08 E350, Bad Intake Manifold based on sound and performance - No Codes?



When I got it home and plugged it into Xentry, I had a bunch of old codes, but not any current manifold codes.
Is it common to have the broken intake manifold problem and it the car not to throw codes? I know you can have a broken manifold, codes and no CEL. My thought was to buy an intake manifold and start the job to see the actuators and levers. If they are broken, I can keep going. If not, I can evaluate my next move. Is that a reasonable plan? Any other suggestions?
I have not one but TWO spare intakes if you need one.
there is usually a code for the flaps from what I heard
post what comes up. let me know if you need it. I have a fully disassembled <electronic components > w211 in my basement



I have not one but TWO spare intakes if you need one. MTBenz420: Wow. You have the parts!
there is usually a code for the flaps from what I heard
post what comes up. let me know if you need it. MTBenz420: I'll send you a PM.
I have a fully disassembled <electronic components > w211 in my basement




Before I did this job, I was trying to figure out whether to repair this manifold with the kits you can purchase from URO. If you look at the people who have done this job on YouTube, you note that some of the mechanics out of the US repair the manifold and reinstall it. However, I noticed when I was cleaning up around the intake valves, I noticed something in one of the valve ports:
I removed this debris and cleaned around the valve. Here is a picture of the piece out of the cylinder head:
My thought was that my experience supports the idea that build up inside the manifold causes the plastic vanes that move to back and forth to stick, which in turn breaks the actuators. And, it can result in breakage inside the manifold.
I decided to purchase a non-OEM manifold off of Amazon. It came the metal actuator across the front, but little actuators are still plastic. It was around $220. So far everything seems to be working fine. I have much better low end torque.




