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[Koomorph]

Gents

Been a little while since I posted on here - but (touch-wood) that's becasue all has been good with the miggy - no issues!)

However, it’s about time I tackled cleaning the breathers on top of the plenum on my dad’s 2.6 – especially now as he’s has an oil service last week.

I’ve read through the guide and watched carefully when Darth removed the plenum last year and did the cambelt…… and I may be missing something here (so please let me know)… but is there any reason why the breathers on top of the plenum can’t be removed and cleaned… WITHOUT removing the whole plenum?

To me it looks like the TBies can be removed, moved out the way and the breather assembly then simply removed…?

Is this not the case? I don’t quite see why the whole plenum needs removing…. (hence why I’m posting the question)…. So hope someone can put me straight!

Many thanks!
Raf 

[Kevin Wood]

Yes, you can remove the black plastic strip from the plenum (lever off the section with the Vauxhall logo on it, then there's a torx bolt to remove) however, you then disturb the seal between it and the plenum, which can be troublesome. It's a kind of O ring with an additional section that seals the two halves of the plenum from each other.

Hence the recommendation is normally just to remove the plenum. This affords easier access to the breather box behind the engine too, as that will probably need the nozzle unblocking.

[Koomorph]

OK that makes sense and re-affirms my thoughts. 
The breather box you refer to at the back is the “vent housing” I’m guessing?
By not taking off the plenum, is there anything I could possibly not get the opportunity to clean (which I should clean)?

[YZ250]

OK that makes sense and re-affirms my thoughts. 
The breather box you refer to at the back is the “vent housing” I’m guessing?
By not taking off the plenum, is there anything I could possibly not get the opportunity to clean (which I should clean)?

Yep, you guessed right. With the Plenum in place it just makes the breather box (ventilator box) a bit of an arse to get to. It can be done though, as you say, without removing the plenum, but access is greater with it out of the way. 

[Koomorph]

Nice one - thanks all.

So other than the vent housing access and the possibility of having a job with the o-ring type seal to the plenum - is there anything else that I could miss if I don't remove the plenum?

Cheers again! 
Raf

[Kevin Wood]

Nice one - thanks all.

So other than the vent housing access and the possibility of having a job with the o-ring type seal to the plenum - is there anything else that I could miss if I don't remove the plenum?

Cheers again! 
Raf

No.. It can be done but I'd have a spare seal for the plastic strip to hand in case the old one isn't re-usable, and clean and grease the area of the plenum where the seal sits before reassembly.

It's worth taking it all apart the first time you do this job, to make sure it's all clean. Subsequently (normally with every oil change) I tend to remove the breather pipes at the rear of the plenum, spray a little carb cleaner into each one, in both directions, and, with the aid of a long length of pipe that I can fit to each nozzle, blow through them to check that they are clear.

Oh, and be careful that the straw doesn't fly off the end of your carb cleaner can into the plastic housing. Mine has one floating around in it somewhere. Doesn't seem to cause a problem and I'm b&&**^%d if I can get it out!

[aaronjb]

Oh, and be careful that the straw doesn't fly off the end of your carb cleaner can into the plastic housing. Mine has one floating around in it somewhere. Doesn't seem to cause a problem and I'm b&&**^%d if I can get it out!

Better there than accidentally firing one into the inlet manifold while cleaning throttle butterflies.. (not me, for a change )

[Koomorph]

Good stuff.

It was alll taken apart and cleaned at the cam belt change about 18months ago... so hoefully shouldn't be toooooo bad.... 

One quick question - as I only need to remove the TB "slightly" enough to get the breathers out.... I'm probably not gonna remove the vacuum hoses or coolant hoses underneath the TB.... This should be ok shouldn't it? Should I expect a lot of coolant....? I'm guessing this hose won't be airlocked when I fit the TB back either...? (It's a coolant return pipe to the expansion tank isnt it?... Haven't looked at it for a while...)

Thanks again
Raf 

Oh, and be careful that the straw doesn't fly off the end of your carb cleaner can into the plastic housing. Mine has one floating around in it somewhere. Doesn't seem to cause a problem and I'm b&&**^%d if I can get it out!

Better there than accidentally firing one into the inlet manifold while cleaning throttle butterflies.. (not me, for a change )

[Kevin Wood]

You should be able to disconnect the ducts from the multiram and pull the throttle body forward far enough. In any case, those coolant hoses can be removed and, if tied up higher than the level of the expansion tank, nothing will leak out.

Beware that there's a small pipe from an elbow on the bottom of the throttle body to the fuel pressure regulator. This pulls off very easily and it often overlooked when reassembling.

Of course, you have to disturb the throttle body sealing gasket, which is another reason for taking the whole plenum off. A light smear of grease on reassembly will help it to re-seal.