As some of you already know, the stock Y-pipe, and turbo inlet were showing sign of wear, and were starting to fail on my 2006 WRX. So I decided to replace them with some silicone ones. I went with a Mishimoto Y-pipe, that came with a BPV return hose, and a throttle body coupler. For the inlet, I went with Godspeed, to save a few buck$. So here is what came in the mail. And the start of the project. Removed the tmic, which took a little twisting and pulling, and air intake "snorkel", to access what I was replacing. Out with the old, this part sucked a little. To remove the inlet, first I struggled with getting the BPV return hose off, the stock clamp ears were rotated to the bottom side, and took sometime to get at. I basically had to get rough with all the nipples (insert jokes here) and break off a few of them. The stock Y-pipe came off pretty easy, as did the stock throttle body coupler. Putting the new Y-pipe on the intercooler was pretty easy, a little lube, and it slipped right on. Same goes for the throttle body coupler. The inlet, was not as easy as the Y-pipe, but wasn't horrible. The hardest part was getting it to slide onto the turbo. I can't say there was any special technique for this, just some lube, and some screwing around untill you find out what works. Attached the rest of the vacuum lines. I added hose clamps or zip ties to all the lines to prevent leakage. BPV hose installed, had to shorten it a little. I think this may have been due the the nipple on the inlet seemed a little longer than the stock one. When I went to put the top half of the air box back on, I had a bit of a hang up. The inlet seemed a bit longer than the stock one, and had to be trimmed. this was tricky to cut straight when it was already in place, but I don't think there is a good way of telling how much to trim with out it being in place. Also, the metal ring that went inside the inlet, and inside the tube from the inlet to the top half of the airbox, was a bit larger than the connection point on the stock inlet. I had to use my heat gun to heat up the plastic tube so it would stretch over the metal ring. This may not have been a problem if I wasn't in a cold garage. Everything back in place. I found it easier to get the tmic on by un-bolting the cast elbows from the back side, slip the Y-pipe onto the turbo, then get the BPV hose on, then make the connection to the throttle body. And then reach under the tmic to bolt the elbows back on. All in all, it wasn't a hard project. I could have used an extra hand a few times, but I'm use to wrenchin alone, so it wasn't horrible. I used KY for lube to help slip silicone onto things, I figured since it was water soluble, it was a better option than WD-40, so it would wash off easier.
Thanks. I forgot to mention, there was a PCV diagnostic connector, that is deleted during this mod. I honestly don't even know what it does, since there is no sensor or anything there that really does any monitoring. just a piece of plastic that was inline between the PCV and the inlet, and had a wire connector, with nothing but a jumper pin that plugged into the plastic part. Maybe someone else can enlighten me as to what it does. I just put it aside, and have no CEL yet, but I have not driven very far yet.
Word. Think I'll need one for the stuff I just put on? Or wait till I find a DP? Still looking for a used one that will bolt on to the stock exhaust.
Awesome thanks. I should be down there in a week or so. I also want to put a Grimmspeed AOS on soon. I was wondering if eliminating the oil in the intake, which in theory will give me a little higher octane fuel bein burned, combined with what I just replaced, would make enough difference to have you redo the stage 1 tune. Seems like all that would be enough change that a re-tune would be a good idea. Thoughts?
