E30: I want to take off my intake manifold...

["Andrew Weesner" <acweesner@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I own a 1987 325is with 173k miles.

First of all, I would like to thank everyone who responded to my fuel 
injector question last week.

This weekend I decided I would like to take a look at my fuel injectors 
to see how much crud is on them.  

Trying to squeeze fingers underneath the intake manifold to remove the 
connectors and bolts is a tought job.  There is not very much clearance 
underneath the intake manifold. 

When I finally got all four bolts off my fuel rail and popped the 
injectors out of the intake ports, I could see the #1 injector covered 
with brown crud.  I stopped right there however, because of another 
problem.

On the area of the engine which is covered by the intake manifold and 
can't really be seen without a flashlight and a mirror, I discovered, 
while my hands were fidgeting around with the fuel injectors, that there 
is a ton of oil back there.  Its not just caked oil but wet oil and I am 
thinking I have a leaking cylinder head gasket.  Along with the greasy, 
sticky oil was a ton of sand and dirt.  I stopped taking out my fuel 
injectors because I wouldn't be able to keep this dirt out of my 
cylinders as I struggled with the fuel rail trying to pull it out from 
under the manifold.

I would like to get take off the intake manifold to (1) find out whats 
going on with all of the oil underneath it, and (2) take out my 
injectors without filling the engine with sand.

Does anyone know how long a job it will be to take off the manifold?  In 
my Bentleys book, there is a description of taking off the throttle 
housing, but not the manifold.  Is the rest of the job very difficult, 
and will I need any special tools?

Best regards,


Andrew Weesner
Milton, MA

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