I am looking for some help from anyone who has removed the stock plastic intake manifold from an M8 engine. I have tried using a ball end 1/4" socket driven Allen wrench, but the head of it keeps slipping inside the bolt head. I purchased a Lang 5530 intake wrench, which was supposed to do the job, but it too wants to slip within the bolt head. Does anybody have personal experience on a tool or method that works well here? I had hearsay info on the Lang intake tool, but my experience did not confirm this. My gas tank is off, the air cleaner and throttle body are off, and I am about to remove the horn and its mounting hardware from the left had side of the bike. This is the last thing I need to accomplish, to complete my cam upgrade project, and I am eager to get on with the tuning aspect of the job. Thanks in advance for you comments and help with this!!!

 

Last Winter when I did my cam/intake/injector upgrades I removed the horn and any other hardware on that side before I took off the intake manifold, but to be honest I don't recall any real issues with removing the intake bolts. Best guess is once you have better access a ball socket Allen extension should do it.

 

All I’ve ever used is an extended ball end and an 4” extension added to that. And patience.

I think S&S has some videos on haw to remove and install on their website. Maybe take a look there and see how they do it.

 

I would not use a ball type hex wrench on anything..... too much chance to strip, as you are aware. Do you have a hand impact driver? Can you get to the bolt with one? I found back in the 70-80's when racing dirt bikes, we needed these hand impact drivers to remove bolts on the cases, and engine. There is a huge difference between aluminum and steel, heat and moisture wreck havoc on these fasteners. A hand impact driver will often, if now always, provide enough shock to loosen things up to allow removal.
Just a suggestion, and something to consider for other projects. Yes, I still have mine in my tool box!!

 

I use one of these: With the tank off and the horn bracket removed, you should be able to get a good grip and decent angle.
You can also use a 1/4" garbage disposal wrench to loosen those bolts.

 

Yep. Works great!

Nothing wrong with using ball hexes in this application. The fastener torque is not overly tight, and as long as you use common sense and keep some pressure applied to keep the tool engaged in the hex on the bolt, you should not strip it.

 

Take piece of an old thin worn out T-shirt and wrap it around the ball hex, you may have to tap it into the hex head, it doesn't take much material.

 

Wonkey, thanks for the suggestion. I didn't see this until after I finished the job. I did take a dead blow hammer and tap the ball head into the bolt. This created the bite that I needed to break the 4 bolts free. I had never heard of your tee shirt suggestion, but that is definitely a tool I will file away for future use. Thanks again!!!

 

When I encounter stubborn intake bolts I use a 1/4" allen that is cut down to 1/2" in length. I then use a Snap-On 1/4" boxed wrench end. You need a strong wrench that won't bend or strip. Works really well. I have had to use a cheater bar on the wrench a few times to break them loose.

 

Not sure if it will help for the future but I have a set of long ball Allen and a couple sets of long regular. My extra 1/4 and a 5MM , I took and put it in my vice and used a hammer to bend it.

There pretty hard but will bend. A fine tooth hacksaw will also cut them for short application but use a 6 point socket. All my torx and Allen's both regular and metric are commercial grade.

One tool, you need stronger then a bolt or torque.

Most all those intake and throttle body screws if there from the factory were installed with that two part dry coat thread locker. Penetrant is worthless unless you get it turning.

It literally when it's screwed in activates that locking adhesive.

Using a ball could just spin strip that area. Heat is out of the question here.