Banjo bolt delete?

[Richard99]

Curious if anyone has ever "deleted" the banjo bolt on the intake manifold? Was thinking about re-routing the coolant hose and then using a barbed elbow in place of the normal banjo bolt. Could just plug the PCV plastic tube onto the barbed nipple and install would be a piece of cake.

Eric

[j-dawg]

I did it exactly as you describe. Brass nipple to bypass the coolant loop in the banjo bolt, still using the bolt for the PCV. It's effectively the setup from the factory before 99.

I'm only a few thousand miles into this arrangement, so far so good. Just check the PCV every 25k instead of 50k and it'll be fine.

[abscate]

What do you do with all that time saved?



Probably ok In warm climates but in the Arctic’s that warmed setup is probably keeping the line flowing in winter

[Richard99]

I did it exactly as you describe. Brass nipple to bypass the coolant loop in the banjo bolt, still using the bolt for the PCV. It's effectively the setup from the factory before 99.

I'm only a few thousand miles into this arrangement, so far so good. Just check the PCV every 25k instead of 50k and it'll be fine.

Hi J-dawg. Glad you did this. As these vehicles get older, the likelihood of needing to pull the intake manifold for maintenance increases. Some people may be able to replace that banjo bolt without issues; good for them. But I see three benefits of doing a bypass:

1) Go from 4 connections to 2, decreasing probability of a leak.
2) No need to drain any coolant when removing intake manifold
3) Banjo bolt removal and replacing can be done with the intake manifold completely out, saving a lot of time.

These benefits far outweigh the benefit of an early heat up of the plastic line. I think regular oil changes should keep that line clear. Here is my setup for anyone curious. I would highly recommend this setup (see pics below).

As abscate mentioned, perhaps it is not as good of an idea in a colder climate, but I still think regular oil changes should prevent clogs. We will see. Hopefully someone else can benefit from this.

***Important - The reason this was even necessary was because some crappy IPD hose from the PCV kit started cracking only 6 months after install, causing a major coolant leak (see pics). Yikes! Either don't buy this kit, or at least replace their hose with some decent gates heater hose or something. This is crazy!

[Richard99]

The placement of that banjo bolt is beyond stupid, it's just plain evil.

[RickHaleParker]

The opposition to flow through the Banjo bolt is critical. If you change the opposition to flow you could end up with a non-functioning PVC or Boost pressure pushing into the PVC system. The heater is there to minimize changes in opposition to flow by keep the Banjo bolt cleaner.

[Richard99]

I still have the middle nipple attached, just not the coolant section. I find it very hard to believe that the coolant flow around the nipple does much.

[RickHaleParker]

I find it very hard to believe that the coolant flow around the nipple does much.

Keeps hydrocarbons in a liquid state so the Banjo is less prone to clogging.
It is like putting Crisco shortening in a hot skillet vs a cold skillet.

[abscate]

There is a lot less clogging on pcv on the 1999 and later cars. Mine ran 150k on 5k Dino oil changes and was about 10% blocked. I had never cleaned the PTC nipple, either

[Richard99]

I find it very hard to believe that the coolant flow around the nipple does much.

Keeps hydrocarbons in a liquid state so the Banjo is less prone to clogging.
It is like putting Crisco shortening in a hot skillet vs a cold skillet.

The banjo bolt will heat up just as fast from the warm air passing through the intake manifold via convection. Since it's metal it will heat up very quickly from its attachment to the intake manifold.