And Lloyd, also please stop with your rants on the butterfly valves. It too can be fixed. Not one 4x4Wire person has ever taken me up on it, but I'm running my reworked plenum with butterfly valves without a care in the world.

I have paper plans for the bronze-aluminum alloy bushings that were made, micrometered to .00x inches. They were made by a guy who had the alloy barstock left over from making parts for the space shuttle fleet, and not the boosters, wise guys.

The butterfly valves are fastened to the shaft and are loc-tited in place. They won't be coming loose.

I offered to use my spare plenum to make another one for BottomFeeder, so he's got dibs on that one, to be done by May, as long as I can get more bushings made. As long as he turns in another plenum in exchange, I can have another one made and so on.

Since I have the dimensions for the bushings, anyone can have them made in any material they so desire. There are manufacturers on the internet who will fabricate based on your supplied plans and in many materials you may see fit to use. I'd thought of Delrin, for example, but I don't want to be the guy to try it.

So, if anybody's interested, let me know. It's a helluva lot cheaper than a new plenum from the dealer that just gets you back to stock and resets the clock to ticking, if you know what I mean. And anybody who says that the plenum in working order doesn't make a difference probably knows more than the engineers that put it in. And also, by the way, pulling the vacuum line on a still-assembled plenum reverts the valves to 'open' meaning the high speed (short) runners, and the valves are directly in the air stream, which would be most likely to make them vibrate and potentially fail. Removing them means most of the intake air is directed through the high speed (short) runners, but the longer, low-speed runners would still be open. Not sure how that affects things, but it's not how it was designed.

It can be made to last. I'm betting my engine on it, and so far it works.

John B.

When I disable mine, I do it electrically by unplugging the control solenoid. leaving the vacuum connected and the valves closed. when the ECU tells it to open the signal goes unnoticed by the actuator and it just does nothing stays the same. Been telling people to use this method if going the disabling route, but per the usual no one really listens.

When I bought my first Gen 2 (a 95 lease turn in with 30K miles) in 97 Mine was unplugged by the dealer when I got it. A mitsu master tech told me it was common practice. Doesent make it right and johnny B probably has the best solution. The Kia guys haven't gone unscathed by the butterflies or the crank bolt.

Justice, please keep in mind I disabled mine for decades then lunched a motor anyways with bushings. So total removal or fix is required.

Johnny what drives me nuts is Mitsubishi is re-started using the same failed designs in recent years according to my local dealer, which blew them away as well as they crank out warranty engine replacements. So if looking at a newer Mits motor with them you cannot assume the problem was fixed. This weekend there will be an extra motor with plenum coming your way. Not to mention brand new heads with 100 miles on them and a spare alternator.....

So Kids ... At what miles do the inlet butterflys seem to die ...? ..I think JohnB's died at some high miles ..?

I 'think' theres two of these Kia thingys at Junkyard-X ... One was a wreck so it was running when it was crashed ...Long blocks are $300 .. I'll look and see ...Most of the time I don't look at the Korean [censored] box cars but I'll see what I can find ...

Have a good day

Captain Gear Box

Hazardous Toys inc

HazT, I did not have problems with butterfly valves. I stupidly had the 2nd version of the crank bolt in and it broke off flush with the timing sprocket. The bolt had to be cut out after drilling a hole in the middle of it since no left handed drill bits and extractors worked. I put in a Time-Sert and all was well until a nasty little coolant leak recently developed at the water pump.

I like Justice's solution. I guess I missed that explanation before...completely.

Lloyd, turn a wrench once in a while, man! Not all rebuilds and plenums are the same. It can be done.

John B.

the 3.5 DOHC has its quirks but I love that engine. Forgot until picked up that 94..put my 33's on it and it kicks ass on the hills..puts the 99 to shame. Gearing has a lot to do with that I suspect, but the DOHC really pulls when when you need it to, and no crappy leaky tin valve covers like the SOHC.

I have my own theory as to why the crank bolts go south but that's speculation. All I know is that I've never had one come loose after I've made the repair on a busted one, or put back in after a timing belt job, and I've done a few. the design works but leaves no room for error in install or over tensioning of drive and accessoy belts..

Also, I'm not trying to say this sorrento engine is a holy grail, just another tool to get some parts off. And just maybe a swap candidate.

I hate to continue further off-topic with the butterfly valve issue, but broken throttle shafts are a common issue for Miatas that turn high rpms on a regular basis (like mine) due to a harmonic vibration throughout the intake manifold. I had 2 broken throttle shafts in 6 months - on my third throttle body I followed some forum recommendations and epoxied the throttle shaft to the throttle butterfly, making sure to cover the screws, and haven't had a problem since. The epoxy not only secures the butterfly and screws, but the extra mass changes the harmonic frequency of the throttle shaft which prevents the failure-causing vibrations. I'm thinking that this would probably be a great preventative measure on the DOHC intakes butterflys - I'm planning to try it out the next time I do my timing belt.

interesting, would like to see pics of exactly what your talking about.

Good call RyanY. I can see it.

John B.

I will be there in May to take you up on your offer and exchange. Thanks <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />