ENG:F22a6 intake manifold swap; coolant refresh; seafoam job; oil/filter change #2

[accordaffair]

You can by looking physically under the hood , but as far as while driving it would take some work to do so. What I would do is run a 12v light in parallel with the circuit for the iab controller. When the ecu sends its signal and grounds the iab (therefore closing the circuit and providing the iab with 12v to open it) you can also have a light hooked up to it that will turn on when that circuit is closed. I never thought about it but it could be done. The only beast would be taking apart the dash, which is something I wouldn't look forward to. Not a bad idea though, I never thought about it. Maybe I'll try it someday!

[accordaffair]

Further Updates



I've had the new Intake Manifold Support Bracket installed for a while now, but haven't gotten pics because my cameras battery charger was missing. Anyway, here it is. It's the black bar bolted to the IM.



Here's another shot and keep that shiny circle in mind, we'll be bolting the IAB down to it later.



Here's where the bracket attaches to the motor.



And here's a pic of the whole bracket. Ok enough of the bracket. You get it. Buy one for an A6 engine and it will bolt up exactly. Problem solved.
On to the IAB. I wish I had taken more relevent pictures for this explanation. Anyway, the IAB unit bolts up to that shiny circle you saw a few pics back. I didn't have the correct bolts, so I took some left over from my stock intake system. In order to fit with the IAB I had to remove the washers that were on those bolts. I basically had to rip them off because they were fit very snug to the bolt. Unfortunatly the bolts are too long, by about 1/2 inch. So I had to put washers on the bolts to close the gap. Hmmm.
There are two bolts attaching the IAB to the IM. On the IAB there is a connector with two wires running from it. One is a ground, which will go to the ECU, it is pink. The other is the 12v switch, which will be spliced to a corresponding wire. Begin quote,

"Another wire must be added for the Air Intake Bypass solenoid, which is the solenoid responsible for opening the short secondary runners in the intake manifold. There are two wires--a black/yellow power wire that can steal power from the same color wire on the distributor and a pink wire that must go to ECU pin A17."

Send the pink wire through the firewall towards the ecu. Send the other one to the harness by the distributor.



Note, my wire is grey, not pink, because I had to splice in new wires. Reason being the old wires were too short.



The ECU wire needs to go to plug A17. It will be empty if you didn't have the A6 already. The plugs in the picture are C,B,A, from left to right. A is the big one. I didn't solder or use another plug. I just stuck the wire in the hole, checked and rechecked for continuity, and left it alone.



One through the firewall, one to the distributor.



Find the Black/yellow wire in the harness and splice yours in with it. Be sure to test for voltage and continuity or you'll probably end up doing this all over again. Once everything is back together again, bring the engine to normal temp and manipulate the throttle by hand. Watch the secondaries to ensure they open. If they do, congrats, you're done. If not, be sure to go back and double check your work. Guarantee continuity between the ecu and the wire going to A17. Check between the wires and their plug at the iab, and check between the wire and the 12v wire at the distributor.

The vacuum hose diagram can be seen here

A6 Intake Manifold Diagram

Follow it to hook up the vacuum hoses to your IAB. I used hoses left over from my stock intake system.

While studying the IAB I came to the conclusion that using the alternate IAB left over from the stock air intake system could be used in place of the original IAB. It is basically the same thing. Just wire it up as you would the IAB and the ecu will switch it as it would the original IAB. If I had thought of that earlier I could have saved time and money. (Spent 3-4 months searching for an IAB.) I am confident that this method could be used, and will work just as well as an A6 IAB. If someone is looking for an IAB to complete this swap, I will bet them the $20 I spent to buy an IAB that they could use this alternate method with success. (One time offer, first person that can prove me wrong will get the 20 and no one else!)

Summary

***Problem: Bypass valves need control
**Cause: Haven't installed pt6 ecu / iab control unit
*Solution: (Temporary) Attach solenoid to plenum using vacuum hose.
*Alternate Solution: (Temporary) Use Intake Air control Valve as an IAB.
*Solution: Install IAB and wire it up to ecu and 12v switch.

***Problem: Intake Manifold bracket leftover won't fit
**Cause: It is too short
*Solution: Buy an A6 (PT6) bracket and install it.

BTW, I wasn't sure how to add this to the original DIY so I just posted it as a reply....

[sj960]

Ok what i dont get is I tried the same thing you did.... but the intake air control valve works opposite the iab solenoid valve.... in my experience in testing... the iab solenoid is open (supplying vacuum) at idle and turns vacuum off when voltage is present(allowing atmosphere to enter through the vent on the valve) well the intake air control valve doesn't supply vacuum until voltage is present, hence working the opposite way.... Am I seeing this wrong, can anyone else verify this?

[accordaffair]

When the car is off, there is no vacuum and the valves hang open (because of springs). When the car is turned on (vacuum supplied) the valves close. So in order to open them, you would have to cut off the vacuum supply. So the solenoid is closing the loop, not opening it. You would be correct!

As far as the intake air control goes, I used to use an intake air control box back when I didn't have an IAB. I ran some wire to extend the connector from the right front fender, back to the intake manifold. I then hooked up the vacuum hoses to the butterflies. It worked, but they opened at a much lower rpm, thereby sacrificing some of my torque. I ran them until I got real IAB's.

[sj960]

I was thinking that I would have to run those wires.... did you ever figure out when they opened? My IAB solenoid has been cracked for who knows how long.... I'll probably just run them like you just said, hopefully that will appease me for now... did you notice any kind of better gas mileage?

[accordaffair]

Every mod I've done has neither increased nor decreased my gas mileage. At least as far as I can remember. My IAB was cracked too, but on the solenoid. I melted the plastic in the area and sort of resealed it. I still don't know what the exact rpm is at which they open...I think its 5200 but I really don't know.

[91accord1]

Bump! For Awsome Write up!

[Accordlx]

damn crazy mod man..wish i can do that

[owequitit]

The IABs are programed to open at 4800 RPM if they are controlled by the ECU.

If you use the alternate method with the Intake Air Control solenoid, they they will open at 3500RPM as commanded by the ECU.

If you hook them directly to the manifold, they will open at approximately 3" of vacuum, which will occur just before WOT or whenever you open the throttle abruptly. You can verify this method for sure. Just blip the throttle rapidly using the throttle rotor under the hood, and you should see the little arm for the IABs swinging.

On a manual transmission car, you can feel and hear them open because there is no "slip" in the driveline. With an auto, you can't feel them unless the torque converter is locked up, which seems to happen in speeds well in excess of the speed limit.

[TypeG]

bump for one hell of a write up. good job. later.

[blackcb7]

hey man nice write up

[BlackPearl2006]

PICS of wiring for the IAB to ECU/Dizzy?

Sorry to revive this old thread, but where are there pics of the wiring from IAB to ECU/Dizzy? The ones posted are dead links.

Revive, revive! Pls!

[MikeW]

Nice write up

This is the kind of write up that gives guys like me confidence to do such a mod on their own. Of course i already have the a6, but seafoaming, coolant flushes, etc.

Q:
When you did the coolant drain/refill, did you(or is it ok to) run water through the radiator to flush it?? Will doing so harm or get in the engine and mess anything up?

Q:
I know you bought 2 bottles of coolant, but did you end up using both or 1.5 or what?

[accordaffair]

Sorry to revive this old thread, but where are there pics of the wiring from IAB to ECU/Dizzy? The ones posted are dead links.

Revive, revive! Pls!

done, imagestation closed down

Nice write up

This is the kind of write up that gives guys like me confidence to do such a mod on their own. Of course i already have the a6, but seafoaming, coolant flushes, etc.

Q:
When you did the coolant drain/refill, did you(or is it ok to) run water through the radiator to flush it?? Will doing so harm or get in the engine and mess anything up?

Q:
I know you bought 2 bottles of coolant, but did you end up using both or 1.5 or what?

Yes, that's what I do and it's fine

I really can't remember, you'd have to look up the accords coolant capacity

[MikeW]

Ok. Thanks.

Also, was this a switch from "regular" oil to synthetic? You didnt have to do anything special, but just add the new oil?

Was it much of a noticable difference?