Hey guys... any one had as much problem as I'm having removing the guide pins on the lower plenum?

I've followed the manual closely and tried a 4mm socket, the inverted nut trick, even a pair of vice grips.

-The 4 mm socket stripped the teeth at the top of the pin
-The inverted nut trick caused the thread to strip instead of loosening the pin
-Vice grips can't get a firm enough grip on the pin to twist it (I can grip it hard but all it doesn is strip the thread some more)

Right now I'm using a hair dryer to heat up the pin and lower plenum since it's 5 deg. celsius outside... but i'm really in a jam here... any help or suggestions would be really appreciated!

 

damn, that sucks. Mine came out no problem.

If you have a mounted vice, vice the pin down and turn the plenum. If its stripped already there is no need to use them again. (plus my spacer kit came with screws for those spots instead of putting the pins back in.

 

The 2 guide pins are tough. I recall destroying them with vice grips. Best of luck.

 

the top of the guide pins is a star type...I had the right socket (not sure if this is the right term) that fit onto it - made it really easy to remove them.

 

hey guys, thanks for the responses! I finally got them out with a combination of heat (hair dryer focussed on each guide pin for 15 minutes each) and brute force (I used the two vice grips and moved them at the same time)

frustrating as hell but hopefully this thread proves useful in the future for anyone else who runs into the same problem

thanks again guys... especially Tony (Hydrazine) from Motordyne who was with me on PMs throughout the process... THAT is what i call customer service!

 

BTW - when I was mucking around with the guide pin I ended up with a lot of metal shavings... some of which made its way into the lower plenum

I used a magnet to collect as much as I could, and also used a couple clean rags to scrub down the runners

Is there more that I should be doing? stupid question - but how much damage can tiny metal flakes that came off the stripped screw do to the engine?

 

glad to hear you got those damn pins!

 

Good to hear bro, Noodle and I were going to merk our way into your house to try and fix it for you while you were gone!

Cant wait to see her next meet!

C