I did this last weekend and would say it's worth doing every now and again (maybe once every couple of years or 20k miles) The oil breather system in the 1.8 20vT engine recirculates oil vapour into the intake pipework upstream of the turbo and it is then sucked back into the engine to be burnt off in combustion. However, this means that over time, oil deposits end up coating the insides of the boost pipes and intercooler which could potentially restrict air flow through the intercooler and decrease boost pressure and charge temperature.

I owe some of this to this guide here which explains how to do it on a TDi engine:

Fabia-vrs.com - How To Clean The TDI Intercooler

You will need:

10mm and 7mm sockets and drive with a small extension

1/8 hex key or 1/8 hex headed screwdriver

flat bladed screwdriver

needle nose pliers

1 can fuel injection cleaner

Toothbrush

Detergent

Hose or bucket and plenty of water

Chocks

Jack and axle stand

Wheel brace

Wheel bolt cover remover

Locking wheel bolt key

I re-did this today to take these pictures and decided to put some new hose clips on the boost pipes.

Steps:

1. Apply the handbrake, chock the rear wheels, loosen wheel bolts on drivers side wheel.

2. Jack the front drivers side of the car up, then support it with an axle stand. Remove the wheel.

3. Using the hex key remove the screws securing the wheel arch liner. There should be about 14 screws in total. They are shown below ringed in red (there are two at the top you can't see that are inside the lip of the arch):

4. Two of the screws at the lower front connect the wheel arch liner to a plastic shield under the corner of the bumper. Once you have removed the screw you can slide this shield out (it is secured into the bumper by two tabs at the front, you will need to jiggle it to get the tabs out of the slots). The screws are marked in red below and the two tabs are in green:

5. The wheel arch liner will now come away easily at the bottom but is held in by tabs at the top of the arch which so you will need to bend it slightly to release them. You should undo the six front screws (marked in red below) on the passenger side wheel arch liner securing it to the bumper, but you don't need to take the whole wheel arch liner off. This is just so the bumper will come away from the arch liner on that side.

6. Remove the drivers side wheel arch liner and put to one side.

7. Open the bonnet. There is a 7mm bolt securing the top of the drivers side indicator light - remove this, then carefully slide the indicator forward being careful not to drop it and scratch the paintwork. Use the flat bladed screwdriver to unclip the multiplug from the back of the indicator unit and remove the indicator unit.

Below - undoing the bolt on the indicator unit

8. Use the hex key to remove the two hex screws holding the right hand side of the headlight and the single hex screw holding the left hand side of the headlight. This last screw is hard to access unless you have a hex screwdriver or long hex key. These screws are longer and wider than the screws for the wheel arch liner... so don't mix them up!

Below - headlight screws marked in red:

9. Carefully remove the headlight unit, using the flat bladed screwdriver to unplug the multiplug at the back. Slide it out taking care not to scratch the bumper.

10. There are three hex screws holding the top of the bumper to the crash bar, in front of the radiator. Unscrew these.

11. Remove the two grille inserts on the left and right side of the bumper. They pull out quite easily if you grip onto the plastic bars in the middle of them.

12. Behind these inserts there are four more hex screws, two on each side - unscrew these too (marked in red above). On the passenger side, one of the screws also holds a sensor on to the bumper just behind the grille insert. Don't forget to screw this sensor back in place when you put the bumper back together again.

13. Get underneath the bumper and unscrew the 2 hex screws holding the bottom of the bumper.

14. Use the flat bladed screwdriver to prise up the black rubbing strip on the bumper at the end nearest the drivers wheel arch. It should unclip exposing two 10mm bolts which hold the bumper to the chassis. Do the same on the other side of the car to expose the bolts on that side.

15. Get someone to hold the bumper or place something underneath it to support it so it doesn't fall. Undo the 10mm bolts on both sides and you can now gently lower the bumper off of the crash bar.

16. You can now see the intercooler clearly. It is secured at the top by two 10mm bolts just in front of the washer fluid reservoir, and at the back by a bolt just behind the boost hose going into the bottom of the intercooler.

17. Use the flat bladed screwdriver to unclip the multiplug from the top of the intercooler and move it out of the way for now.

Undoing the multiplug on top of the intercooler. The other multiplug is the one from the back of the headlight.

18. Use the flat bladed screwdriver to loosen the hoose clips joining the boost hoses to the back and the top of the intercooler.

19. Undo the two top bolts with the 10mm socket and extension (this can be tricky as the access is restricted by the headlight slots and the washer fluid reservoir).

You can put your wrists through the indicator and headlight slots to get at them:

20. Undo the back bolt. It is held in place by a square nut which is covered by a piece of metal. Use the needle nose pliers to bend the metal back and then hold the square nut in place while you undo the bolt with the 10mm socket from the other side. You can see this bolt is quite shiny on mine (ringed in red below). Thats coz I didn't tighten it up enough last weekend and it fell out, causing the intercooler to start shaking about and the bottom hose to come off. :thumbdwn: Needless to say it's been replaced by this shiny new one

21. With all the bolts off, the intercooler can now been removed by easing it out of the boost hoses on the top and back. Unclip and remove the plastic funnel on the front of the intercooler that routes the air towards the cooler.

Here's the plastic funnel for the intercooler, secured by two clips at the top and a tab on the bottom:

22. Use a toothbrush or similar tool and some water and detergent to clean any dead flies and dirt off of the exterior of the intercooler.

23. Spray a couple of blasts of injection cleaner into the boost hoses that were connected to the intercooler.

You can see there is a bit of oil in these:

24. Spray the entire contents of the can of injection cleaner into the top connection on the intercooler, holding it up so that the liquid drains out of the bottom. You should see lots of oil coming out (and out of those boost pipes too).

25. Once the liquid coming out of the intercooler runs clear, rinse it out with a little detergent and water (preferably pressurised, from a hose). Spray some water into the boost pipes as well, just enough to clean out the injection cleaner, but not too much!

26. Use some rag or an old towel to mop up any excess water in the boost pipes. Leave the intercooler to drain and dry out for a couple of hours, or use a hair dryer held tight against the top connection to blow the water out if you are in a hurry.

27. Refit the intercooler once dry. Clip the plastic funnel back onto the front and bolt the intercooler back into position. Tighten the hose clips around the boost pipes (I replaced mine as the screws were rusty), and re-connect the multiplug on the top of the intercooler.

28. Refit the bumper following the reverse of the instructions above. Don't forget to screw the sensor back in on the passenger side.

29. Refit the headlight, then indicator light following the reverse of the instructions above.

30. Refit the plastic undershield and wheel arch liner, then put the wheel back on, drop the car and tighten the wheel up.

31. Start the car but DO NOT REV IT. If there is much water still in the pipework this will suck it into the engine :eek: Leave the car idling for at least 15 minutes. Any water still in the pipework should then have evaporated. The car should be OK to use after that

Edited 15 November, 200817 yr by chicken_eyebrow

Any chance of throwing some pictures in there?

Sorry, didn't take any at the time :(

I was going to take the starter motor off this weekend and clean it so if I can spare half an hour I'll have the bumper and lights off and take some pics of the parts mentioned above.

Now updated with pics

I wonder... Is this going to be very similar to doing this job on a Fabia Vrs ?

Or is it a bit quicker ?

Im getting drips of dirty oil on my garage floor just about where the

fmic is located..

Edited 21 November, 200817 yr by jakesbrakes

Try the link to the guide to cleaning the TDI intercooler in the top post... I think the Furby intercooler is located in the same place (wheel arch) as the Octy one.

EDIT - just noticed you said FMIC not SMIC... in which case similar process, you'll need to take the front bumper off.

Correct, yes I did mean SMIC.. But the question remains is it this involved ?.

Is there an easier way to access the intercooler and pipework ?

Afraid so - on the Octy at least, anyway... might be worth asking in the Fabia I forum to see if it's any different with the Furby. On the Octy:

1. You need to take the wheel arch liner off to get to the lower boost pipe

2. You need to take the corner shield off to get to the bolt holding the bottom end of the intercooler

3. You need to take the headlight and indicator out to get to the bolts holding the top of the intercooler and the hoseclip on the top boost pipe

4. You *might* be able to get away with not taking the bumper off but it helps access to the bolts and there's the plastic air scoop on the front of the intercooler which is easier to get off with the bumper out of the way.

Hey chicken_eyebrow,

Exellent DYI

I am curious,

1)Whats is the purpose of the sensor thats is on top of the Intercooler?

2) Do this sensor can be damage with all the cleaning and detergent you pour inside the intercooler?

3) Do you recomend is better to remove this sensor before beguin the cleaning procedure?

4)Can I use kerosene or diesel to clean the hoses and intercooler?

THX,

Isaac

The sensor on top is a pressure sensor, it senses the pressure of the air built up by the turbo. I didn't remove it when I cleaned my intercooler and it doesn't seem to have suffered any damage. If you want to remove it it is quite easy, I think it's just a couple of phillips screws holding it on.

I would recommend cleaning the intercooler and pipes with fuel injection cleaner or carb cleaner only as kerosene and diesel are quite thick and will probably gunk up your pipes.

i did my intercooler clean today,so took the short cut of removing the washer bottle and wheel liner only, ok you need to work the bugger out the hard way,but it does save taking the headlight/bumber out. sorry didnt do pics as hands was covered in oil,and all the crap from the wheel arch. a couple of hrs will get it done.

mine had the spring type clips that just needed lifting clear of the connecting pipes.everything can be got at with just the washer bottle removed.

Edited 22 March, 201214 yr by trucknetjack