04 quest

I have a vacuum hose collapsed behind the intake. I can get my arm to fit up and over the intake to get it off to replace it.

Is there an easy way to lower the engine or anything I can do to reach it?

I’ve recently been in this area of my Quest as well. It may make it easier to access if you remove your wiper arms, wiper motor assembly and then the metal engine bay coal that the wiper assembly sits on. Gives you better access to the back of the manifold.

Yeah, I haven't dug too deep into the cowling area of my 2016 Quest, but it looks like it can mostly come off.

Removing the cowl is a must for all "behind the engine" work. Makes things whole lot easier.

I know from having wrenched on other minivans, the FSM will often recommend taking the cowling off, but the work can often be done easily by reaching from underneath provided you have the luxury of a lift or pit to work over. The VQ35 like most V6s these days still usually have to have the upper intake manifold removed for ignition coil and sparkplug access which is an additional pain.