Apparently I didn't get my upper boost hoses reattached all the way after I changed my spark plugs since they came loose during a drive. Does anybody have any tricks to get the upper boost hoses to snap into the intercoolers. I took the bumper back off and have been pushing from every direction to try and get them to "click" back in but they won't seem to.

 

Are you sure that the metal band that catches the little tabs in the hose is sitting in the groove?
Happened to me once as well, this was my issue.

 

yeah I made sure the little metal clamp was in the grooves. I took the intercooler off and set that clamp in position and replaced the o rings in case they were catching. Still there is just a small gap and no matter how much wiggling of the hose I do, I can't get it to go in al the way and snap into place. I've been trying to push on the outer edge of he hose with the end of a screw driver to push it into the intercooler but it just won't catch. The lower ones are so easy to get in but the upper ones are a pain. Not sure how to get these to go all the way in

 

You could try taking the screwdriver and pry the little tab back so it's a little wider on the hose hopefully allowing the metal bracket to hook the tab easier.
Can you stick your fingers inside the intercooler and see if you can feel the metal ring just to make sure it's lined up properly.
I feel your pain I have had boost hoses pop off before, it's really annoying plus those upper intercooler hoses like you mentioned you have to pull the bumper.
And they have to be lined up just right or you wont catch that little tab.
Good luck, it fit at one time you'll get it again. It's probably just an alignment issue.

 

Plus 1. make sure the little ears that the clip catches is not laying too flat. bend it out a little with a small flat head driver.

 

Thanks for the advice, both of you. I hadn't thought of that yet but it seems like it would make sense. I've been able to push the boost hose flush with the intercooler but then it won't click and then once I let go, the hose relaxes sitting a few millimeters out of the intercooler. I'll give that a shot tonight when I get home from work.

The other thing I was thinking was to take the upper boost hoses loose from the Y pipe and pull the intercoolers off and check fitment out of the car where I can easily get my hands around everything and better see what is going wrong.

 

I seem to remember another member having trouble with new o rings and they took a ton more effort to seat and click. Maybe due to thickness?

 

I do not touch the hoses unless it is absolutely necessary. I do the plug changes with the bumper on. I use the short 1/4 drive 5mm allen from snap-on to get the coils out. It's a bit harder but when you are done with the plugs you are out and driving.

Nor Cal, love your avatar.

 

I only replaced one of the o-rings because the old one was getting hung up when I was trying to reinstall the hoses. I had hoped that the new o-ring would help. It didn't look like it was hanging up but it could be that it is not helping the situation.

Wow props to you Tim for being able to change the plugs without removing the bumper, intercoolers, etc. After doing the plug change for the first time I don't know how it's possible but I've heard others being able to do it as well.

Thanks on the avatar. Not many people have a 1/3 scale wind tunnel test model of the space shuttle sitting right outside their building so naturally I had to do some pictures with it. I got dozens of pictures from different angles.

I'll let you all know if your ideas to get those boost hoses back on end up working

Eric

 

You could try also removing just the boost hose from the y pipe to allow you to squarely and straightly align the hose on the intercooler, after you think it's clicked in pull on it to verify that no it will not come out then reattach to the y pipe. I have never heard if anyone popping a boost hose off at the y pipe it's always at the intercooler plastic connectors. This might help you avoiding removing anything else in the process.

 

Alright guys, I gave things another shot this evening when I got home from work. I am pleased to say that I was finally able to get the boost hoses to clip into the intercoolers. Here is how I did it.

I removed the intercoolers, I disconected the upper boost hoses from the Y pipe, and removed the boost hoses. For the passenger side I installed the boost hose into the intercooler. Then I reinstalled the intercooler. There is plenty of room to snake the boost hose through the fire wall while reinstalling the intercooler. Then reconnected at the Y pipe, very easy to get the hoses secured to the Y pipe as there is much more room there. Very easy for the passenger side. The driver side was a little trickier but I did something similar. First, I partially mounted the intercooler in place. It was sitting as far out off the mounting bolts as possible but still sitting in place. Then I snaked the boost hose through the firewall. This leaves just enough room for me to get my hand around the boost hose at the space between the intercooler and the firewall. From that position it is much easier to manhandle the boost into the intercooler. Once it clipped in, I mounted the intercooler and reclipped the boost hose into the Y pipe. The only issue is that I ran out of time this evening to do a function test so that will be coming tomorrow but I'm confident that I got it right. Now I hope I haven't screwed anything else up in the process of trying to get these hoses mounted. Guess I'll know tomorrow on the test drive. Thought I would share what I did though as I will definitely be using this technique next time I have to change plugs or any other maintenance/mods that require the intercoolers be removed. Here's hoping the function test goes well tomorrow

Eric

 

Eric,
Hope everything is sorting out for you; sounds promising.

 

Eric,

How difficult was it to pull the intecoolers??

Thks

JE

 

Thanks Eugene, I guess I'll know this evening when I do a test drive. I feel like I got it this time as those hoses would not pull out after they "clicked" into place. Now I'm just hoping I didn't do anything else wrong that will make me have to pull it all apart again. Got my fingers crossed.

JE,
Intercoolers are a piece of cake to remove, the hard part was getting it put back together correctly (hense my post) . There are five 15mm bolts that hold the intercooler bracket to the firewall. Then there is one T-25 torx screw and two 13mm socket screws that hold the heat shield to the intercooler housing. Remove all those and pull the clips off the upper and lower boost hoses. Then slide the entire intercooler assembly forward toward the rear wheel. It should then come right out.

 

Just to wrap this thread up. I did a test drive in the car and no boost hoses came loose and no other issues. Only thing was a left over CEL but that cleared up after about 5 minutes of cruising around. Those bosch plugs sure seem to make the car run much smoother than the factory BERU plugs but I think the ECU tune I just got might have something to do with that too