it, or at least look inside from the throttle body to look for stuff. Most larger engines will have issues with oil getting into the IM, but on a smaller engine like our 3.5 you'd have to just never let the engine get up into the revs to clear it out.

I've been considering cleaning and porting my IM, and possibly installing an oil catch can if its dirty.

[xtremeranger]

Cleaning the intake has nothing to do with it stumbling...Why would it? its just crap stuck to teh walls of teh manifold....

Changed your plugs wires yet?
clean ign module, coil packs?

[josh_arby]

no i haven't changed the plug wires yet or anything else. I think i'll try the trans flush first. I was doing some research in the forums and it seems this is a pretty common problem if the fluid is not changed often enough. I have also suffered from the warped rotors at 45k miles. Now I just have to find cheaper trans fluid than the local saturn dealer. They want 10.42 for a quart.

[far2grumpy]

no i haven't changed the plug wires yet or anything else. I think i'll try the trans flush first. I was doing some research in the forums and it seems this is a pretty common problem if the fluid is not changed often enough. I have also suffered from the warped rotors at 45k miles. Now I just have to find cheaper trans fluid than the local saturn dealer. They want 10.42 for a quart.

Josh ... I suggest you avoid changing parts or cleaning manifolds until you try new ATF. If you have 60K and are still on original fluid you're way overdue.

Honda ATF-Z1 and GM ATF-Z1 are pricey in my area. I intend to try Castrol at next ATF change as others have used with success.

You can go to their website to look for Castrol Import Multi-vehicle in your area. Our local parts stores have it for around $5 per quart.

I've also heard of other ATF - including one by Valvoline - which are Z-1 compatible, so it may pay to look around.

Finally, do you always buy gas at same station? Its remotely possible you've picked up contaminated fuel at some point. This could cause low RPM engine stumble.