How-to: Rear Motor Mount Install And Vtcs Removal

[Alejo_NIN]

i know there is another thread with this same information, ( FLAT_BLACK's HOW-TO: VTCS Removal and Porting http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=82884 ) but since i took such nice pics while doing the removal and installation of the new awr motor mount, i thought i'll re-write the how to.

this how to involves the removal of the intake manifold...

it may also be used as instructions of how to remove the manifold AND how to remove THE VTCS AND VICS.



First lest begin by protecting your vehicle and removing the negative form the battery....VERY IMPORTANT because we'll be dealing with GASOLINE!!!
and as a precaution, also remove the 30 amp fuse from the fuse block, it is the Fuel Pump Fuse....in case you didn't know.
http://www.msprotege.com/members/Alejo_NIN/MOUNT/100_4747.JPG

smething like this:
http://www.msprotege.com/members/Alejo_NIN/MOUNT/100_4719.JPG
http://www.msprotege.com/members/Alejo_NIN/MOUNT/100_4720.JPG

Next let's remove engine cover and strut bar like this:
http://www.msprotege.com/members/Alejo_NIN/MOUNT/100_4722.JPG
next pictures are for things you'll have to remove, misc vaccum lines...the pics are only for reference in case you forget what goes where.
http://www.msprotege.com/members/Alejo_NIN/MOUNT/100_4722.JPG
http://www.msprotege.com/members/Alejo_NIN/MOUNT/100_4723.JPG
http://www.msprotege.com/members/Alejo_NIN/MOUNT/100_4724.JPG

now, remove intercooler piping, and throttle body housing....
also removed the accelerator cable from the throttle body, and a few other vaccum lines from around the throttle body....TAKE NOTE OF WHAT YOU REMOVE!!!
http://www.msprotege.com/members/Alejo_NIN/MOUNT/100_4725.JPG

at this point, i decided i was gonna try the MOD from another member by plugging the coolant lines that go into the throttle body.
it is said that unless you experience very low temperature in your area, it is not necesary to have coolant going into the IAC (intake air control) valve.
It will just heat up your throttle body and waste any efforts you had with a CAI or FMIC to cool the air going into the manifold.
If you decide to make this mod, just remove the top coolant line going into the throttle body completely and then take the lower coolant line that is the return from the TB and loop it into where the top coolant line was.
it doesn't really matter if the line has a kink in it because water won't flow thru it anyways.
http://www.msprotege.com/members/Alejo_NIN/MOUNT/100_4726.JPG

back to the intall.

I decided to remove the TB because it was easier to reach into the next part...EGR pipe.
you'll need to rmeove the egr pipe in order to remove the manifold completely.
http://www.msprotege.com/members/Alejo_NIN/MOUNT/100_4727.JPG

Removing the bolts that hold the manifold into the block, everyone of them is reachable. remove the braket form under the mani, it is held by 4 bolts, they can be removed from under the car, remove the braket completely.
now, remove the bolts keeping both halfs of the manifold together, then remove the top part of the manifold.
by this time you'll notice that a bunch of vaccum lines and harness plugs need to be removed..MAKE NOTE OF THEM!!!
http://www.msprotege.com/members/Alejo_NIN/MOUNT/100_4728.JPG

[Alejo_NIN]

now, while i still have your attention.
you can see four big flaps or buttlerflies , they're round.
this are the VICS or Variable Intake Charge System.
now, look at the part that is closest to the block.
These are the VTCS or Variable Tumble Control System..

Here's an explanation taken from http://flatblack.somethingsomething.org/p5/porting/

I'm going to first explain the basics of the FS manifold; This manifold features a dual runner design, meaning that there is a plenum attached to the throttle body, and from the plenum, there's two paths available for the air to travel. This is called VICS, or Variable Intake Charge System. One path is a longer path, which is the typically open path, which enables higher air velocity, but lower volume, which allows for a good deal of low end torque to be had. However, this would strangle the intake charge durring higher rev operation, and would thusly cause an extreme dropoff in power thereabouts, if not for the following. At 5250 rpm, the ECU sends out a signal to actuate the armature that opens the VICS valves. Once these open up, you have two runners, one short, one long, forcing in a large volume of air, which makes for much better high end breathing. So, in summary, VICS good.

Now, on to VTCS. Whew, am I long winded, or what? VTCS, or Variable Tumble Control System, is a system put in place on some of the FS manifolds which essentially is designed SPECIFICALLY to cause turbulence in the air charge. Sounds like a horribly silly idea, doesn't it? Well, let me go on. This tumbling of air actually causes the intake charge to swirl the gas more, and causes a higher level of heat to be discharged from the exhaust side of things. This, in turn, causes the catalysts to get up to operating temperature much faster, and therefor reduces startup and cold-operating emissions. The VTCS system turns off after the car has reached a designated temperature, and doesn't close the tumble valves completely until 3000rpm, anyway. In summary, VTCS isn't BAD, perse, but it certainly staunches flow, and causes unwanted turbulence. Remember, we want laminar flow into the head, so we don't get lean and rich spots, and funny air velocity problems!


having this in mind, you may now know how restrictive this two systems are..


BACK TO MOTOR MOUNT INSTALL

now, remove the lower part of the manifold, revealing the firewall.
http://www.msprotege.com/members/Alejo_NIN/MOUNT/100_4731.JPG
remove the bolt from holding the motor mount to the engine by using two 17mm wrenches, i advice you to you a breaker bar on the left side and a normal wrench on the oposite side.
after removing this bolts slide it out to the right.
by now you may have notice the HARNESS FROM HELL everyone talks about.
http://www.msprotege.com/members/Alejo_NIN/MOUNT/100_4739.JPG
now, there are 3 nuts holding the mount to the frame of the car. you'll need to somehow remove the bracket holding the harnes. be careful not to cut any cables!!!!(did you unplug the negative from the battery? RECHECK!!)
after fuguring out how to remove the bracket, you'll find out it is impossible to remove without breaking it...so go ahead..do that.
under it you'll see the 3 bolts.
http://www.msprotege.com/members/Alejo_NIN/MOUNT/100_4740.JPG
then just remove the old motor mount
http://www.msprotege.com/members/Alejo_NIN/MOUNT/100_4741.JPG
this is the OLD motor mount Vs the NEW AWR motor mount.
notice how it isn't a perfect circle anymore? that's from the engine rocking back and forth.
http://www.msprotege.com/members/Alejo_NIN/MOUNT/100_4743.JPG
install the new motor mount in reverse

like this:
install motor mount, then bolt thru the motor mount, the 3 nuts to hold it, re install intake manifold and reinstall vaccum lines and then vibrate the shit out of your car.


onto the VTCS removal..

if you didn't install a motor mount this time, kick yourself in the nuts as hard as you can!!
if you had done it before..congrats..get a cookie.

[Alejo_NIN]

Lets look at how the manifold looks like:
http://www.msprotege.com/members/Alejo_NIN/VTCS/100_4748.JPG
http://www.msprotege.com/members/Alejo_NIN/VTCS/100_4750.JPG


now, start by removing the actuator arm from the braket on the shaft, then remove 8 bolts holding the 4 VTCS flaps....be very careful, don't go crazy, get a BRAND NEW philips screw driver...if you strip the head on one of them, a 5 minute job, would become a 2 hour job.
after removing all the flaps, slide the shaft out and voila... VTCS are gone!!!!

not so fast tho..
you still need to do this:

taken from http://flatblack.somethingsomething.org/p5/porting/vtcs.html


Now we can get onto the entertaining part; Blocking the LARGE vacuum leak that you just made in the manifold. There should be a little rubber retaining ring that can be simply removed.
http://flatblack.somethingsomething.org/p5/porting/ring.jpg
Use a pick, be it straight, 90 degrees, or whatever, and pull it out, somehow. It'll come out eventually.

Once you have the ring out, you'll see the area that you need to plug.
http://flatblack.somethingsomething.org/p5/porting/wheretotap.jpg
This is as simple as getting a short bolt (or plug), and tapping out the hole where the rod passed through. First off, clean the area you're going to be tapping, and get it covered in 3-in-1 or whatever oil you're using. Then, take the tap, and put it into the tap handle, and tighten it down as much as you can, then oil up the threads of the tap. Now, push the tap into the hole a little bit, so you can line it up as straight as you can, and start turning it. It might take a little bit of persuading, but after that, it should start forming a path, and cutting metal shavings out. Go in a couple of threads, then back it off some so the metal can back out, and reoil the threads of the tap. Keep doing this, pausing every few threads to back the metal shavings out of the hole. After some persistance, the tap should emerge on the opposite side of the runner, and the hole will be fully tapped. Back the tap out, spray some compressed air over the hole, and wipe it down a little. It should look like this once you're done, only minus the metal shavings. =)

So, you've got threads now, so get some threadlocker (Blue should be fine, but anything will work, even just some gasket sealer; It's just to make sure there's no air leak, and it doesn't vibrate free at any point) and apply it to the bolt or plug that you have. At that point, thread the plug/bolt into the hole that you just tapped, and make sure it doesn't protrude into the airstream; A bolt is much harder to grind down than the metal putty we're going to be using to fill the holes. Here are some pictures of what it should look like outside and inside the runner (Taken after porting).
http://flatblack.somethingsomething.org/p5/porting/plugoutside.jpg
http://flatblack.somethingsomething.org/p5/porting/pluginside.jpg

He couldn';t had said it better. Props to him for writing that How-To, i just thought it needed more pics :)
He's thread on the how-to can be found here: http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=82884

Now, assemble everything back, use gasket sealant where needed, start the engine and enjoy..
VTCS benefit both N/A and Turbo Cars.


I went one step further, and even tho flat_black's how-to says it is not necessary to remove VICS or so i understood, i went ahead and removed it too after talking to Ken from Protege Garage. He said:

Session Start (alejomsp: KEN - Protegegarage.com): Sat Aug 26 23:15:28 2006
[23:15] AlejoMSP: hello?
[23:15] KEN - Protegegarage.com: hey man
[23:15] AlejoMSP: bir trouble man
[23:15] AlejoMSP: i really fucked up this time!
[23:16] AlejoMSP: i removed the VICS instead of VTCS....am i fucked?
[23:16] KEN - Protegegarage.com: my manifold has neither
[23:16] KEN - Protegegarage.com: just leave the solenoids plugged in to the harness
[23:17] KEN - Protegegarage.com: oh wait is the hole plugged for the rod
[23:17] AlejoMSP: i'm just in thje middle of removing it
[23:17] AlejoMSP: and i got confused, removed the VICS by mistake and broke a screw...trying to get the buttlerfly out i bent it...so, it is unrepairable
[23:18] KEN - Protegegarage.com: well i personally find its smoother with both removed
[23:18] AlejoMSP: i love you mAN
[23:18] AlejoMSP: you da man!!
[23:18] AlejoMSP: i was about to kill myselkf
[23:19] KEN - Protegegarage.com: just make sure if you remove either or both leave those solenoids plugged into the wiring
[23:19] KEN - Protegegarage.com: no hoses though
[23:19] AlejoMSP: i will
so, after than, i felt alot better.

Just waiting for install tomorrow and butt dyno numbers...

i'll post more pics of the install and the plugging of the VTCS and VICS holes.

[Alejo_NIN]

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[Alejo_NIN]

reserved 4

[Bakum]

That's a great How-To. Somebody Sticky this.
I'm still not doing the Rear Mount myself, looks like a pain in the ass. Good Write-up though, very helpful.