Today I removed my Blox plenum spacer. Upon removing the 6 bolts in the center most were coming out with melted plastic attached to the bolt. So automatically I am expecting the worst when I open it up.

Upon opening it I was somewhat relieved all of the melted plastic had stuck to the plenum and didn't spread around. However, when I started to pull off the bolt spacers one was missing. I'm 99 percent sure that it was on there when I installed the plenum spacer and I looked all around to make sure that it didn't fall off when lifting up the plenum. There is also no melted plastic stuck to the post's that drop down like the other 5. My guess is that it fell off when I placed the plenum on when originally installing the spacer.

My question is: Wouldn't I have noticed some sort of problem with my engine if it dropped into the intake.

 

yep you woulda found out quickly if it fell in.

 

Wow...way to jump the gun.

Are you sure you are even seen melted plastic or could it be silicone? Melted plastic would be obvious as the parts would be clearly deformed and the "melted" parts would be very hard when cold ( silicone would be kinda squishy ).

I ask because gray silicone ( like the one I used on mine ) kinda looks like melted plastic.

As for the missing part...no way it'll melt to the point of disappearing while the others are whole. Either you forgot to put it in originally, or start disassembling the plenum cause it might be stuck in a runner and allow enough airflow to go through to allow the engine to run okay.

 

The only other thing that I can think of is that I recently had my valve cover replaced due to oil in my #6 plug, and the tech at the dealership might have removed the plenum in order to access it. When he put everything back together he might have forgot to put the spacer back in. I think I will try taking apart the plenum and see what it looks like.

Next Question: Is the gasket for the lower plenum reusable, or do i need to buy a new one?

BTW, it is definitely melted plastic, I didn't use any silicone. I am probably going to start another thread once this is all said and done showing what can happen with the BLOX plenum spacers. The spacer is made out of high temp plastic, but the bolt spacers aren't.

 

Your missing spacer is sitting on top of one of the intake valves. Remove it.

 

According to the service manual you must remove the intake manifold to remove the rocker ( valve ) covers.

Any pics?

 

I will post some this evening if I get a chance.

 

So tonight I went to go and take pictures of the bolt spacers. When I went to grab one it was still sticky like I just grabbed them out of the car. At that point it all came together.

Apparently when I had my car serviced at Charles Barker Infiniti the jackwagon that worked on my car had to remove the plenum. When he removed the plenum he must have used black silicone on the bolt spacers when he put them back in the car. He also forgot to put one back in as well, and ripped one of the rubber mounts for my Injen intake.

What made it seem like it was melted plastic was when I was removing the plenum from the car it was still hot, so it made it seem like the bolt spacers had started melting. So to give credit where it is due, GT-ER you were correct. Thanks for the help.

 

so blox spacer = goood? if so im going to get oneeeeeeeeee

 

No problem bro...

 

The 'Jackwagon' that worked on mine at the dealer down here did some damage as well. . . he even left off some factory bolts that let my A/C lines flap around and make noise. luckily I fixed it before one of the fragile aluminum fittings let all the freon out.

And this was just getting the radiator fan replaced under warranty.

 

Yes, the BLOX is good. $ for $ I think its the best. Motordyne showed better gains without a tune, but I'd be curious to see gains with a proper tune on the BLOX spacer.

I used to have that before the Motordyne 1/2". You won't be able to use some of the strut bars with that spacer though.