05 Es 330 3.3L Upper Manifold Plenum R&r For Access To Spark Plugs

[TGS1969]

To remove the upper intake plenum: Remove the strut tower brace - 4x 14mm nuts Remove the intake hose from the throttle plate together with the whole top of the airbox assembly as a unit, disconnect MAF sensor. Use line-locks on the two small heater hoses connected to the throttle plate and remove them. Remove all other vacuum/blow-by hoses connected to the upper intake plenum. Remove the PCV valve hose from the valve. Disconnect the large electrical connection from the plenum. Remove the 3 support bolts from the rear of the plenum, two 12mm and one 14mm Remove the ground wire from the plenum. Remove three 10mm nuts holding the vacuum valve bracket on the plenum, lift up and prop it up while you: Remove the two 14mm nuts and four 8mm allen bolts and give a slight wiggle/tug upward to release the plenum seal. Lift the plenum up in the front to clear the 2 studs and slightly turn the whole manifold counter-clockwise 15 degrees and it should fall into your hands. The upper intake plenum gasket is quite hard to find without buying a complete upper and lower manifold gasket set from most aftermarket jobber parts vendors, but after a bit of research I found these two listings: Beck-Arnley part# 0374847 and Fel-Pro part# MS96586 *** Spark Plugs used: Denso Iridium Long Life part# SK20R11 Additional notes: Anti-seize compound was used on all new spark plug threads prior to installation. A 1/4" ratchet and a 12mm shallow socket were used to remove the two rear support bolts A 14mm wrench was used to remove the third support bracket bolt A 1/4" ratchet, 10mm shallow socket and 4" extension were used on all other 10mm nuts. A 3/8" air ratchet and 14mm deep socket were used to remove the 4 of 6 strut tower brace nuts. Line-locks are recommended as they cause no internal hose damage while keeping fluid loss to nonexistant. It is quite common that the small press-down clips that secure the connection to the coils, break off due to the brittle nature of plastic after 100k+ miles, just make sure they are all the way on during re-assembly. They won't rattle off in the future due to the rubber moisture seals inside of the connectors holding them in place. You've already done the front bank, so no need to go into a spark plug R&R tutorial at this rate. This tutorial was written to help techs as well as DIYers to be able to do this tune-up within the 1.1 hrs the Labor Guide allots. Be advised that the Upper Manifold Plenum Gasket has a book time of 2.2 hrs., not including spark plug replacement, so there's a happy medium in there in case your job turns into a PITA.

[TGS1969]

One last edit and it turns my itemized post into a wall of text. Editor doesn't save layout options, so best get it perfect the first time eh?