I took off my intercooler cover to paint it last week, and as I was getting ready to put it back on, I noticed the driverside horn looks like its pulling out... here are some pictures.

PS: Ignore the dirty bay, I haven't had time to clean it...

 

Here's the passenger side horn for comparison...

 

look it over . if the boot isn't folded over or out of shape it should be okay . try tightening if loose. if it's not stumbling and surging you're fine . spray a combustible like propane on it to see if the idle jumps up .

 

Does it look like it needs pushed back in? If so, I should be able to do this myself...right?

 

of course . if you got the diverter off then i assume you've got torx sockets ; so have at it .

 

looking at your pictures... I would say you should re-seat the IC boots now.. The boots should be pushed back to the edge of the smooth section... Maybe somoil got in between the boots and the horns.. So take the time to remove the boots and check for tears and oils that would cause it to slide off..

It looks like to me that you got lucky and caught that just before it fell off.. Then the SC would not be blowing into the intake manifold and you have a good potential of sucking something striaght into the cylinders..

My vote... fix it ASAP..

 

I'd pull the intercooler (check to see if it needs to be cleaned for any reason (http://www.geekshocker.com/Claire/maint/icClean.php) and then re-install the IC and reseat the boots properly. Else wait for a boost leak and do this anyway!

I cleaned my IC last week and it was simple - just take your time. One thing I did different from the link re: cleaning is to remove the (2) black brackets at the front of the IC which stick out above the IC when it's installed - it makes re-installing it MUCH simpler, since I could drop the IC back in by moving it straight down. PM me and I can explain more.

 

You should loosen up those T30 torx bolts, clean the intercooler boot with a quick spritz of brake cleaner on a rag, wipe it down nice and clean, and reinstall. Like others have pointed out, just take your time. Have you ever had the intercooler taken off before?

 

...nope. I'm not really the wrench expert when it comes to cars. I'd love to do more, but I either don't have the time or prefer to have my hand held while doing something to my car.

Thanks to those that replied. I'll take a look at it later on today when I get a chance. I may just even clean out the intercooler...