[gavsadler]

S65 Throttle Actuator service / gear replacement:

So, one Saturday whilst on Daddy Day Care duty, with all the kids in order and behaving nicely, we decided to tackle the throttle actuator job, and replace the internals with the kits which I got from the States.

The M was still in the service bay, so we set about getting things ready and the job commenced.

First up was removal of the airbox:



Looking closer, we noticed that the coil pack cover is missing on the LHS (sigh):




Here's the one from the RHS:



Next up, the intake plenum needs to come off. This is done by loosening the hoses underneath which attach to the throttle bodies, and unpluging a few hoses. Top tip, the 2 shiny nuts on the top of the plenum don't hold it down at all, rather it seems to hold the top and bottom halves of the plenum together.




Looking a little closer, you will notice how the back 4 throttles of the motor have a little more gunk buildup, this is probably due to the breather pipes entering at the back side of the plenum. We cleaned these up a little bit after taking the plenum off. Thereafter I blocked off all throttles and breather pipes with pieces of cloth.



Next step is to unplug a number of plugs, and loosen the wiring harness that runs just above the motor in the V. With all the plugs loose, the harness can be lifted just enough to make room to remove the throttle actuators. I used a rod as a spacer:




Here's a close up under the harness, where you can see the 2 throttle actuators nestled in nicely:




The actuator rods clip off, and then each actuator is secured to the motor with 3 bolts. We carefully removed these, making use of a magnet to ensure that we don't drop a bolt anywhere. Without too much stress or fuss, the actuators came out:




And a pic of the empty void where the actuators chill out:




In the next update, I'll document the service / repair process. Time is short now as parental obligations are calling....