Boost Solenoid Maintenance

[hypnodoc]

Found mine really easy to get at after the New Intercooler, took 2 minutes, huge difference, much less lag. WAHOO

[cqae]

just a note on the silicon spray-I would suggest not to use it as it can be harmful to o2 sensors.

[chubbzilla]

So is everyone in agreeance that it's better to do the lines AND the Solenoid? And is my car gonna start again if I take the battery out? I don't have the alarm...

[SHOWDOWN]

Zap, thanks for the clear instructions mate.

I got up early this morning for a little bit of TLC with the T and followed the procedure. I've got a 04 MKII with 45K on the clock, had it for a week, noticable change. Top stuff. Mate don't hold back on any other quick and easy mods that you know of.

[XF Falcon]

Got bored tonight and decided to do it after talking with Ross (Ford_Power) today at work

I couldn't get that bloody hose off with the battery and all the pipework in place... so with my heart set on NOT removing the battery, all I did was remove the solid pipe which comes off the front of the turbo to the crossover, and then used a long extention to remove the bolt which holds the solenoid bracket against the body.

With these two things done, the whole unit was easily accessible, and the hose came off with a bit of a nudge from a screwdriver underneath. Ended up doing about 4 seconds into the solenoid (stuck the WD40 tube inside the solenoid) and then put a heap into the hose that I took off too.

Now that I think of it, I didnt put any in the hose which comes out the bottom of the solenoid.... I wonder if I should have done that too??

Anyways while I was waiting for the 20 or so minutes for the WD40 to start drying, I was also inspired by another post on here (plus Ross's chat).. so I took off the crossover pipework and cleaned out the throttle body with a clean rag and some carby cleaner. There was a fair bit of black stuff against the walls (mainly behind the butterfly though). The actual butterfly edges and faces were very clean before hand, it was just black stuff behind the flap towards the manifold.

So yeah did two jobs in one hit.. put it all together again, started her up, let it idle for 5 mins then took it around the block several times.

I cant say that its like I've gained a whole crapload of power, but it does feel smoother at idle a bit and it does seem to come onto boost a bit harder. Even if it feels better because my brain is saying it should be, at least ive got peace of mind that things are a bit cleaner and smoother now

[Adrian6T]

that's great mate.

I did it today as well. Like you I also sprayed the throttle body with throttle body cleaner.

Previous to this I had very erratic idle and stalling in the morning. I tell you I should have cleaned it earlier. It has fixed it.

Cheers

Adrian

[XR06T]

that's it then! im using a whole can of the stuff in my throttle body theN!

can only hope it helps.

I couldn't get the little pipe off the bottom of the turbo on mine, is everyone elses a little tightly stuck on there?

[YOB POM]

An alternative to removing the battery (also for those reset-o-phobes) is to remove the 2 10mm bolts holding the radiator expansion tank and move it out of the way to get to the boost solenoid that way.

I also removed the screw (philips head) holding the solenoid bracket and moved it up and back into the space where the expansion tank was and 10 minutes later all done.

Thanks again Zap for the idea.

[XF Falcon]

I couldn't get the little pipe off the bottom of the turbo on mine, is everyone elses a little tightly stuck on there?

Mine was on there very tight, so I just left it on there - and just sprayed into the other end of the hose. Dunno if its completely neccesary to remove the other end or not?

[Dunnas]

Finally did this in my BA T. Didn't get a big difference but could definitely notice an improvement in response, particularly down low.

Like others with the BA I found that the top tube was not clamped on, and the nipple was metal.

Was easy enough to do without removing the battery, however I did shift the coolant reservoir and remove the intake pipe to allow easy access. Didn't bother unbolting the solenoid itself, just constant gentle upwards pressure pulling the tube off did the trick and once WD40 is in there, its a piece of cake slotting it back on.