Engine: 70 T5: Inlet manifold removal and breather replacement - ME7 models

[ian_w]

There is a lot of info about on this forum and others about the replacement of the breather on the 850 models e.g. http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showth...light=breather

However, there is very little information about for the later cars with ETM and ME7 EMS, these have a slightly different breather system as well as a different inlet manifold. With reference to the attached picture, I ordered the following from Simon ( Rufe ) at FRF for my 2000 C70 T5:

Oil Trap (1) - 1271988
Hose (2) - 1271653
Hose (6) - 1271654
Hose (4) - 8653339
Hose clamp (7&9) - 976561 3off
Hose clamp (3) - 978180 2off
Washer (10) - 947282 2off
Inlet gasket - 9458534

Total cost inc postage, 57.94

The large water cooled breather pipe (8) is very expensive ( over £100 ) so I chose not to replace this.

I'm afraid I didn't take any pictures but here is a brief description of the process ( all references to left/right are as you stand at the front of the car looking at the engine ):

Remove coil covers and injector cover.

Unplug the injectors ( be careful as there is a rubber seal in the plug and a couple of mine fell out ). Remove the fuel rail. You need to disconnect the pipe from the fuel rail, ideally split it at the push fit connector - you need a special tool for this. I didn't have one of these so I turned the fuel rail over and remove 3 small Torx screws and remove the clamp plate from the rail, the pipe can then be removed at the rail end.

Disconnect vacuum hoses from the manifold, one small one in the middle, one small at the RH end and one large at the RH end. Remove the clip and disconnect the breather hose in the centre of the cam cover.

Unplug the two sensors on the duct into the throttle. Undo the hose clips and remove this duct. Unfortunately the hose clip on the throttle was totally inaccessible on my car so I had to remove the inlet manifold complete with the duct - a little more difficult but still possible.

Undo the bolt holding the dipstick to the inlet manifold. Remove the top row of 3 bolts where the inlet manifold fixes to the head. Then loosen the lower 3 bolts, it is not necessary to remove these. The lower LH bolt is a total swine to get at. My trick was to use a 10mm socket on a 1/4" drive universal joint and then an 8" extension bar - there is just room to feed it between the LH edge of the plenum and the PAS pump. In fact, the same tool can be used for all 6 manifold bolts.

The inlet manifold should be relatively free now. If you lift it slightly you will have access to the water heated breather nipple on the underside of the manifold on the LH side. Use a 17mm spanner to undo the banjo bolt. The nipple has 3 hoses, the 2 larger ones contain coolant so if you plan on undoing these then you will have to drain some water out of the engine.

You should now be able to remove the inlet manifold, it takes a bit of twisting and juggling to feed the fuel hose between the two inlet runners.

Once it is all apart then replacing the hoses and oil trap is quite straightforward. You will need a set of pincers ( e.g. http://www.cromwell.co.uk/KEN9352010K ), to crimp the new hose clips. My oil trap was full of 'mayonnaise' and the oil return pipe to the engine was completely blocked which may explain my oil consumption of 4-500 miles / litre.

You need to clean out the breather nipple, I used a small piece of bent wire and plenty of 'brake cleaner' to remove all the crud. I was going to completely remove the 'expensive' hose (8) but the water union on the RH end of the head looked pretty inaccessible so I just disconnected the breather section at each end and blew it through with an air line - the hose was completely clear with no noticeable deposits.

In true 'Haynes' style the reassembly is the reverse of the disassembly! Unfortunately reattaching the breather nipple to the inlet manifold is a mare - with the manifold roughly fitted I couldn't really get a good hold of the banjo bolt and have sufficient dexterity to line it up and start the thread - it is also very easy to keep dropping the copper washers!

The solution I used in the end was to drain some coolant and disconnect the short rubber coolant hose on the LH side and also pull off the small breather hose from the centre stub. This then gives you a bit more 'slack' in the hose, I dropped the manifold into the car with the LH end downwards and the other end point up at about 45 degrees - you can then reach around with your right hand and fit the breather nipple. The manifold can then be dropped back into place and the breather and water hoses reconnected ( you will need a small jubilee clip to replace the one on the water hose ) before finally tightening the banjo bolt once everything is aligned.