HermanH's PASSAT Site

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Racetech Z-Flow Front Mount Intercooler (FMIC)

Description: Racetech's Z-Flow FMIC is distributed by Supreme Power Parts (www.supremepowerparts.com) and is priced below their original FMIC, making it a bargin when compared to other FMIC's in the market. And during a Group Buy that was happening in January, I decided the price (below $700) was just too good to pass up. As you can see by the picture, the big difference between a conventional FMIC and the Z-Flow is the direction the core tubes run - vertical instead of horizontal. Also note that the inlet tube starts from the top left and outlet exits at the lower right (when facing the core) which is how the FMIC get's it's name.

This particular intercooler is considered an "ideal" design due to the higher internal flow area, as compared to a similarly dimensioned core running horizontally (with less tubes). This translates into lower pressure loss (less boost loss.) The specific Z-Flow IC that I purchased also utilized less hoses since most of the tubing was welded together. This makes for a cleaner looking IC in my opinion with less hose clamps to worry about.

Installation:

The following installation was done on my 1998 Passat. This should apply to most Passats from 1998-2000.Installation.

NOTE: in most of my installations, I usually approach the modification from a novice/amatuer perspective, however, in the case of a FMIC, I am making an exception. I am not going to go into detail on how to remove the belly pan nor the bumper skin. If you've gone this far into modifying your Passat, you should know this by now. The install of this FMIC is long enough as it is. Hope some of you understand.

Step 1 - Jack up the front of the car and set on jackstands.

Step 2 - Remove the lower engine cover/pan; this entails the 9 desus clips and a 10mm nut to be removed.

Step 3 - Remove the front bumper cover. If you go to my APR Snub Mount link, http://home.comcast.net/~hhong4/aprsnubinstall.htm and follow steps 1-8, you'll have the bumper cover off in short order. Then, remove the two 13mm bolts that hold the aluminum bumper and remove the bumper:

Step 4 - Next, remove the power steering cooling tube and temperature sensor located on the lower right of the radiator as you face the front of the car: There are (2) 10mm bolts that hold in the power steering tube in place:

Step 5 - You will need to swing away the AC condenser core to allow you to work on the passenger side bulkhead. Use a phillips screw driver and remove both of the rubber diverters. Then use a 10mm socket and remove all 4 bolts and the two brackets:

Step 6 - Unclip and disconnect the AC radiator pressure sensor just to the left of the AC condenser:

Step 7 - As you pull the AC radiator away, pull up to slightly to dislodge the bottom slots that hold the bottom of the AC radiator to the bulkhead.

Step 8 - Swing the whole AC radiator off to the side; have a chair ready to keep it from straining the AC lines; they are still full of freon so be careful.

Step 11 - Undo the hose clamps from the top and bottom of the original IC and remove the hoses from the IC. Then push the bottom of the IC forward to loosen it from the bracket:

Step 12 - The IC is installed from the top prior to the front bulkhead being installed at the factory. This would mean you simply push the IC upwards to remove it. Unfortunately, unless you want to go the extra mile and remove all the necessary bolts to move the front bulkhead forward a couple of inches, there is absolutely no room to push it more than a 1/2" up; you will have to resort to either cutting a large portion of the "plastic" bulkhead to the right of the IC for clearance, or bend the upper half of the IC bracket to help it clear (either bend it towards the firewall or straight down.) I ended up bending mine downwards until the IC cleared. I will say there is no easy way to remove the IC. Just do whatever it takes.

Step 13 - loosen the hose on the passenger side IC tube; it might also help to loosen the diverter valve hose and remove the DV from the IC hose; this will allow you to move the hose away from the steel IC tube that you will be cutting.

Step 14 - with a reciprocating saw and a carbide blade, begin cutting the passenger side IC tube; I will admit that I thought I could get away with cutting just a little bit at a time but every time I refitted the FMIC, there still wasn't enough room when the hose was put back on. The hose was pressed firmly against a corner of the gusset after my first cut. I cut the gusset and still, it was a bit too close when you take vibration into account. This took about 20 min. You can see in the second photo below where I made my first two cuts. The steel is about 1/8" thick round so you can imagine why it took awhile. I eventually cut off the entire area as shown in the picture below, which allowed plenty of room for the hose and tube:

Step 15 - Now, take the FMIC and loosely mount the brackets to the lower bolts of the AC condenser bracket and to the FMIC. Note where the FMIC tubes come across the bulkhead on either side and mark the area; you will be cutting this plastic area away to allow the tubes to gain easy access.

Step 16 - Remove the FMIC and using a hand hacksaw, saw away the plastic material:

:Step 17 - Continue refitting the FMIC until you have cut away enough material so the FMIC tubes will clear with some space for movement.

Step 18 - Reinstall the AC condenser and the power steering cooling tube but NOT the temperature sensor; the temperature sensor was tie-wrapped to the lower AC radiator bracket.

Step 19 - Now, position the FMIC and mount the brackets on the lower 10mm bolts of the AC condenser bracket. Tigten to 8Nm (71 in.-lbs.) Reconnect the pressure sensor.
Using a 4mm allen wrench and 10mm open-end/box-end wrench, tighten the two allen bolts to the FMIC mounting brackets (note the orientation of the bracket and 10mm bolt):

Step 20 - On the passenger side, reinstall the hose and DV and tighten both hose clamps.

Step 21 - On the driver side install the vertical tube with the boost sensor flange on top; using the 4" silicone hose supplied in the kit, attach the FMIC to the lower part of the tube and to the FMIC, but do not tighten the hose clamps yet.

Step 22 - Attach the throttle body hose to the top of the vertical tube while ensuring the bottom hose has not come off; once you're satisfied everything lines up correctly, tighten all of the hose clamps. (Note: if you have a boost sensor, you will need to drill a hole through the tube where the sensor flange is and clean it out BEFORE you install the tube. Then simply mount the boost sensor to the flange.)

Step 23: At this point, after double checking all five hose clamps, turn on the engine and look for signs of any leaking of the IC system. Check to see if you have any CEL's. As luck would have it, I had no CEL's and everything appears to be air tight.

Step 24: Reinstall the bumper, bumper cover and lower engine cover/pan.

Step 25: It is recommended you reset the ECU and allow it to re-adapt.

Impressions:

Since I did not follow Step 25, some of what I am going to say may be invalid but I decided that I could always do the adaptation routine later. To state the obvious, I wanted to see what this thing could do. First off, I noticed a slight amount of additional lag off the line. Second, as I made a few high speed passes along the freeway, I observered the boost gauge spiking around 15psi where originally, I had spiked around 17psi. Eric at SPP indicated I SHOULD do the ECU reset in order to reaquire the high boost I was getting before but in the back of my mind, I don't see how that will make a difference unless resetting the ECU allows the system to adapt quicker. I don't understand this point since the ECU by it's design, is suppose to make adjustments on the fly. Not to mention it is "normal" to see some pressure drop simply because the FMIC is doing a much more efficient job of cooling (at least in theory.)

After mashing the throttle a bit, I was a bit surprised that after two 100mph+ runs and some cooling off driving around the neighborhood, my MFA indicated a 18mpg reading. The following morning, driving to work and back, I noticed that my milage had increased to 24mpg in both directions. Granted, the mornings temps were 42 deg. (got the snow flake) and 61 in the eventing, but I haven't seen 24mpg on my MFA in stop and go traffic in a LONG time. I also noticed that the car seemed a bit "smoother" on regular everyday take off's from a stop. Again, perhaps it's the cold weather; maybe just a bit of placebo. But these are just "initial" impressions. I hope to post a bit more as the days and weeks go by. (And of course, do a ECU reset.)

It should be noted that the original IC core measured approx. 10" x 7" x 2.5" where as the Z-Flow FMIC measures 16" x 6" x 2". Tube sizes remain the same in order to match the OEM hoses. By my calculation, we're talking about a 27% increase in surface area ( 96 sq.-in. v.s. 70 sq.-in.).

10mm 3/8" drive socket.
13mm 3/8" drive socket.
3/8" drive ratchet and various sized extensions
10mm box-end/open-end wrench
4mm allen wrench
T-25 Torx driver
#1 flat blade screw driver
#1 phillips screw driver
Reciprocating Saw with carbide blade
Small hacksaw
File