Hello, all. New to forum and to auto work in general, so I apologize if my questions are not worded quite right.

In troubleshooting an issue with a sticking throttle, I removed and cleaned the throttle body and replaced the *edit* Idle Air Control Valve. When I did so, I removed the mounting bracket that holds the throttle linkages so I could inspect the bushings on the cam. On the V10, the bracket is held by three bolts that are on top of the intake manifold. When removing a bolt, I did not realize the the bracket was slotted to slide out so I loosened the bolt too far and think I felt something release. Seems strange they'd have a hidden nut in the manifold, but I can't get the bolt to grab. I wanted to avoid taking the manifold off to see what was going on.

Any thoughts? I didn't see anything in the service manual, online, or in my Haynes guide. Here's a picture, the bolt is partially blocked by a throttle cable. I can't remove the bolt because it is too long and it hits the steel around the windshield so I can't get a borescope in there.

Thanks!

 

No nut on the end of it. That would be impossible to get to. That bolt holds the upper intake to the lower. (along with a bunch of his buddies.) If it won't thread back in, I wonder if what you felt 'releasing', was the threads in the intake base stripping out.

 

Thanks! I was thinking of cutting the bolt so I can inspect the channel with a borescope, then replacing the bolt. I just want to see what's going on in there. I guess it could have been the threads stripping, but I don't think so.

 

The bolt may have broken as well......

 

Well, I ended up bending the lip of the body just a bit so I could remove the bolt. It was intact. Here's a borescope image. I couldn't make out what was happening.

The concern I have is if this is holding the upper manifold to the lower, I'm going to want to get it properly tightened. Do you think the best course of action is to remove the upper manifold and inspect? As noted in original post, I'm a novice, but feel like I am capable of attempting that if necessary. The throttle bracket is secure without that bolt, but not sure the impact it will have otherwise.

Thanks!

 

Are you sure you have the whole bolt?? Looks like there may be some down there still.....

Without that bolt, you might end up with a vacuum leak. Could try it, and see what happens..... if it leaks, pull the upper intake, and see what the problem really is.

 

I'm sure I have the whole bolt. We'll see how things go when I start it up.

One final question, do you know the name of the rubber hose that connects to the bottom of the throttle body? You can see it in the picture on my first post. A mouse chewed it up, along with a few other hoses. I'm struggling to find replacement parts.

Thanks for all the help.

 

Not just off-hand..... Cut out the bad section, take it to the parts store, get some rubber line the appropriate size, and splice it in there.

 

Hard to tell, but are the wires to your MAP sensor chewed up?

 

Thanks, Racefan. I need to look closer. Thought they spared that one. I had to repair three of the fuel injector connectors. I'm going to run through the hoses and get what I need to fix those.

Thanks HeyYou, I'll see what I can find to repair those hoses.