Lower intercooler tube removal details

jakio

Registered User
Okay, so i've been working on cars for a while, but for some reason the engine really has me stumped.

I'm doing the heads, right? No problems with the passenger side stuff at all. So I take the intercooler, s/c top, i/c tube p/s pump pully off, disconnect all of the alternator connections, unbolt the driver's side accesory bracket bolts.

Here I'm just stuck. I can't seem to get the lower i/c tube to clear the bolts that bolt it to the lower intake, and the braket seems to be held on by the side bolt that holds it to the lower i/c tube.

I searched like mad yesterday, and some people made reference to an additional connection on the lower I/C tube, but I was unable to find anything holding the lower i/c to the car other than the two connections and the one sideways bolt through the accesory bracket.

I suppose what I need is a little more detail about the lower i/c tube removal. I'm sure I'm missing the obvious. Thanks for the time!
 
The best way to do it is to pull the power steering pulley off (you need a special puller / installer - make sure you get the one with an installer) and then unbolt the bracket that is behind it. Then you should be able to get the entire accessory bracket off. I think that it is possible to get these bolts without pulling the pulley off, but it takes some doing. I have also heard that it is possible to get the bolt that holds the lower IC tube to the bracket from underneath, but that would be a magic trick. I removed the bracket for the second lower IC tube bolt. Many others did too.
 
Funny thing is I have the pulley off! I got the bolt that everyone talks about removing- the one that goes to the water pump. At least, I think I did.

I'll go check when it stops raining :)
 
Once you have the bracket and ps pump out of the way, there is 1 bolt and 1 nut/stud that holds the IC tube bracket to the engine. If you remove those, then it becomes a matter of twisting and maneuvering the tube out. Its a squeeze, but eventually it will come out.
 
Make sure you have removed the 2 bolts and the stud nut attaching the accessory bracket to the engine as shown in the attached pic.
 

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The key to most of the fastener issues on the SC motor is that all the studs will come out. I pull the studs on the intercooler, I pull the studs on the IC tubes, and it makes it all easier. No stud in the way.
 
There is the stud that runs to the side of the PS bracket but there is also a bolt that comes up from the under side of the IC tube that bolts it to a small aluminum bracket under the large accessory bracket that holds the PS pump and alternator.
 
There is the stud that runs to the side of the PS bracket but there is also a bolt that comes up from the under side of the IC tube that bolts it to a small aluminum bracket under the large accessory bracket that holds the PS pump and alternator.

That bolt from underneath, get rid of it with the bracket.... I haven't seen any use for it other than an engineer having a bad sense of humour ;).

I do recommend putting the bracket from the power steering to the water pump back on before you put the pully back on. I strongly believe it helps to relieve some of the side force that is put on the head from the accessory bracket when the engine is running, especially at higher RPM's. The belt that turns the alternator and power steering pump, which both take alot of force to turn at higher RPM's, will pull hard on the accessory bracket which is mounted on the head. Without that bracket, all that force is being applied to the head, and we know the heads have enough of a time staying clamped down on their own without that extra twisting force on it.

Ford should have done something like that on the pax side bracket as well I think.
 
Very interesting. Perhaps it would be worth just changing out the water pump now, since putting that bracket on would make it tricky...

So, I got it all out. The key was that I had not removed the stud that runs horizontally and attaches the Lower IC tube to the driver's accessory bracket. It didn't even occur to me that it could come out, but in hindsight it should have been totally obvious. Perhaps that tiny 7mm head threw me off (or was it 5mm?), but in any case, that was the one thing holding the accessory bracket in place. I pulled that out, and the lower intercooler tube bracket that runs directly to the heads became visible and was simple to remove.

Thanks Guys! These cars are amazing, but not especially simple to work on when you are new to them, it seems.
 
You could change out the pump now, but it's not that big a deal to do later. Just remove the intercooler, PS pulley, and the aforementioned black steel bracket. You should be good to go.
 
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