Aps Intercooler Fitment

[exahsix]

Fitted the APS intercooler yesterday - here's a guide for anyone considering fitting the same or similar aftermarket cooler.

This is fitted to an 03 Mark 1 XR6T Auto.

First thing you see when removing the grille is the location of the std cooler, the upper power steering cooler and the dual horns

Upper pwr steering cooler

Remove the front bar by undoing all the screws underneath and 3 in each front wheelwell as well as the two that hold it on at the front radiator support. Note the location of the lower power steering cooler. Remove the white eggshell plastic at the front you can see here - makes it easier to work on things.

Remove all the clips and mounting bolts for the std intercooler. Remove all the mounting bolts for the upper and lower pwr steeing coolers and move them out of the way. Slide the std intercooler out and discard or sell on Ebay. The std piping from the exit of the intercooler can be discarded. This is attached to an aluminium pipe that winds under the headlight and battery, back to the crossover pipe.

To remove this aluminium pipe, unbolt the headlight (4 bolts), then unclip the intake air temp sensor attached to the pipe and undo the mounting bolt/earth bolt. Now the pipe will slide out. Discard and immediately bolt those earth wires back on. Install headlight. Unbolt the sensor from the pipe and mount into the top of the APS intercooler.

Now you will see some airconditioning pipes on the front left side. These will interfere with the intercooler so you need to bend them out of the way a bit to create clearance.

Jack the car up a few inches, slide the new intercooler in and lift it into place, using the standard mounting holes already provided.

The mounting brackets for the pwr steering coolers require a bit of modification to fit - they need to be reversed. I ground the sport welds that hold the nuts and botls into them off to make life easier but you could probably get away with just grinding the retaining nuts off. This is so the bracket can be reversed and used with the intercooler mounting brackets and bolts.

Relocated the horn to just between the headlight and the cooler. Didn't have enough room for both horns. Extended the horn cable using the wire from both horns and solder.

The bottom pwr steering cooler brackets were easy to modify. Hammer the tabs at the back of them flat. Drill an extra hole in each bracket to line up with the bottom cooler mounting holes. Attach to bottom of cooler.

Now crawl around under the car fitting up all the hoses to the cooler and pipes etc. Get those hose clamps nice and tight.

Extend the wiring loom for the intake air sensor from under the headlight, across the front bar to the top exit of the cooler where the sensor is now mounted. I just used 3 core electrical power wire as this sensor only has 3 wires. Cut the plug for the sensor off the original loom and re-solder to the end of the extension. As long as all your colours remain consistent you will be fine.

To install the pipe that goes from the exit of the intercooler to the intake crossover pipe you will need to undo two exhaust manifold bolts and a bolt at the front of the engine. This has a star-type allen key pattern so you will most likely need to go to an auto shop to get a tool with this special head. Re-install the bolts once the pipe is there and do all your hose clamps up tight.

Reinstall the front bar and grille. As the std snorkel from the radiator support panel needs to be removed (it fouls on the new pipe) you should install a CAI on your air box to ensure you're not sucking hot air on from behind the radiator.

Now - retune and enjoy!!

[Phoon]

Good job mate, that's a great set of instructions for anyone wanting to fit one of these themselves. that's what I love about this forum, a wealth of information that everybody is willing to share.

[Logsie]

Great detail

Now any dumby can put one in

[bdazla]

was the aircon piping easy to bend? has it caused you any problems since?

[Ralph Wiggum]

how did you plum it in to the t/body? did you use the APS induction setup..?