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[Nickh]

"It's down on power" says I,
"Could be carbon build up in the inlet manifold" says Ee (I live in Somerset), "you could do that yourself".
So I decided to have a go at cleaning the inlet manifold and replace the apparently leaking inlet manifold top gasket on my '03', 2.2 DTI Miggy.

Now they are predicting Siberian weather next week, with a wind chill factor of - "Ere !" (I did say I live in Somerset), so I decided to get on with it yesterday.

Having removed most everything out of the way, including fuel lines and vacuum tubes  . . . major fiddle, I managed to get the top half of the inlet manifold off. Eeeeeeeeew !  . . . severe build up of carbon and other oily residues, most of which eventually ended up on the tools, the washing up bowl, the spray cans of cleaner, the white spirit bottle, a passing cat, every door handle in the house and the neighbour.

OK, cleaning that would be fairly straighforward. What about the the inlet manifold and those wonderfully named . . . . Swirl Flaps . . . . F'nark, F'nark, F'nark. The black oily moonscape which was the inlet manifold huddled threateningly on the side of the block and I could make out severely encrusted  . . . . Swirl Flaps . .  F'nark . . . oh forget it. There's one . . . two . . . er . . . " . . . hang on a minute . . ." (a Bluebottle moment there)  . . . shouldn't there be more than two ?

"Ere !" . . . Look . . . I have told you where I live . .

Seven copper coloured nuts later I had the oily beast in my (oily) hands. A quick bit of screwdriver scraping . . . sure enough only two flaps. The one's for cylinder 1 and 2 were absent. A quick out of hours phone call to my mechanic guru . . . "Ere" . . you know . . .
"That's a new one on me"
"What can I do ?"
"Find the other two . .  they are too big to go through the inlet valves, then break the two remaining off, and run it like that. It will mean that the engine will be fully aspirated all of the time and you won't get the kick in the pants . The Engine Management will compensate for the increased air flow".

After several moments poking around in the inlet ports, I found one of the Swirl Flaps . . . ooooh ! . . . jammed in the port for no. 1 cylinder. A pair of long nosed pliers (wonderful things) were stuffed into the port and a flap (that's better) was gently removed with an accompanying tinckle as the second one fell out into the engine bay. Both  . . . I'm going to have to say it . . . Swirl Flaps . . . ahem . .  were lodged in the port for No. 1 cylinder. Look . . . I've no idea either !

Taking his advice I removed the two remaining Swirl Flaps . . . OK . . . I won't . . . by breaking the two tiny spot welds on each one attaching them to the pivot rod. Then set to cleaning everything up and chucking it all back together.

Luckily my battery is in good nick, so after a bit of prolonged cranking, the fuel finally primed and the engine was trying to start. Stopping and going through a second glow plug cycle fixed it, with the motor firing up, no problem.

I ran the car this morning (-1C) and all seems OK, but as predicted no hoof in the behind when asking for power. Now it's just a smooth delivery, with the speedo climbing as rapidly as it did before. I've tried a cold start this afternoon, with very pleasing results.

This is apparently an unusual occurrence, I cannot find any reference to this sort of issue elsewhere, so I thought I'd let you all know what I've been dealing with . . . for what it's worth.

[TheBoy]

2 things...

The swirl flaps give greater drivability, and better power low down. That's the point of them. And open to allow more air into the cylinder as the revs build.

2nd, on that engine, properly prime the system after draining fuel, or you will shag the pump quickly - both electronically and mechanically.

[ronnyd]

2 things...

The swirl flaps give greater drivability, and better power low down. That's the point of them. And open to allow more air into the cylinder as the revs build.

2nd, on that engine, properly prime the system after draining fuel, or you will shag the pump quickly - both electronically and mechanically.

Hope that advice has not arrived too late.

[ajsphead]

You're very very lucky.

1. Not to have buggered the fuel pump
2. Not to have a permanent EML light on for air flow outside parameters at low revs. If you do, at least you'll know what the cause is.

I'd be interested to see how much the fuel consumption rises and how the fuel pump manages to match volume of fuel delivery to the amount of air going in now there's no control at low revs.

Oh well, I suppose Mr Opel didn't really know what he was doing.

Sorry for the sarcasm but really??

[STEMO]

You're very very lucky.

1. Not to have buggered the fuel pump
2. Not to have a permanent EML light on for air flow outside parameters at low revs. If you do, at least you'll know what the cause is.

I'd be interested to see how much the fuel consumption rises and how the fuel pump manages to match volume of fuel delivery to the amount of air going in now there's no control at low revs.

Oh well, I suppose Mr Opel didn't really know what he was doing.

Sorry for the sarcasm but really??

He's from Somerset, what do you expect? 

[ajsphead]

So am I (although only by birth, not heritage).

[Marks DTM Calib]

You're very very lucky.

1. Not to have buggered the fuel pump
2. Not to have a permanent EML light on for air flow outside parameters at low revs. If you do, at least you'll know what the cause is.

I'd be interested to see how much the fuel consumption rises and how the fuel pump manages to match volume of fuel delivery to the amount of air going in now there's no control at low revs.

Oh well, I suppose Mr Opel didn't really know what he was doing.

Sorry for the sarcasm but really??

It wont make any difference, diesel engines always run with an excess of air and the swirl flaps just operate to create more tumble in the cylinders (swirl) for better combustion at low revs and hence better low down torque. There is nothing to compensate as the air flow into the cylinders will be more or less the same. 

Above 1600-1800 rpm there is no difference.

Very lucky with the pump though!

My advice would also be to scrape as much as you can out the inlet ports.

And of course yes, its not a great way to prime the system as it will impact the pump.

I should add, had I got to that stage and found the swirl flaps in that state, I would probably have done similar 

[STEMO]

So am I (although only by birth, not heritage).

I know....that's why I said it 
Although, being from Somerset, I can understand why you never got that. 

[ajsphead]

It wont make any difference, diesel engines always run with an excess of air and the swirl flaps just operate to create more tumble in the cylinders (swirl) for better combustion at low revs and hence better low down torque. There is nothing to compensate as the air flow into the cylinders will be more or less the same. 

Above 1600-1800 rpm there is no difference.

Very lucky with the pump though!

My advice would also be to scrape as much as you can out the inlet ports.

And of course yes, its not a great way to prime the system as it will impact the pump.

I should add, had I got to that stage and found the swirl flaps in that state, I would probably have done similar 

OK

Think I was assuming the fuel pump is more sensitive to mixture ratio than it probably is.

Have to admit if it was me I'd have had a go with a gas gun and solder first, then a second hand good manifold, then some ingenuity if that failed, then given up, but I am a persistent sod.