Tools Required
T25 Torx
8mm socket
10mm socket
1/4" drive ratchet
Phillips head screwdriver
Standard screwdriver
Time Required
About an hour
One of the beautiful things about this intercooler is that it is relatively simple to install when compared to a front mount or water-air intercooler. You basically take the old one out and pop the new one in the same spot.
1. Start by removing the plastic intercooler cover with the T25 Torx. There are four, and then the cover lifts off.
2. Now remove the brackets that served as the old mounts using the 8mm. There are both front and rear mounts.
3. The front of the intake has a bracket that is used to hold the wiring loom. The bolt that is used to attach this is a 10mm head that goes through both the bracket and an adel clamp that holds the radiator hose. Remove the bolt, remove the wiring harness from the bracket, then reinstall the bolt with only the adel clamp in place.
4. Another bracket is held in place with the mounting bolt on the right side of the intercooler. Remove the bracket while pulling the mount. Use a tie wrap to hold the wire loom in place.
5. With the front mounts removed, and the two brackets removed, remove the T25 bolts that hold the clamps in place on both sides of the intercooler.
Once you have the bolts removed, the clamps will be loose, and the intercooler can be pulled straight up and out. It makes it easier to get the top parts of the clamps out of the way. Leave the bottom parts in place. That will keep you from putting them back in upside down, since only one side of the clamp is threaded for the bolts (you may find that out the hard way, and then it will cause swearing, as you have to take the intercooler back off to put the clamps in the right place again).
Take a look at the inside of the intercooler couplers - that oil is why I use the Alta catch can. Here's a shot of it, but the camera didn't want to focus on the piece. You can still see the oil sitting in the groove of the coupler.
6. Pull the couplers over the inlet and outlet of the intercooler - all the way over. Remember to check the orientation of the clamps and have th threaded piece on the bottom. Keep the lower part of the clamp in place.
7. Drop the new intercooler into place. Now that it is in place, you can pull the couplers into place. Make sure that the lip of the intake and outlet is flush on the lip of the coupler. This is the toughest part of the install, as the intercooler is big! Just keep working at it until you have the whole piece in place with the lower halves of the clamps in place.
8. Now you can put the top pieces of the calmps back in place. To start the bolts, you may have to comperss the clamps with a screwdriver slightly.
Here's what the intercooler loooks like in place:
The Alta intercooler also comes with a new air diverter and sprayer. It replaces the plastic cover.
9. Before placeing the diverter in place, mount the sprayer in the pre-drilled hole, being sure to orient the opening of the sprayer toward the intercooler.
10. Now place the diverter over the intercooler and mount with the supplied stainless steel phillips head screws.
The diverter butts up against the bonnet, so the old ductwork is removed.
11. Using an 8mm, remove the two front mounting bolts on the factory ductwork attached to the bonnet.
Remove the rear phillips head screws in the ductwork as well. This will allow you to pull the entire piece out of the way.
There are two options when moutning the sprayer. The first is to T the rear washer and have the rear washer sprayer come on every time you activate the intercooler sprayer. The second is to disconnect the washer line from the rear wiper system and route it direct to the sprayer. The second renders your rear wiper useless.
12. Using the first option, simply remove the factory white plastic coupler and replace it with the supplied T fitting. The washer hose is in the passenger cowl space.
If choosing the second option, disconnect the part of the hose going to the back of the car and replace it on the coupler with the supplied silicone hose to the sprayer.
13. To route the hose to the sprayer, look under the vibration damper and find the rubber grommet that the fule regulator line comes out of. You can feed the silicone sprayer hose through the same grommet, then up along the bracket to the vibration damper, then under the intercooler to the sprayer nozzle mounted on the diverter.
14. To disable the wiper at the back, you willremove the phillips head screws in the boot cover and pull, hard , to get the interior boot panel off. Then disconnect the wiring harness at the base of the wiper (right in the center). I also taped the connector end with electrical tape. Reassemble by popping the part back in place.
Now you have a new Alta intercooler with a sprayer and diverter!
The unit comes with the diverter, the sprayer, the associated hardware for mounting, the silicone sprayer line, and the T fitting. It is a very high quality piece.
Here is the comparison of the two - the stock intercooler is sitting on top of the mounted Alta piece:
The piece runs $999. If you are in a cold climate, this won;t do all that much for performance. If however, you are in spots with ambient temps over 80F for a significant part of the season, this is one of the better upgrades available. Most of you have felt the difference in the car when it is cold out, and that is due to the intake temps. This unit has outlet temps that are 40C cooler the the inlet on warm days! That translates into about 9 horsepower, and the delta between the stock set up and this unit only gets larger the warmer it is outside.
The biggest advantage of the air-air set up from a performance standpint is the recovery rate. This unit can drop significantly in outlet temps just during a shift. Water-air may have lower peak temps, but because of how stable the thermal mass is, it doesn't recover to lower temps quickly. If you can't get it cooled - ie under continuous high load or very high ambient temps, the air-air will be a better performer.
As always, let me know if you have any questions!
Randy
720-841-1002
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