Intercooler Change

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.
 
Intercooler swap fun

I had a split intercooler recently and couldn't find a sensible proceedure to change it myself, so I had to resort to taking it to a VW specialist, it took them 2 hours. Money well spent at this time of year as I don't have a heated garage that I can work in!
 
A tip regarding the removal of the wheel arch liner: Remove the brake line holder (M6 hexagon head screws if I remember correctly). The liner can then be routed behind where the holder usually is mounted.
 
Not looking forward to several hours of labour to fix this but after new tyres and new brakes this week, to find the bottom of the intercooler passing more wind than a flatulent elephant, I got a new intercooler for £68 from mister-auto

I might take a few pictures to add to this thread when I do the swap

Why oh why did they make it out if plastic/alloy and not all alloy like every other intercooler around......

:(
J
 
Ref agent006's comments on the Audi hose clips - as he noted, its extremely dangerous to remove the clips without a special tool. One example of the tool is shown here - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FACOM-TOO...t=UK_Hand_Tools_Equipment&hash=item2575ea980a this compresses the hose clip and locks it in the open position so it can be safely removed and re-installed.
This style of hose clip is actually a better design than a 'jubilee clip' Worm drive clips are easy to overtighten and can cause the hose to extrude under the clip, allowing it to loose its clamping force over time. They also tend to cut into the hose, particularly when its subject to heat and pressure cycles - like most cooling and charge air system hoses

Cheers Spike
 
Just finished
Started at 9.00 and replaced the intercooler, thermostat and front pads and discs.
Also replaced the central air vents as mine were a little 'shonky'
Also gave the car a wash

5 hours 40 mins
Not too bad

J
 
Good work Jason let's hope that solves all of your performance niggles.
Just finished
Started at 9.00 and replaced the intercooler, thermostat and front pads and discs.
Also replaced the central air vents as mine were a little 'shonky'
Also gave the car a wash

5 hours 40 mins
Not too bad

J
 
So far it has
The best bit is the fact I also upgraded the horn to a loud 2-tone
Sounds great!!!!
:)

J
 
So far it has
The best bit is the fact I also upgraded the horn to a loud 2-tone
Sounds great!!!!
:)

J

Is that a stock Audi two tone horn you upgraded to or aftermarket cause i as well find the oem lame n not at all that punch i would like to have.
 
I have a Bosch "mini fanfare" twin-tone horn. Doesn't sound lame at all. I got mine from Ebay.
 
I have a Bosch "mini fanfare" twin-tone horn. Doesn't sound lame at all. I got mine from Ebay.

Same here....can't remember how much or where from on fleabay, but that's what I bought and they sound great
'Meep meep' to 'PAAAARRRRRRPPPPPP'
 
Hello All,


I have used this guide to successfully change my intercooler over the weekend. I don't know if this person is still active on here but by way of thanks and to help other members (as this has helped me so much) I am going to add a few photo's to the thread.

Just a bit of background info. My car was purchased with a bit of a hissing noise which I thought was odd but didn't know too much about these cars or its 3 cylinder TDI engine. My car is a 2002 1.4 with 110k and dodge recent servicing and I paid a low price for it. Anyway I started driving on larger roads (I live in London) and at speed after the car was warm it started cutting out and had very little power. It was going into 'limpmode' or limphome mode but would clear if the engine was turned off and on again but it was dangerous to pull over on the hard shoulder!


I purchased a new intercooler recently off of Ebay for £43 plus delivery so very cheap. I had a good look at it and it seemed ok so thought I would fit and take it from there. I have driven 300 miles in it yesterday and the car has so much more low and power, the MPG figures are up to 62 rather than 40 or worse as 'extra urban' driving. I can leave the car in 5th or 4th more and still have enough power to accelerate off again at roundabout's etc

The job took about 5 hours it could be done slightly faster with a helper to take care of jacking, getting chocks, mat's to lie on etc.



So here are some photo's:

Car stripped down, front wheels removed, wheel liners removed, front bumper, plastic under engine tray, etc you need lots of space to spread out the parts and group fixings with parts etc

View attachment 16861View attachment 16862


View attachment 16862

Removing the wheel lining plastic is fairly simple but it may help to show this photo in order to locate the four torx screws which are hidded in the small square cut out's as follows:

IMAG0708[1].jpg



Removing the aluminium crash protection bar requires an absolutely huge torx type tool, if you lift up the bonnet there are other ones the same so that you can obtain the tool. If as in my case you thought you would have a suitable torx bit and started the job you can improves with WD40 and a pair of mole grips. Not the best way to do it but it worked and I managed to get all four bolts off. It damages the outside of the bolt a bit but nothing too serious.



I took this bar off as per guide and remember to fix horn back in and connect up

View attachment 16864

View attachment 16863


I do have a few pictures for removing the head lights but it was quite staight forward really and shouldn't reset the beam angle etc



I could see signs of black oil and dirt around the bottom of the intercooler as seen in these pics:

View attachment 16865
View attachment 16866
View attachment 16867


Here is the old intercooler and the new one:

View attachment 16868
IMAG0719~2[1].jpg
IMAG0720~2[1].jpg

In order to gain access to remove the two intercooler fixing bolts (torx) you need to take the four fixing bolts off of the air con radiator as shown and there are also four other bolts which are accessed from the engine area behind as described in the original how to. This I must admit seemed a bit unnecssary but all this is just to gain access to the rear intercooler mounting bolts . I also used a small Rolson ratchet set as it so tight to gain access. You should wear thin rubber sealskin type gloves to protect my hands from the alternator and radiator fins.

See photo's:

IMAG0727[1].jpgIMAG0728[1].jpg
IMAG0729[1].jpg


I noticed when laying down and looking up at the engine with LED headtorch I could see a lot of oil on the turbo. On closer inspection I could not find where the oil is coming from but the two braided 8mm dia rubber tubes which run along side each other were rubbing. The black one had almost been worn right through so it was lucky I noticed it and think this might be the boost pipe. It was about 8" long and I replaced it with a new piece which I had and it just pushes onto a nipple and then a rigid piece of PVC plastic pipe at the other end.

See picture of worn pipe and its location:

IMAG0724[1].jpg


Another odd thing I noticed whilst looking around with my torch as that a log of thick grease was stuck to the engine and suspect it has flown out of the CV rubber and should possibly have a hose clip on the end. This needs further research as the rubber may just pull tightly into a notch but other cars have had a hose clip (Jublee) on both the large and small side of the rubber.

IMAG0722[1].jpg



Some of the photo's are not uploading for some reason so here is a link to my photobucket uploads (hopefully!)

http://s660.photobucket.com/user/lopenheaddesigns/library/audi%20a2








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.
 
Last edited:
So i am fitting my new intercooler and the new smaller map sensor won't go in the hole in the intercooler i know the original sensor is a larger diameter hence me getting the new 12mm i think sensor any ideas

Sent from my SM-J510FN using Tapatalk
 
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.
An excellent guide, thank you, so surprised you hadn't had more likes.

Have one on me, although suspect you're long gone from here judging by the thread date!
 
The ‘like’ feature was introduced to the forum many years after this post was first published, meaning it won’t have had any ‘likes’ when new.

PS: news on silicone hoses soon. :)

Cheers,

Tom
Ah that explains the apparent frosty reception then :)
 
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