DIY: Remove SSV (video)
 

Here is the video for removing the SSV:

Vimeo

This post was updated to help resolve the SSV related codes so nobody rushes into doing this when it could be something else generating the error codes.
Lessons learned and member suggestions have been compiled into this one post so nobody has to read the whole thread for answers

If you plan on removing the valve because a "valve stuck open/closed" error was generated, please verify the valve is actually stuck before performing this task.
If you want to remove and clean the SSV for preventative maintenance purposes, I see no problem in that.

To test the SSV to see if its indeed stuck, follow this DIY for troubleshooting the intake valves:
https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-do-yourself-forum-73/diy-troubleshoot-intake-valves-174009/
Here is an up-close shot at the SSV assembly:
Attachment 156422

If you find that the valve moves smoothly and the actuator holds vacuum when applied, move onto the SSV solenoid:
https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-do-yourself-forum-73/diy-test-solenoid-190364/
With the solenoid out, also clean the electrical contacts.
This shows where the solenoids are located:
Attachment 156421

If the solenoid appears to function properly, test the impact switch.
You'll need to disconnected the harness which is near the switch and valve.
Then use a meter to test the resistance across the two terminals in the connector.
The switch is N/O (normally open) so you shouldn't read anything at first, then when you press the switch you should see between 2-3ohms.
Attachment 156424 Attachment 156423


If when testing the valve operations you noticed it stuck or sticking, then follow the video guide and remove/clean the valve.
On a difficulty scale of 1 to 5, I might rate this at 3.
Not as difficult as replacing the clutch/flywheel or pulling the engine, but definitely not for someone who is just learning to work on cars.

The basic components to remove are:

1. Battery and battery box
2. ACV (Air control Valve)
3. Water Pump Pulley
4. Drive Belt
5. Alternator Bracket
6. Thermostat
7. SSV

Now with just removing these components it'll be a very tight fit and difficult to reach some of the bolts, which makes it easier to drop them into the abyss (I had a magnet rod to catch them just in case).
The few times I performed this I experimented taking some components off while leaving others still installed, then I mixed them up next time.
This can be considered optional, but I found removing additional components made the removal AND reinstalling simpler.
Here are additional components to remove:

1. Hard pipe from the ACV to the exhaust manifold.
2. Air Pump
3. Disconnect wires to PCM.

And here is why:
Hard pipe- Having this in the way made it difficult to remove the thermostat.
You also needed to bend it slightly out of the way to slide the SSV out.
Difficult to align the SSV gasket during installation.

Air Pump- This removed made it easier to reach some bolt.
This is very easy to remove and takes a couple minutes, why not do it to save some hassle.

PCM Wires- The wire loom the goes to the PCM is difficult to work around and moving this out of the way will free up some room.


IMPORTANT:
The video shows us spraying the carb cleaner into the housing.
What you also want to do is stick a shop rag in there and lay in on the bottom, covering the runners so when you spray into the housing, the build-up doesn't run into the engine.
Having no rags covering the runners can cause start-up issues and fowl the spark plugs.
You can wipe the bottom with carb cleaner sprayed onto a shop rag to finish the job.



Some of you might remember when a stuck SSV was first introduced back in Dec '08 when I was working on Vyndictive's stalling issues:
https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-trouble-shooting-95/rpm-dropping-%3D-engine-stalling-162200/
We managed to free-up the valve, but knew that it was only a temporary fix.
His car ran great all summer, but now that Ohio's temps are dropping into the 30s, he started having issues again almost similar to last year.

Part Numbers:
SSV Solenoid- KL0118741
Impact Switch- N3H4189B1

Thanks to Ash for this:

Excellent work Jon...

To think, all of this from taking your car to midas for an oil change instead of doing it yourself AND not having a proper catch can. . . .

Lessons:
1. Unless this looks like fun. Do your own oil changes.
2. Put on a catch can. . . for 40 bucks, the piece of mind alone is worth it.
3. This problem is hard to diagnose because it is similar with so many other problems of the RX8. (plugs, coils, fuel pump, bad gas, etc)


Also, I am one furry man-beast!

Nice fuckin job!! You are correct sir, that is absofuckinlutely rediculous if you need to remove it.

Love your work Jon...excellent... much appreciated.

Your video is top notch! Finding this thread has saved me a whole lot of head scratching (just got the p2070 last night). Thanks!!

Thanks for the compliment TheDan... but please keep in mind that this is the worse case scenario for the P2070 code.
Please read through this thread:
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...ighlight=P2070

nice video, amazing to see how much buildup can get in there

What you saw in that video wasn't "normal" buildup, but what can occur if you overfill your engine oil.
Vyndictive learned the hard way to do his own oil changes instead of trusting Mitas :)
This incident is why he bought a catch can right away!

Understood... The CEL actually went away this morning and it "feels" like the vavles are working again so it must not have been seriously stuck. Still, I think I'll take the UIM off and hose it all down with a little carb cleaner. My 8 does have nearly 93k on the clock... I'll install an oil catch can as well.

Don't see what the big deal is. :scratchhe

According to the video, you had it out in about 4 minutes tops! :rollingla

In all seriousness, that looks like a major pain in the @ss! :cussing:

I was kinda shocked to see how much was on there! :Freak_ani

I realize this was probably an somewhat extreme case.

Good job on the video! :icon_tup:

I just hope I never have to use it! :banghead:

LOL... yeah, it probably took an hour total to get it out.
I was training Vyndictive and letting him do it himself (I always encourage people to work on their own car) so I cut out most of the unnecessary stuff.

It really isn't that big of a pain, just need patients and a little bit of knowledge of what you're doing.
Even though the video shows me pulling the valve out quickly, it doesn't show the tremendous about of time spent to get it going.
All the crud really fused the valve into the housing and we had to squirt carb cleaner onto a portion of the valve that was exposed, and then work the valve in and out until it finally came out.

But like you said, this was an extreme case.
When I pulled my valve, it slide out with very little resistance.

Carbon buildup
 

Hey guys/gals. Just back to reading some threads. I had the intake manifold valve cleaned last November from the carbon buildup. My check engine light has come on a few times since then and I took it to Advance Auto for the code, but was able to make the light go out after some hard driving. Unfortunately, it's back on again and the cold temps in Ohio is making it hard to get the engine hot enough to burn it off. Since I was quoted a cost of over $2000 to get it cleaned, I'm trying to avoid that. Seems to me that there should be a recall to fix this. Anyway, I've read some of the threads giving instructions to clean it (thanks Jon for the video) but not sure my husband will be able to do this. I've seen some threads mentioning Seafoam, but not sure what that is. My car's a 2004 manual with over 80,000 miles. I'm not experiencing any performance issues (and hope I won't) but want to find a way to avoid the buildup.

As a side note, I'm wondering if the automatic transmissions are having this problem. How would they keep the RPM's high enough to burn it off?

Can anyone tell me what the Seafoam is and how to use it? I love driving this car and would like to keep it for another five years. Any other tips would be appreciated.

SweetBlue04- Where in Ohio do you live?
Maybe we can meet-up and I can show you and your husband how to do it.

Seafoam is used to "decarb" the engine.
Unfortunately, if you squirt the fluid into the intake manifold's maintenance ports, it'll never reach the SSV.
And trying to squirt it through the upper intake manifold not only gets a small percentage of the closed valve, but some of the fluid also goes down the auxiliary runners and never reaches the SSV.
So you really can't get a good soaking on the valve this way.

Awesome video, good job Jon.

This is sweet man, thank you. I planned to do this this weekend, and the video will definitely make the process quicker and easier. I'm going to be taking off the manifold as well since I have the Pettit SC and need to change the sc oil and work on a few other things.
Any other things to clean out if all the stuff is removed?
Also some time ago I had that marbles in a can sound show up. Happened a while back but its been relatively quiet lately, then again I haven't pushed the car much because of the weather. Anyway I've read that the sound can be related to the SSV. Any idea?
thanks

Unfortunately, we live about 25 miles east of Columbus in the Pataskala area. Hubby is a do-it-yourselfer but is clueless when it comes to the RX8. Basic maintenance is about all he has been able to do.

Some people have experienced a chatter sound with the SSV.
One possibility is a small hole in the actuator diaphragm.
Another possibility, the bushing needs lubricating.

I have had this problem with the ssv being stuck open from last summer of 09. The code came up and I took the car in to have it looked at. They told me that they hooked up a hand pump and the ssv open and closed normally. Then they said that I would have to pay a 200-300 dollars to have them find the problem. So I have not had them fix it yet. During the end of the summer the engine light would stay on and turn off every onece in awhile. Then when it started to get really cold this past month, I have not seen the engine light come on at all. So is that the engine doesnt need to use the ssv as much when it is cold out and I mean 35 and below. Do you think that when it warms up this spring that I will see the engine light come on again. Also has anyone ever have to have the selonoid or switch replaced? Would they have to remove the engine to replace those two parts.

If the valve opens and closes smoothly, then its either the impact switch (which tells the PCM that the valve is open or closed) or its the solenoid (or connection to the solenoid).

No.
To get to the solenoids, you'll need to remove the upper intake manifold (the black piece).
You'll see three solenoids almost in front of the oil filter. The SSV solenoid is the middle one.
I would first disconnect the electrical connection and clean it with contact cleaner, then see if that takes care of it.

If that doesn't work, then I would swap it with one of the other solenoids
Preferably the AIR solenoid which is the top one, and see if that works.
Attachment 150125

well for the last week my car had starting bogging down around 4500 rpm. I checked the coils and wires and the plugs are only a month old. So I checked the SSV valve acuator and the valve is frozen solid.

thanks for the video jon..

took me about 8 hours altogether but my car now runs like a beast unleashed...:)


Attachment 266817

Attachment 266818

Attachment 266819

Attachment 266820

Good job cornholio135... glad I could help.
And its good to see you removed the upper intake manifold, its much easier to reach the SSV bolts without the aux runner in the way.

Nice work...

Even "Blue" zip ties!!!...

I'm in the process of doing this myself. How did you get to the third (back/hidden) nut in the UIM? What's the trick. I can seem to reach it very well. Did you have to remove the piece that is used to fill the oil? It seems to be attached to the manifold also.

The bolt is a bitch :)
I've used a combination of extensions and u-joints to get it off.
I've also used a combination wrench to give it a few turn until I could turn it by hand.
Wish there was a simple trick, but it usually ends up in a few curse words.

You do not have to remove the oil filler neck.
But once you get the bolts removed from the UIM, you might remove the oil cap to make lifting the UIM out easier.

Thanks. It looks like I'll have to be creative and buy more tools. At least that's not a bad thing.

nice work Jon, thanks for the great content.

anyone near long island that could help me with this? I can remove the thermostat no problem .. but my hands are literally too big to get any further ... sucks!

Once you remove the thermostat, all that's left is to disconnect the SSV impact switch and the two bolts securing the valve.
What specifically are you trying to remove?
I've learned some tricks with almost every bolt and nut to get the valve out, so I may be able to give you some advise if I know what you're trying to get at.

Use a ratcheting 10mm box end wrench, it's easy.:naughty:

That actually might be the best thing to use on that rear bolt.

Finally got the UIM out. I got a universal adapter and attached it to the socket. I had to take the oil filler neck section out also. There are two bolts that attaches to both sections and one of the two was hard to reach.

The UIM has some shiny layer to it. Oil was found in the accordian section in front of the throttle valve. The LIM has light brown layer that I can't wipe off. Is this carbon build up that needs to be removed and how?

I moved the actuator links and it moves without problem. I haven't tested (vacuum controller?) with the vacuum pump to see it's functional or not. Any suggestions on why the P2070 code is appearing?

If you were able to move the valve by hand without feeling resistance and the valve closed on its own without binding, then the valve itself isn't the problem.
But since you have the UIM off you can do a couple things...

First, spray carb cleaner right onto the SSV valve.
It is ideal to remove the whole valve and clean it since spraying through the opening of the LIM only covers a small percentage of the valve.
But since your valve isn't sticking... I wouldn't go through the trouble of removing it unless you want to (for preventative maintenance purposes).
While you have the UIM off, might as well give it a good soaking to get what you can.
If you felt the valve sticking... then I would suggest removing the valve instead of spraying down the LIM.

Second, I would swap the SSV and AIR solenoids.
Its possible that the SSV solenoid is sticking and causing your CEL.
Look at post 19 in this thread... I have a diagram of the solenoid locations.
And with the UIM removed, its VERY easy to reach.
Also, clean the wire connectors to the solenoids when you swap them.
Dirty contacts can cause electrical problems to the solenoids.

Another possibility (but unlikely) is the SSV impact switch.
The switch senses when the valve is open/closed.
But I have yet to see this fail so that is why I doubt its that... but its possible.

Great thread and great video!
I pulled & cleaned my SSV this weekend, see pictures of before and after below.
Trouble is I did not check the solenoid or the valve, so I am still throwing the P2070. I erased the codes with a scanner and they are coming back. Word to the wise…..check it all before you put it back together.
Not sure if any one else has tried this or not as I did not remove the UIM…..I wrapped a new shop rag (fat) onto a screw driver and soaked it with Carb cleaner. I twisted it in a circular motion about 10 times and then removed it to find a clean area on the rag along with soaking it down with Carb cleaner again. I continued soaking the rag many times and used 3 shop rags to keep it as clean as possible. I actually got the chamber completely clean and did not spray any Carb cleaner into the chamber. I used a shop mirror to get a good visual and to make sure I got it all, especially at the end of the chamber around the perimeter. This also prohibited too much junk from going down into the manifold and into the engine. I did not foul any plugs and the engine started up without much fuss.

Good job Rodlucci.
Next time I do this I'll try what you did and soak a few rags with carb cleaner to clean the housing.
I think that'll be easier than having people remove the UIM to stuff rags down the runners.

If you decide to check the solenoid, I wrote a DIY for that too:
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=190364
If the valve, actuator, and solenoid turn out to be OK, then the impact switch is likely whats causing your CEL.

Thanks for all your help!
I actually used a screw driver that has the retractable prongs on the end of it to grab the screw, this was very helpful in grabing the shop rag.
I will do the checks on the solenoid, valve and actuator to see what gives next weekend. Thanks again for your DIY work!

hey Cornholio i live in UC. do you think I can get your assistance sometime with my SSV. I actually think my prob might be similar. thanks.

Hey Jon,
If it is my impact switch, what am I harming while the CEL light is on. If I am not harming anything, what am I living without while the light is on?
Thanks for the help?

The SSV can still operate normally without the switch.
All it does is confirm to the PCM that the valve is open or close.

With the CEL always on you won't have the ability to know if another system failed and generated a CEL unless you constantly monitor the codes by reviewing them with an OBD-II scanner.
Of course, people who have mid-pipes (and don't have an AccessPORT) deal with this anyway!

Ok, when the ignition is turned on by someone else, I hear the solenoid trip and I see the SSV open. I unhooked the vacuum line to the valve and attached a test hose to test and it works freely with minimal vacuum. I seem to be experiencing no drivability issues and fuel economy is back to which it was before the CEL came on. I right down mileage and gallons every time I fill up.
Have I done enough to determine that the contact switch is the issue?
Mazda tells me the switch itself is not available, you must purchase the entire assembly @ $280, how can this be?
Thanks Jon!

the message I got when clicky on the linky....

Please pardon our appearance. We are phasing out support for your browser (Internet Explorer 6). Please try one of these more modern browsers:

LOL... maybe its because I am on my PS3?

Yeah... sounds like everything electrically and pneumatically works.

You can purchase the switch separately... the Mazda p/n is N3H4-18-9B1

Before you get another switch, lets check the switch itself and see if its bad.
You'll need to disconnected the harness which is near the switch.
Then use a meter to test the resistance across the two terminals in the connector.
The switch is N/O (normally open) so you shouldn't read anything at first, then when you press the switch you should see between 2-3ohms.
Attachment 152591 Attachment 152592

Now if you press the switch and it still reads open, you know for sure the switch itself is bad.
Here is a site to purchase the switch. Still a little pricey:
Attachment 152590
But I would post in the Buy/Sell section of this forum and see if you can get one used for a much cheaper price.
Hopefully this helps.

Jon,
I will test the switch before I install the new one. I have one on the way from Mazmart, paid $45 for the N3H4-18-9B1. The Mazda dealer I spoke with today said there was not a switch available, but when I called Mazmart it is in stock. Go figure! Thanks again for the help and support!

I learned something worth passing along........when I tested the switch while it was still mounted on the car, if I moved the valve lever with my hand the reading was correct. If I let the valve lever swing into the switch on its own, it would not trigger the switch in the closed position. The switch had worn in that spot only near the end of its stroke.

I changed out the switch and no more CEL! However, I recommend checking the switch when you have the assembly apart. It was very difficult to get those little screws in and out. As it was I removed the battery, battery box, Alternator bracket, APV assembly by removing the passenger wheel and disconnected the CPU wiring. Oh yeah, I lost my temper many times and lost one of the screws. Fortunately, the local hardware store had the 4mm size needed. I should have drained the coolant and removed the thermostat housing. :banghead:

Thanks for sharing Rodlucci... good to have an actual story of the switch being the culprit instead of my assumptions of it being a possibility.
As you know, those two tiny screws are a pain... would almost be easier to remove the whole valve just to get to those screws easier.
And its a good idea to test the switch with the valve instead of just pressing in the switch with your finger.
That way you get a more realistic occurrence during operation.

Alright I will attempt this this weekend. I can't view the video at work though. I'm going to try and clean everything from the SSV to the throttle body. I have a feeling I have oil cholesterol, :lol:, clogging my intake system.

Getting the Tstat off was a PITA when i upgraded mine...I can't wait to do that again :banghead:.

Yeah... you'll want to be careful with that, or you'll have a troublesome coolant leak for awhile. . . ask me how I know. :banghead:

I am way, way too familiar with that x2 :banghead: :lol:

Wowie, that was a brutal PIA...but it was REALLY worth it.

73,000mi of gunk
Attachment 263792

Attachment 263793

I used CNC Intake/Throttle Body cleaner. That stuff ate through all the gunk.

TY again for the video, I ran into a few snags and w/o that video...well my car would still be in pieces.

Yeah... its really one of the flaws in a "de-carbon" procedure because the SSV is completely looked over with the location of the maintenance ports.

But this shouldn't be a very big issue if you install a catch can. . . I had my intake apart 25k miles after I installed the catch can and it was spotless... it felt so good!

I have a Weapon-R Catch can on its way.