Passat B5 intercooler replacement

[valhalla]

OK, I think I have seen this on the forum somewhere before, but I cannot seem to fathom the information that I need;

I have a 2005 B5 Estate Passat with an intercooler that needs replacement. As far as I can see, this would be a 5min job if VW hadn't so successfully seized defeat from the jaws of victory and gone and stuck the bumper front beam over the top of the bracket that supports the top two stubs on the IC.

The big question is - can this be done without removing or pulling forward the front end of the car (grille, front panel, bumper, support beam) to clear the bracket?

I have a suspicion that if I was to bend the support bracket down, there might just be enough clearance to lift the IC up, ease it forwards, then take it down under the car. What I don't want to do is to loose all the integrity of the IC support bracket, as the bottom stub support part of the same bracket is out of position - a front-end impingement with a small animal has smashed this lower part of the matrix - so I'm reliant on the top two "hanger" stubs to keep the IC in the right place.

Thanks for any advice.

[Joepublic]

www.ukpassats.co.uk/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=88029&p=716097&hilit=Intercooler+removal#p716097

[valhalla]

Thanks for the link above - unfortunately you need to be a signed-up member of the forum to get down to the nitty-gritty of the answers, and I cannot find my login for this one at the moment..........

The short and sweet answer to my question is  - NO.

You cannot get the intercooler out without doing some dismantling of the front-end, it just cannot be done by bending the support bracket down to clear the top "hanger" stubs on the top I/C tank moulding. The bracket is too springy, so it doesn't feel happy being pushed beyond its elastic limit, and it would need a steady push down to do this. Even then, the coolant bottle would need to be slackened from behind the I/C in order to give it enough swinging room to clear each top stub at a time.

What I did - without any help from the VW ElsaWin instructions, which are remarkably absent on this job - was to;

1) Remove the PAS reservoir top cover (unclip)

2) Remove bottom I/C duct/elbow complete from cross-pipe and I/C itself

3) Disconnect I/C top duct at I/C

4) Remove front grille, including disconnecting the fabled and hated bonnet safety catch tongue from the lock

5) Remove the complete F/N/S inner wheelarch liner

6) Remove front fixings on offside wheelarch liner

7) Remove front valance assembly

8) Remove grille armature

9) Remove N/S headlamp unit

10) Slacken fixings to washer bottle and move it to one side through wheelarch

11) Slacken fixings and move PAS reservoir into engine bay

12) Remove all fixings to N/S bumper beam mounting tab

13) Pull bumper beam and front support armature forwards on N/S

The above allows sufficient access to get the intercooler out safely, without risking damage to the new matrix on reinserting the new I/C. I also had to repair the horn and its bracket at the same time, so that all came out.

The worst part of the job is getting the bonnet-lock safety-catch tongue re-engaged over the two pins on the lock-side of the joint. I guess if I did this job more frequently, I would make a special tool to spread the ears of the safety catch tongue over the pins. As it is, I just struggled with electrical pliers for 10minutes, then had a cup of tea afterwards, to calm down......