Intercooler hose popping off (57 plate A3).

lloydsta101

lloydsta101

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Hi all,

It's been a while since I've used these forums, although I could always rely on the great expertise of it's members.

Last night, after pulling away I experienced a loud popping noise followed by a large black cloud of smoke and instant power loss. Fearing the worst, I pulled straight to the side and left the car until morning. I towed the car to a local mechanic, who lifted it up on his ramp and instantly spotted the problem... the hose had blown off from the intercooler. This is hose on the passenger side of the car, nearest to wheel (hose is about 3 inches in diameter).

After connecting back up and giving the car a few revs, I could hear the turbo spooling again and the usual 'dump' noises. Although before taking it off the ramp I gave it one last rev and the hose blew off again.

Now, I don't know much about turbos/intercoolers but the mechanic said I would need to replace the intercooler to fix this? I called another mechanic who said to put a self-tapping screw through the bottom to temporarily hold it... but after doing so, it just popped off again (only the top though, as the bottom is held by the screw).

I guess what my question is, do I have to change the intercooler to fix this? It seems a bit drastic to fix a 'loose' hose. Can I just change the hose itself, or purchase a new clip or something?

Any responses are appreciated, thanks.
 
Common problem, have you checked the pipe? Most of the time it's L shaped pipe that needs replacing, only about £35. The little metal prongs become worn. Unless it's the connection its self on the intercooler, doubt it though. Change mine yesterday problem solved, lol added a bit of tiger seal for extra strength, it ain't going nowhere now it's rock solid.
 
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It really depends on if its the fixing or the socket that's at fault, its usually the pipe that needs replacing, not the IC, only thing now is the screw hole, hopefully its not a problem for boost leaks.
 
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Thanks for the response guys. It's good to know that I may have other options before replacing the intercooler. I'm not really sure what the hose connections are suppose to look like...

I suppose I'll have to take it to another mechanic and hope that they give me an honest opinion of the pipes, clips etc. If they can be replaced, then it'll be a damn sight cheaper than replacing the intercooler for the sake of a 'possible' damaged outlet.
 
What garage in bristol did you go to? May need to add to my avoid list lol. You could order the part and fit it yourself, certainly easier than changing those darn H7 headlight bulbs!
 
Ha, they're called D&S Tyres... but they have a mechanics division too... only took it there as it was closest to where it happened and not far from my house.

Forgive my ignorance, but I'm not really sure what hose I'm looking for. I saw the end that connects into the intercooler, but didn't see the rest. So I have no clue how long, what shape and what the connection the other end looks like... or what it even connects to?

I'd be up for fitting it myself if someone could point me in the right direction. As far as I could see, it just pops in with a bit of force and then a retaining clip goes over the top. Again, that's if it even is the hose though.
 
Shape wise it looks like this: 140931737413 imagename


Edited:

All you need to do is jack the front up enough to get under (and axle stand). You'll need to unscrew and drop the engine cover down to get to the pipes 25mm hex screw size I think. You will see the inlet/oulet pipes going into each corner of the intercooler, one on the passenger you can’t miss, carefully pries off the clips that lock the hoses in place and pull the pipe out. Give the ends a good wipe down. Push the new hose back in start with the long end (make sure you locate them into the slots for a snug fit) and replace the clicks correctly so they snap in place in their locators\
 
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I had this problem also, in my case it was the metal teeth on the pipe itself had worn down too much so the clip wouldn't hold it in place, pipes got replaced and that sorted the problem

IMO if its not this and you NEED an intercooler go with the S3 cooler as it doesnt have the crappy clips holding the boost pipes in place

I replaced my intercooler after bottoming out and replaced with standard, the clips dont look like theyll hold for too long, or after a certain amount of boost
 
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Stiggles said:
IMO if its not this and you NEED an intercooler go with the S3 cooler as it doesnt have the crappy clips holding the boost pipes in place
Click to expand...

Cheers Stiggles - will keep that in mind if it comes to that.
 
We've been running 2 A3 8P's with hybrids with custom maps so boost is higher & not a single issue with stock clip/fixings since had the cars, I suspect people with issues have had technicians not removing/fitting them well which has lead too issues, also make sure the U clips are bent in tighter when refitting so they hold the pipe fixing tighter.

Personally I see no reason for S3 IC's as stock TDI flows well enough.
 
I would agree with that. The boost pipe popped off my car with a big bang after 18months owning it. I had noticed not long after buying it when changing oil that that the lower boost pipe didn't look like it was all the way in, but it didn't want to go in any further so I just left it. It must have been nearly a year after it popped off though! I was on holiday and a recovery guy reckoned the clip had broke and patched it back on. It hissed a lot driving it back so drove it really gently to avoid it popping back off.

When I got home I took all the zip ties he'd used and realised that nothing was broken, luckily the metal clip was caught in the undertray. The problem was the rubber seal had expanded due to oil/heat and was preventing the pipe going fully in so in effect I think the clip was only working against on one of the "ears" on the pipe. I lubed the seal up and managed to get it to seat and it went it loads further than I'd ever seen it, and the clip pushed on securely locking against the little "ears" on the pipe flange. Fitted properly the design looks well strong enough to me that the pipe itself might fail before the clip.
 
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Ive split the factory hose with just a safe re map, the stock cooler set up on the 2.0TDI is crap, there are a lot of people who would agree, its all well saying that running high boost with hybrids is safe until you rag the car and then it pops off

I think it comes down to the driving style/ amongst other things. But theres a reason DSD offer the S3 cooler rather than an uprated cooler for the A3, having such a thin clip hold a pipe that handles so much boost was a serious error on the development teams behalf, the pipes expand something serious under boost.

If the stock cooler works then leave it be, but I merely said if the cooler is the issue then its be better replaced with something that uses jubilee clips to clamp the pipe on
 
I would say the cars we have used have had some fair pressure exerted against the fixings & nothings popped of once, so maybe you had worn/faulty items beforehand, I've taken our pipes of before & cleaned them out of oil/residue so keep the seals all clean & tight.

The S3 cooler has been fitted by some others with hybrids aswell & due to the combo of moving to jubilees, the jubes were blown of, whereas one guy switched back to stock with clips & was fine, so who knows.

Anyway everyone has an experience of these systems, if your happy with yours then all good.

As for if tuners offer upgrades for reasons, tbh take that with a pinch of salt sometimes tbh, some tuners, not being specific so don't quote me against any one tuner, sell products that just don't do anything to assist in upgrading a system, trust me I've been there before, so yes its an item available as an upgrade, whether its needed or useful remains to be seen by the purchaser.
 
Mine blew off after remap, so we put 3 screws through the pipe to hold it securely in place. The TDI cooler clips are rubbish, and it would have been a replacement cooler for me otherwise!!!!
 
So it turns out that it wasn't just the hose that needed replacing... both the lugs on the hose AND the intercooler had worn down, meaning both had to be replaced.

£387.20 poorer and my car is now back on the road. £150.84 for an aftermarket intercooler, £44.36 for a genuine hose and retaining clips from Audi and the pleasure of 4 hours labour at £40 an hour plus VAT.

Seemed a little excessive to replace an intercooler and hose, but I have no clue how long it takes to dissemble the front end of the A3?

Audi part numbers for future reference:

1K0 145 803 T (Intercooler)
1K0 145 834 L (Hose)
1J0 145 769 G (Retaining Clip)
1J0 145 769 H (Clip - Intercooler side)
 
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I had trouble with inter cooler hoses on my grande punto 1.9jtd. Got told by a guy when fitting the hoses to used some hairspray on the inside of the hoses and seemed to do the trick. Random but it worked
 
It does take a while gettin the front off, the bumper comes off then the crash bar then the carrier then you get to the cooler

Once the coolers replaced it all needs put back on, its an unfortunate pain in the ***, and a HUGE flaw

Hopefully the new one last a little longer, did you check the quality of the other pipe? Wouldnt want it being slightly worn causing the same issue again!
 
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