Trouble With intake tube throttle body end - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

jaykay · 07-23-2012, 06:12 PM

After removing the intake tube to take some measurements.....i can not refit the tube back on the throttle body! Even tried heating the end over the stove .......it won't go! I need the car running in a hour....any ideas????

Jager · 07-23-2012, 06:34 PM

Are you referring to the Air Intake tube? It can be a PITA... Try using some dish soap and muscle.

jaykay · 07-23-2012, 06:51 PM

Yes the stock one....it may be the heat here would not have imagined that it would be this painful!

I have tried silicone spray but maybe dish soap...

Thinking of taking out the tb and pressing it on out of car and then putting in as a whole.....wow

BYprodriver · 07-23-2012, 08:26 PM

I find it easier to pull it on with both hands from the passenger side by the sec. air pump

jaykay · 07-23-2012, 09:58 PM

Yes for sure tried that many times ...but no go

Joel-Box-ster · 07-23-2012, 10:35 PM

Try loosening the intake tube clamp more.. spray some vinyl/rubber protectant (Armor All..etc) around the inside part of tube. I put mine back without a struggle when I cleaned my throttle body.

ChrisZang · 07-24-2012, 06:23 AM

Here's what I did
Find some really strong wire, wrap it around the intake tube a few times so it sits tight
Now attach the other end to the metal bracket on the throttle body
Tighten the wire by inserting a screwdriver and turn and turn until the tension on the wire is so strong so that the tube will snap back on the throttle body

jaykay · 07-24-2012, 07:57 AM

Chris ....yes I will try figure out how to rig this might just help maintain pressure.....don't want to have to travel and source a tb gasket

edit:

Here is my set up so that others might benefit: thick lock wire turnbuckles. These put great deal of constant pressure over an hour, on the connection; sprayed with CRC; wiggled it; tightened and wiggled. For some reason my tube is really tight!

For a while it looked like even with me pulling on it, it wasn't going to go....but on one last sharp pull it yielded under all the pressure!

It was a real hassle for something that should just pop on. There is no way you could maintain the amount force needed with your hands while in the car.

Wear safety glasses and be wary of your turnbuckle wrenches don't drop or fly off....there is a lot of tension that can be put on the wire braids.

Big thanks to Chris for the idea.....don't know why I didn't think of it sooner!

jaykay · 07-24-2012, 11:09 AM

bump....here is the solution if you need it..

ChrisZang · 07-24-2012, 10:08 PM

Glad I could help :-)

dkw826 · 08-04-2012, 09:34 PM

This is a great tip!! I did some major maintenance on my 2003 Boxster S: clutch, fly wheel, intermediate bearing, seals, clean throttle body, plugs etc. All went well until I tried to get the intake back on the throttle body. I tugged pushed, pried, lubricated, strained for two hours. Exhausted and defeated I finally packed it in for the night. Came in and found this post, next morning rigged up my wire, almost had it and the wire broke, tried again and pop - on it went. The toughest part of a big job! Many thanks for this tip, I can't believe how tight a fit it was.

jaykay · 08-05-2012, 10:20 AM

You did well I worked on this for 3 hours at least .....agreed this is suprisingly the hardest thing I have encountered on this car

Maybe because it should only take 3 minutes!

Eric G · 08-05-2012, 02:33 PM

Glad to see you worked this issue out this way. After hour 2, I decided to go buy some high temp silicon tubing that was just long enough to fit. Sometimes makes me wonder if the laws of physics and or nature change while I work on this car.

You keep saying to yourself, I know this came off here...right?!?!?!

Skeefy · 08-05-2012, 08:18 PM

I about blew my guts out trying to get the tube back on the Throttle body. After trying to push it on from the left side of the car, and pulling it on from the right side of the car, and more than a few choice words, I pulled out a heat gun. I heated up the plastic and it slid right on. I wondered how other people solved this problem.

larryholmes · 05-24-2018, 11:11 AM

Mine just slid right on. NOT!!! Tried the grease that came with my K&N air filter...no go. I don't have any safety wire. So I'll be hanging out with my heat shrink gun for a while. I laid the heat gun at the top edge and let it run. Then I pried against the tube with a short rubber handled bar leveraging the engine compartment rim. I covered the pry points with a shop rag to preserve the paint. Wish I'd know about this issue. I wouldn't have removed it to clean the throttle body which was not at all dirty at 48K miles. But who knew?

YellowS2000 · 05-25-2018, 09:53 AM

Glad its not just me!!!!
Last year I took off my throttle body to give it a clean, I could not for the like of me get those tubes back on properly. The car would start and then instantly die due to drawing too much air.

Solution: Call my local garage, they took to away on a low loader and fixed it for £40.

Why is it when your cars getting carted away on a truck every neighbour is there to see it

jaykay · 05-25-2018, 04:40 PM

Brother sorry this was found by you earlier......you are bringing back the memories of pain and frustration....

howdy · 06-06-2021, 09:42 AM

I couldn't get mine back on yesterday. After messing with it for about an hour I decided to come in and look it up as I must be missing something. After seeing the safety wire trick, I used a ratchet strap and it less than a minute had it popped on. Crazy that it takes that much force to get it to seat. Now I know for the future. Thanks for the ideas!