68jcode

I'm in the midst of doing a TB replacement on my 2001 2.7T and have been following the teardown instructions located here. Everything was going well until I went to remove the front carrier as described, but am hung up on the following hose connection that wasn't outlined in the instructions (I think his car is a different year). The pictures show the hose at the bottom of the radiator and connect to the back side of the intercooler on the drivers side. I disconnected the hose and had some type of oil coming out, so I put the hose back until I figured out what the hose was for. I included a pic of the oil cought in the bucket. So what is this and is it safe to disconnect?
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massboykie

Hey 68

I am not sure But I believe that is the power steering houses that goes to the cooler. That would explain the oil also. I don't believe it goes into the intercooler though. It's been a while since I've been under there, but it must just be fastened to the IC somehow. Looks like you'll be bleeding you power steering system... ;-)

Cheers
Massboykie

68jcode

Thanks for the response. The hoses definately connect into the back of the intercooler, looks like a supply and return. I reconnected it after seeing just a bit of the fluid come out, so I didn't lose much. I will spend a little time this morning when I get back out there to trace it for sure, but I might just leave the front carrier as is and try to complete the job without swinging it out like a gate. Will probably slow me down a bit, but I don't want to get into something that might cause more work ;-)

m000035

When following the instructions did you notice this one?

The disconnected power steering "cooler" is shown tucked under the engine in the last picture in section C.

4Driver4

There are two intercoolers, and that picture shows neither.
If you were using service position you wouldn't have this problem.

68jcode

Yes, the PS cooler and hoses are mounted to the front of the radiator and AC condensor and I removed them as outlined in the instructions. The hoses in the picture mount to the back side of the intercooler on the drivers side. I believe the hose is in fact for power steering as the fluid looked similar, but I wouldn't think they would route them through an intercooler. Odd.

68jcode

Actually the second picture is the back side of the intercooler on the drivers side. And yes, I realize the "service position" doesn't require to disconnect this hose, however I wanted to swing the carriage out for better access. This single hose was the only thing preventing this, so I disconnected it and caught the small amount of fluid that came out in a bucket. I just topped off the PS fluid once I had it all back together, so all is good.