Hello all,
I replaced my intercooler at the weekend. I thought it would be useful to do a quick mind-dump on the process before I forget it.
This may be slightly inaccurate in places, but the general process is sound. No photos sadly as I'd rather my camera not covered in oil.
First off, this is a Very Dirty Job. Mud and crap from the wheel arches and lots of oil from the intercooler. It's perfectly do-able, long but not particularly complicated. I'm not very good on the spanners but managed it OK.
So, this is what I remember of the process:
Lift the front of the car and support on axle stands. I used the lower wishbone mount, but wouldn't advise this as one side fell off on the way back down.
Remove both front wheels.
Remove both wheel arch liners:
Take out the three torx screws from the rear edge and one from the front.
Now remove the plastic rivets. I did this by pushing the centre pin in with some thin nose pliers. It should click and stop but will carry on and fall behind if you're not careful. Once it's pushed in, it should let you pull the rivet out.
There are two up behind the spring, which aren't immediately obvious.
Once these are out, it's just a case of manhandling the liner out. No tips here, sorry.
On the inside lip of the front of the wheel arches you should see a series of square cutouts. In each of the large ones there is a screw which needs to be taken out, 4 in total.
You can see the pointy end of two screws firther forward of these now, they look like they are holding the bumper on. They're not, this took me ages to get my head around as I was trying to find ways of removing them.
Take the bonnet off. You do know how to do this, yes?
Take both headlights out. One t30 on top and one on the radiator side of the light, in the middle of the plastic nut. Pull the light inwards and towards you.
If you have them, take both foglights out. Two large philips head screws. You don't need to take out the centre grille.
Reach in where the headlight was, and push the thin end of the bumper outwards. There are a number of clips that should pop out and the whole side should release.
Now remove the four (5?) plastic rivets along the top of the bumper.
Put something under the bumper, carpet or the like.
Take out the two torx screws from the top of the bumper. It will fall off. Hence the aforementioned carpet.
Now remove the small alu bar running across the front of the car. The horn's attached to the driver's side of it but it tucks nicely out of the way.
Now remove the big alu bar below it. This will need a fairly beefy torx bit. I'm afraid I don't remember which one I used.
It also has two retaining disks on each side that need to be persuaded off.
Marvel at the lovely casting on the mounting brackets.
Now the fun starts.
Remove the hoses from the intercooler. This is horrible as they're nasty cheap spring clips. I used a pair of long handled plumbers pliers. I assume there's some special Audi tool that makes this not horrible. When you're removing these clamps using an "improvised" method, I'd strongly advise to wear sturdy eye protection. One pinged off and landed a good 12 feet away.
I'd also strongly advise getting some jubilee clips to replace these with.
Remove the wiring from the sensor on the top of the intercooler.
Remove the 4 philips screws on the shrouding of the intercooler. Put it in a bucket as it'll be covered in oil.
Unclip the temperature probe from it's mounting.
Remove the screw holding the bottom moulding onto the radiator and remove.
Remove the torx screws from around the aircon rad. It seems perfectly happy to hang out slightly after this.
Remove the two torx screws from the back of the radiator. They're on the end of the fan cowling next to the intercooler. Mind the sharp edges on the alternator. It's easiest to get to them from underneath really.
Remove the screws from the right hand front side of the intercooler.
Remove the screws from the right hand rear side of the intercooler. This is fun, you'll need to pull the whole lot away from the car as the fan shroud gets in the way. I had to use a small ratchet and torx bit as a driver just won't fit.
Now, the next bit is open to your own "creative" solutions. I chose to prize the locating lugs out from the left hand side rubber bungs as I couldn't find a way of getting the right hand side of the intercooler away from the radiator.
Once the intercooler's out, put it in a bucket as it'll be full of oil.
In this case, refitting really is the reverse of removal. Things to note however:
The screws into the new intercooler for the MAP sensor are very tight. Make sure you have exactly the right screwdriver for them or you'll round them before they're even half way in.
Consider putting the headlights back in before the bumper. I feel it may be easier as they're a right git to put back afterwards.
Make sure you get the foglight plugs in the right place and not trapped somewhere else.
Don't forget the horn or the temperature probe. I'll assume you're more competent than me so I'll omit reminding you to plug the headlights back in.
You may like to read up on horn upgrades while the bumper's off.
You may also like to read up on sound deadening while the wheel arch liners are out.
You may like to consider doing your front brakes while the car's up and the wheels are off.
You may also like to consider the state of your ARB bushes while the car's up and the wheels are off.
The intercooler swap took me the best part of 9 hours. This did, however, include long periods of pondering as I went into this completely blind and work quite slowly. I reckon you could do it in 5 or 6 if you put your mind to it.
I replaced my intercooler at the weekend. I thought it would be useful to do a quick mind-dump on the process before I forget it.
This may be slightly inaccurate in places, but the general process is sound. No photos sadly as I'd rather my camera not covered in oil.
First off, this is a Very Dirty Job. Mud and crap from the wheel arches and lots of oil from the intercooler. It's perfectly do-able, long but not particularly complicated. I'm not very good on the spanners but managed it OK.
So, this is what I remember of the process:
Lift the front of the car and support on axle stands. I used the lower wishbone mount, but wouldn't advise this as one side fell off on the way back down.
Remove both front wheels.
Remove both wheel arch liners:
Take out the three torx screws from the rear edge and one from the front.
Now remove the plastic rivets. I did this by pushing the centre pin in with some thin nose pliers. It should click and stop but will carry on and fall behind if you're not careful. Once it's pushed in, it should let you pull the rivet out.
There are two up behind the spring, which aren't immediately obvious.
Once these are out, it's just a case of manhandling the liner out. No tips here, sorry.
On the inside lip of the front of the wheel arches you should see a series of square cutouts. In each of the large ones there is a screw which needs to be taken out, 4 in total.
You can see the pointy end of two screws firther forward of these now, they look like they are holding the bumper on. They're not, this took me ages to get my head around as I was trying to find ways of removing them.
Take the bonnet off. You do know how to do this, yes?
Take both headlights out. One t30 on top and one on the radiator side of the light, in the middle of the plastic nut. Pull the light inwards and towards you.
If you have them, take both foglights out. Two large philips head screws. You don't need to take out the centre grille.
Reach in where the headlight was, and push the thin end of the bumper outwards. There are a number of clips that should pop out and the whole side should release.
Now remove the four (5?) plastic rivets along the top of the bumper.
Put something under the bumper, carpet or the like.
Take out the two torx screws from the top of the bumper. It will fall off. Hence the aforementioned carpet.
Now remove the small alu bar running across the front of the car. The horn's attached to the driver's side of it but it tucks nicely out of the way.
Now remove the big alu bar below it. This will need a fairly beefy torx bit. I'm afraid I don't remember which one I used.
It also has two retaining disks on each side that need to be persuaded off.
Marvel at the lovely casting on the mounting brackets.
Now the fun starts.
Remove the hoses from the intercooler. This is horrible as they're nasty cheap spring clips. I used a pair of long handled plumbers pliers. I assume there's some special Audi tool that makes this not horrible. When you're removing these clamps using an "improvised" method, I'd strongly advise to wear sturdy eye protection. One pinged off and landed a good 12 feet away.
I'd also strongly advise getting some jubilee clips to replace these with.
Remove the wiring from the sensor on the top of the intercooler.
Remove the 4 philips screws on the shrouding of the intercooler. Put it in a bucket as it'll be covered in oil.
Unclip the temperature probe from it's mounting.
Remove the screw holding the bottom moulding onto the radiator and remove.
Remove the torx screws from around the aircon rad. It seems perfectly happy to hang out slightly after this.
Remove the two torx screws from the back of the radiator. They're on the end of the fan cowling next to the intercooler. Mind the sharp edges on the alternator. It's easiest to get to them from underneath really.
Remove the screws from the right hand front side of the intercooler.
Remove the screws from the right hand rear side of the intercooler. This is fun, you'll need to pull the whole lot away from the car as the fan shroud gets in the way. I had to use a small ratchet and torx bit as a driver just won't fit.
Now, the next bit is open to your own "creative" solutions. I chose to prize the locating lugs out from the left hand side rubber bungs as I couldn't find a way of getting the right hand side of the intercooler away from the radiator.
Once the intercooler's out, put it in a bucket as it'll be full of oil.
In this case, refitting really is the reverse of removal. Things to note however:
The screws into the new intercooler for the MAP sensor are very tight. Make sure you have exactly the right screwdriver for them or you'll round them before they're even half way in.
Consider putting the headlights back in before the bumper. I feel it may be easier as they're a right git to put back afterwards.
Make sure you get the foglight plugs in the right place and not trapped somewhere else.
Don't forget the horn or the temperature probe. I'll assume you're more competent than me so I'll omit reminding you to plug the headlights back in.
You may like to read up on horn upgrades while the bumper's off.
You may also like to read up on sound deadening while the wheel arch liners are out.
You may like to consider doing your front brakes while the car's up and the wheels are off.
You may also like to consider the state of your ARB bushes while the car's up and the wheels are off.
The intercooler swap took me the best part of 9 hours. This did, however, include long periods of pondering as I went into this completely blind and work quite slowly. I reckon you could do it in 5 or 6 if you put your mind to it.