GTi 2006 - Intercooler connection seals

[8lytton]

Hi Guys,
My 82k Mk5 runs great - however I had noticed a marginal drop off in performance over past 5k miles. Wasn't enough to cheese me off but noticed it all the same.
I subsequently did all the usual things - changes plugs, injector cleaner, Shell Petrol etc etc.

Anyway, I was under the car a few days ago for a check over and noticed that the rubber Intercooler pipes, where they connect to the Intercooler with Spring clips were a bit grubby with what looked like oil. I disconnected the clips and the pipes came off so easy - meaning the sealing rings were well and truly past there best.

Ordered new seals (3 rubber rings) from VW and cleaned all the pipes and put them all back together today and took car out for a test drive.

Amazing - the difference in performance is really there and noticeable - engine feels more boost now and stronger in the mid-range.

Clearly these sealing rings had perished over time and were leaking boost. My car is standard and very well cared for - clearly these are not a usual service part.

So guys - have a look under your car - remove the front splash tray helps and check you intercooler pipe connections...

May be the best £10 for 3 new seals you have spent with VW ! How many other Mk5's are out there with this problem me thinks.

Also i have to question how VW could engineer such poor connections - they are clearly prone to failing with that Clip on design.

[LC5F]

That's a good win.
Thankfully I have eradicated most of those seals on mine - uprated intercooler and a modified lower discharge outlet pipe means I have just the one bayonet fitting left at the turbo itself.

I did try to eradicate that last one with a chineesium muffler delete...but it was too big to fit...

Another place to look is the seal inside the turbo muffler - mine was blown out.
I found it was difficult to identify the correct PN, my TPS guy was stumped, even suggesting it wasn't a serviceable part.
Eventually we found it: WHT006482
Fitting was tricky as its a very shallow groove it sits in, plus the O-ring is slightly smaller, any rolling to stretch it into position and it would pop out on the other side. Ended up using Locktite green to stick it in 3 seperate places.