An intake manifold is a piece of metal tubing that directs air into an internal combustion engine. The intake manifold itself has no moving parts, but it performs an important part of making an engine run. An engine needs constant airflow to mix with gasoline to form an explosively combustible fuel that will create power to move a vehicle. It's not very often that you need to remove one, but it can be done if necessary.
Disconnect the negative cable from the battery terminal. To do this, you'll need to use a socket wrench. Place the socket end of the socket wrench over the nut holding the cable on. Turn the wrench counterclockwise to loosen the nut enough to slide the cable end off.
If your engine has a plastic engine cover, you will need to remove this. Normally a crosspoint screwdriver is necessary to do this. The number of screws you have to remove and the location of those screws obviously differs depending on the vehicle. Consult your vehicle's shop manual (see Resources).
Disconnect the mass airflow sensor harness. To do this, squeeze the tab on the end of the plug and pull the connection apart. This is a plug-style harness on most vehicles.
Loosen the hose clamp on the hose that connects the air box to the intake manifold using either the screwdriver or the socket wrench and remove the hose end on the intake manifold. To remove the hose clamp, either insert the screw head into the screw bolt and turn counterclockwise or use the appropriate-sized socket.
Remove any other hoses your vehicle may have at the back of the intake manifold. These may or may not have hose clamps on them. If they do, use the process outlined in Step 4 to remove them.
Unplug any other wiring harnesses attached to the intake manifold. This will vary from vehicle to vehicle, but they will all be of the plug type connection, so you must push the tab down and pull the plug apart.
Remove the bolts holding the manifold in place. There should be 8 to 10 bolts depending on your vehicle.
Lift the intake manifold out of the engine bay. You may need to tilt it left or right depending on your vehicle to clear the engine bay.
