my driver's side intercooler bellows slides on the horn. doesn't seem to pop entirely off when observed while someone else revs the car. i've cleaned up oil on the mating surfaces and torqued the clamp screws to spec. is this normal? boost still hits 15-16 psi and seems to drive fine.

i'm thinking it's normal and that's why the stock intercooler cover hides the driver's side connection (to avoid concern in this area). my passenger side bellows doesn't move.

also, Mini Mania describes for their intercooler bellows upgrade:

Eliminate the chance of a boost leak from your factory intercooler bellows.
The stock bellows connects the intercooler to the plenums and works well under stock boost. Increasing the boost with a pulley upgrade greatly increases the stress on the bellows. Just have your partner blip the throttle while you watch your stock bellows and you will see. Under spirited driving conditions, it is possible for the stock bellows to work loose causing a leak - creating havoc with the computer trying to maintain equilibrium.

anyone else notice sliding of their intercooler bellows/couplers? looking for feedback before buying a replacement.

FYI: '05 MCS cabrio 50K mi, 15% pulley

pics below. also found a similar picture on an aftermarket silicone coupler mounted on the passenger side.

 

Anyone have knowlege of above? Seems like if I tighten the bolt clamps the bellows/coupler slide also.

 

Yep. Was losing about 3-4 psi from that happening too!

What you need to do is take a file and grind down the clamps (where the arrows are) about a 1/16" each. This will make them clamp tighter. What I also did was scuff up the surface on the IC horns with some 220 grit. Worked like a charm. Also be sure to wipe off all oil prior to installing.

 

I grinded mine down years ago - and have had no problems

 

appreciate the help, plasticknives and D-MAN!

 

Yep - thought I didn't have any visible boot slippage, I have been losing a few PSI of boost lately and just ground down my clamps last night. Early testing seems to show improvement.

My bench belt sander made QUICK and clean work of the clamp mod.

 

I need to give this a go I think.

 

you might want to consider getting a new set of boots....about $50 I think...the rubber might have shrunk...and that is why you cannot get the clamps on tight enough....they might be ready to split.

 

My boots are about a year old. And are not split.

Someone mentioned that the later manufactured boots appeared to be thinner rubber than the early ones... perhaps leading to some clamping/sealing issues?

 

Put a set of Sneed's boots on mine and no problems sense! Is it just the pics or me but in every above pic the boots are not position correctly, fully seated against the flange on the IC horn?

 

Edit , double post.

 

No need to file/sand the clamps. If you take too much off you run the risk of slicing the bellows if you over torque them.

Minimarks has it right-the clamp is not positioned correctly on the horn. Center the intercooler then clamp away making sure your clamps are clamping the intercooler and the horns, not voids.

Jeremy

 

Guess you guys missed the point of the post?

That are all saying they have clamped the boots all the way against the horns, but they have slipped tot he position that are in the pics.

It does not seem to be an issue of them not placing the boot int he wrong position, rather over time its moving to the wrong position.

 

If it has slid that much to the left, the IC should be stuffed up against the other side. Given the direction the air flows it didn't blow the IC that way but pressure pushed it back. Best to position the boots against the horns and center the IC to those, then clamp both sides down. If its still slipping then maybe new rubber and/or some sanding is in order. 2 cents

 

i noticed this on mine, but i also realized that my couplers are cracking, and need replacing. Should have some alta couplers in the mail on monday!

 

Post#3 was the solution for me!

I had tried "stuffing" the intercooler and bellows toward the driver's side, but you can see how shiny/smooth the intercooler horn looks at the clamping surface. It kept sliding! My passenger side intercooler horn clamping surface was much more dull/rough looking and never slipped.

I've had no more sliding since the fix above.

 

I just installed the alta couplers earlier tonight. It was a bit of a PITA, but it was worth it. I noticed that my exhaust is quite a bit louder, my car starts up quicker, and my car has a bit more go now. kinda wierd. any thoughts as to the first 2?

 

I took my stock clamps off and went with T bolt clamps. way more surface clamping area and no leaking. gained about 2psi.

 

what are t bolt clamps?

 

it's like a hose clamp but wayyyy better. uses a bolt and nut to tension and the clamping part is wider. google it and you can see thousands of them.