PD130 Boost leak from bottom of intercooler

dmjw01

Upstanding Member
Jul 28, 2005
442
0
Woking, UK
www.dmjwilliams.co.uk
Hi folks...

Can anyone tell me how to gain access to the bottom of my intercooler?

Last week I had classic symptoms of a boost leak: the car was hissing at the front and smoking at the back. It was due for a service, so I asked the chap to sort it out at the same time. He traced the leak to the bottom intercooler hose where it enters the intercooler, where he found the clip had broken. He improvised a new clip somehow, and that worked well for a few days. Car was driving beautifully!

Unfortunately, it's now leaking again a few days later. Not quite as bad as before, but it's definitely not right.

Since I've got a day off work tomorrow (Monday), I thought I might have a go at fixing it myself. So, what's the best way to gain access to the bottom end of the intercooler?

I'm guessing:
  1. Jack car up
  2. Remove front right wheel
  3. er...
  4. ... then what?

Do I need to take the bumper off? And will a Jubilee clip do the trick?
 
Last edited:

coolypops

Tastes like chicken
Feb 14, 2009
146
0
The Emerald Isle
Well you've two options:

1. go at it from the wheel well and underneath
This is the quickest way to go at it but leaves you with very little room...
Steps for this are, jack car, take off f/l wheel, remove wheel liner (just a few screws and a 2 plastic 10 nuts holding it on) and remove tray under engine.
It should be accessible from the side and underneath then.

2. go at it from above
This might take a bit longer but its easier to work on it
take off air box, remove battery and remove the intercooler. And you might need to remove the bumper but not 100% on that


and I'm not sure about the jubilee clip, some of the TDI's have an oddball clip which you need to replace
 
Mar 25, 2009
1,245
0
bath
on a tdi 130 like mine. the intercooler is on the other side mate so leave battery and airbox well alone,

easiest way is to drive onto a set of ramp and take the undertray off, thats what i did, nice and easy too
 

air121005

Active Member
Sep 28, 2006
1,609
6
Worcestershire
on a tdi 130 like mine. the intercooler is on the other side mate so leave battery and airbox well alone,

easiest way is to drive onto a set of ramp and take the undertray off, thats what i did, nice and easy too

what he said! ;)

.....or jack it up onto axle stands and remove the plastic undertray......should have plenty of room to get at the IC :D
 

muddyboots

Still hanging around
Oct 16, 2002
5,739
1
You won't be able to use a jubilee clip.

The end of the rubber pipe will have a metal tip, with two metal lugs moulded on the side. This all slots into a rigid plastic socket on the intercooler. Then a horse-shoe style clip goes over the outside, and lodges itself behind the two lugs, to stop the pipe coming back out.

The lugs are easily worn down and/or damaged, once a pipe has come loose, there's a fair chance you'll need a new pipe.

If these directly linked images work, they might help explain:




The other (cheap, but effective!) option is to do something along these lines.
 

muddyboots

Still hanging around
Oct 16, 2002
5,739
1
Also worth mentioning that - if you buy new clips - there are a few different sizes, and it's virtually impossible to see the differences.
I recall when I replaced a number of clips on my Ibiza, even the part numbers in ETKA were wrong....so I just bought several of each size and tried them for size to see which was correct.
 

dmjw01

Upstanding Member
Jul 28, 2005
442
0
Woking, UK
www.dmjwilliams.co.uk
Thanks for all the info and pictures!

The guy who worked on it last week did mention that the pipe has metal lugs on it, and that these had rounded-off a bit. So I think it'll be a new hose and clips, which is slightly beyond what I can be bothered to try and do myself!

However, I've emailed him a link to muddyboots' clever solution with screws. I wonder why SEAT/VAG didn't design it like that in the first place? I can only think that they were being paranoid about the remote possibility of a screw eventually working its way through the hole and being ingested further into the engine, although that's highly unlikely given that boost pressure would tend to push it outwards rather than inwards.
 

maffers

Guest
Hi David,
Which fix did you go for in the end? If it was the new pipe and clip how much did they come to?

Matt
 
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