Group install of Iso Thermal gasket

[99atlantic]

Originally Posted by myGspot

i've done mods before so i'm not scared. just dont wanna get stuck doing this just to find out i barely got any hp.

i dont see a point in reseting the ecu. we have obdII so whats the point, the computer will automatically learn the mods and adjust itself to be as close as possible to stock specs.

it makes it more fun to drive, atleast for a few days until it dummies it down again

[Drtybrd61]

I really wish I would have found this before I installed this thing on my own. nice DIY. And I agree, the instructions do skip over some of the more....messy parts of the install.

[cato]

I made it sticky just recently, as it is informative.

[maxpower]

Originally Posted by cato

I made it sticky just recently, as it is informative.

hey cato, how is everything going these days? I have gone back to this thread a number of times to show people at work, who get g's or 350's, what is involved. glad to see it is a sticky

max

[cato]

Going Ok, I guess. Just had to replace my valve covers to the tune of $975. See my thread on the sedan forum. The seals around the spark plugs in the valve covers failed, causing oil to fill the spark plug tubes.

[cato]

My coolant control valve has been shut during the cold spell here in Houston. My outside temp display showed between 33 and 31 this morning. No TB freezing, just fantastic dense cold air making it feel like I have about 30 more HP.

[DOCSG35]

Just installed my MREV2 and 5/16 isothermal plenum spacer today. Took me about 3 hours to do with no help. The hoses in the back of the upper plenum were a nightmare to remove! I probably spent about 30-35 minutes getting the 2 hoses removed from the back! I had to hold and balance the upper plenum out of the way with my arm, while using pliers to relieve the tension on the tip of the house with my left hand and using a flat head with my right hand to shimmy the hose loose.

After that, everything went pretty smoothly.

The only main problem I encountered was that I over torqued one of the six bolts on the lower plenum and the tip of the head broke off. However, the other 5 are still intact and tightened.

I have 3 questions if you guys can help me out:

1) Will that broken bolt give me any problems in the future, or should I be relatively okay? I don't want to have to worry about it in the back of my head everytime I'm driving thinking somehting is going to blowup or burst.

2) I didn't install my CCV. Should I be okay without it, or should I install it? Will not installing the CCV cost me any loss of hp and performance??

3) Also my idle seems to be a bit low (idle is at 600). Is that normal or is something wrong? I reset the ECU by disconnecting the negative terminal and stepping on the brakes a few times.

[jigahus]

Originally Posted by DOCSG35

Just installed my MREV2 and 5/16 isothermal plenum spacer today. Took me about 3 hours to do with no help. The hoses in the back of the upper plenum were a nightmare to remove! I probably spent about 30-35 minutes getting the 2 hoses removed from the back! I had to hold and balance the upper plenum out of the way with my arm, while using pliers to relieve the tension on the tip of the house with my left hand and using a flat head with my right hand to shimmy the hose loose.

After that, everything went pretty smoothly.

The only main problem I encountered was that I over torqued one of the six bolts on the lower plenum and the tip of the head broke off. However, the other 5 are still intact and tightened.

I have 3 questions if you guys can help me out:

1) Will that broken bolt give me any problems in the future, or should I be relatively okay? I don't want to have to worry about it in the back of my head everytime I'm driving thinking somehting is going to blowup or burst.

2) I didn't install my CCV. Should I be okay without it, or should I install it? Will not installing the CCV cost me any loss of hp and performance??

3) Also my idle seems to be a bit low (idle is at 600). Is that normal or is something wrong? I reset the ECU by disconnecting the negative terminal and stepping on the brakes a few times.

1. You should replace it.
2. It depends on how cold it get's in central cali. As the instructions says if it dips below a certain temp then it would behoove you to install it.
3. I had this problem too. I took my G to the mechanic and he cleaned the throttle body and all was back to normal. Before it was stalling sometimes when I started the engine and resetting the ECU and throttle control didn't help.

[KapVu]

i just bought the 5'16 isothermal spacer today. I'm planning on doing the install this weekend or next. What benefits is it to do the coolant control valve install also? I live in Indiana also where it's cold.

If I do install it, it says to keep it closed when temps are above 55 degree Fahrenheit, which is about 12 degrees Celsius. If I only drive my car in the spring/summer/fall where temps are above 12 degrees, can I keep the valve closed at all times? How could that hurt my engine, if any at all?

Thanks for the help.

[marcellsr]

Originally Posted by cato

On saturday, Maxpower and I installed our new Motordyne Plenum Spacer Iso Thermal gasket and Coolant Control Valves. It was a good thing we decided to do it togeather, as it was more difficult than we expected. The instructions pretty much glossed over the "gory details" that we encountered. We started on my 2003 G35 Sedan at 9:00 am Saturday morning and finished it at 12:30! We learned so much during my install that we were able to do Tom's (Maxpower) 2005 G35 Coupe in a little more than one and one half hours. The following are some pictures of this dual install. Enjoy and learn

Hey CATO & MAXPOWER, thanks for all the information in this thread, it was really helpful with my MD install.

MREV2 & 5/16 Space install with pics

[MikeGrote]

are the coolant control valves controlled manually or auto by temperature?

[RicoG35x]

CCV is manual... on during winter.. off the rest of the year...

I got the Copper ISO Thermal upgrade for mine last week... it IS automatic.. just install between the TB and plenum and forget it.. it keeps the TB heated on the TB side.. and the plenum side cool, via the gasket.

[MikeGrote]

Originally Posted by RicoG35x

CCV is manual... on during winter.. off the rest of the year...

I got the Copper ISO Thermal upgrade for mine last week... it IS automatic.. just install between the TB and plenum and forget it.. it keeps the TB heated on the TB side.. and the plenum side cool, via the gasket.

so it is auto or manual? you said both...

[RicoG35x]

Originally Posted by MikeGrote

so it is auto or manual? you said both...

no.. the CCV is a physical valve you have to splice in the coolant line... involves manaully turning it on and off with seasonal changes.. this is the Iso Thermal upgrade

The Copper ISO Thermal upgrade replaces the CCV with a huge thick copper plate assembly that is sandwiched between the Plenum intake throat and the Throttle Body assembly... the coolant lines that connect to the intake side of the plenum.. (the ones that are a Bi**ch to get to!), are connected directly to this copper plate assembly so the copper heats up on the TB side, keeping the throttle butterfly from frosting up in the winter. The copper plate has a rubber gasket on the plenum side to thermally isolate it from the heated copper, so as to keep it cool.

that's the difference... sorry if I confused you..

ISO Thermal:


Copper ISO Thermal:

[greatdane2]

Cool install post. I did my MD ISO 5/16 spacer yesterday...yes it took me four hours by myself, the instructions says there are two hoses on back of plenum...nope there are more. The instructions do not mention several bolts on lower plenum...instructions do not mention to make sure oil fill gasket is not stuck in plenum before you tighten the bolts (ok this was just a dumb mistake but had to retorque all of them). For the guys that say it should take you an hour...they have done a good amount of work on cars before, have better tools than you, have help etc. So thanks for the post! Would have helped me a little.

Feels like it pulls harder, but not sure this isn't just a placebo effect. I mean it adds what, 10hp? That's about 3%, kind of hard to feel that. My 0-60 time did not decrease though I wasn't being exactly technical about it...stop watch on i-phone ha. Not sure how I keep getting 7.0 seconds, should be about 6.0.