[sysfailur]

Also I forgot... here's the new member of the subafleet, an 09XT:

[caveguru]

Hey- glad to see you started a thread- the flat black paint was a good move. Keep the mods coming!

Did you install that Crawford air/oil separator yet? If not, I'd like to get a look at it next time I'm in town.

Frank

[sysfailur]

Originally Posted by caveguru

Hey- glad to see you started a thread- the flat black paint was a good move. Keep the mods coming!

Did you install that Crawford air/oil separator yet? If not, I'd like to get a look at it next time I'm in town.

Frank

Funny you should mention it. My car is currently undergoing surgery by me. I've been tackling the A/O separator and well it has been a little bumpy.

I started at around 4.30 and went inside around 7.30 as it was getting too dark to finish. There were a few issues that the installation guide did not point out as it was clearly not an 08 STi in the guide.

Issue1: Where the separator is mounted, there is already a wiring harness bracket mounted there. I had to remove that harness and a few other harness latches to reroute the cables below the separator. I have not mounted it yet as I am still finalizing it up.

Issue2: There is some heat shield tubing included but I have no clue where to put it as the instructions don't say anything about it. I'll be calling tomorrow to find out where that goes.

Issue3: The engine crank case breather on the engine block was rather oily (as you'd assume) and the tube seemed to pop off very easily. Well that was fine, but then it did not seem to stay on firmly because it was slippery. I cleaned off the breather and the tube and it seemed to link up better and actually stay on. I'm just concerned that may disconnect because it is so slippery.

Issue4: The big issue... getting my TMIC back on is quite possibly the hardest thing I've ever done on this car. My knuckles are bloody and scratched up, my back is killing me, and the damn thing still isn't on. My main problem was getting the IC to turbo hose connected. It seemed to keep bending and not wanting to go on. So tomorrow I'm going to try and lube it just a little (in actual sunlight) and finish up this install.

Once the TMIC is on it's just a matter of reconnecting about 3-4 tubes and securing 6 bolts or so and I'm golden.


So, aside from that fun evening my other bit of news is that I've ordered my invidia DP and AP. Tomorrow in the light I'm going to decide if I just want to disconnect the heatshield and DP right off the bat and then when the goodies come on Thurs/Friday I can install those. Doing that may also give me more room to get this TMIC on.

I'll be rocking the 03 Fozzie for a few days until my baby is all modded up. And I'll get some pictures of these install issues tomorrow since I ran out of light tonight.

[caveguru]

I think I read somewhere that the heat shield material actually goes on the wiring bundle, but I'm not 100% on that.

I imagine you read the TiC blown engine thread that talks about the separator installation around page 15? At least, I think it was that thread ("Another dead piston..."). There might be a picture in there with a placement that you'll like.

Yeah, getting the IC back on is a bear. Be very reluctant to lube it- I've never taken the chance, but others have reported blown-off hoses and boost leaks. I just hooked the edge of the hose nearest the transmission and then pulled towards me and rocked it back and forth a lot. It slides right on once the lip of the hose is over the turbo flange all the way around. If you start snagging the hose, you really have to back up.

Make sure you leave lots of time on the backend! I always try to bite off more install than I can chew and end up inevitably getting zero sleep before some big race weekend as I try to close out all the installing I started earlier in the week.

[sysfailur]

Yeah I'll definitely have to try and get it on the bottom end of the turbo first. That is where I realized I messed up but once I saw my predicament it was already on half-assed and it was too dark. to continue. I'll get up early tomorrow and try to tackle it. At least I have 2 backup vehicles now for downtime like this.

And good call on the lube for the IC fittings. I was kinda thinking that since that's going against what you should be doing. You WANT it to stay on and not be slippery. I'll just try again nice and easy.

I did look at that thread again just now and I would presume you're refering to this post: http://www.iwsti.com/forums/2021181-post317.html

That is basically what I did. It really is the only option available--you just disconnect the metal bracket and yank the wire assembly underneath the A/O unit. Then you have those two holes in the strut tower available to use.

I have a few dangling wire harness clamps that I need to situate tomorrow but it should come out nicely.

I guess since I can't really start the car up to ramp it I'll just put it on stands for the downpipe install and then reassemble the IC, heatshield, tubing. I'm just glad I have another car to use during this process. Makes the urgency of completing it kinda moot

[sysfailur]

Well the A/O separator is all installed and working. During the install I did encounter some problems as the install notes were not perfect but I will address them here so users installing this in the future will know what to do.

I did give it a test run to make sure the car was running alright. It was about 55 degrees out so the engine was pretty cold when I fired it up. No smoke, engine temps seemed fine, car revved. Looks good to me! haha So I let it warm up to 1/2 temp and then took it out for a spin stopping after 3 minutes of driving to make sure everything was looking good. Engine temps actually DROPPED a little below the 1/2 after about 8-10mins of driving backroads and a little straightaways. I wish I had some actual physical numbers and not just a gauge but w/e. So I'm happy, it seems to be doing it's job and that works for me.

I have some labeled pictures below to depict issues I ran into.

(1): Mild hose kink. I tried to reroute it under the one smaller oil line there but it was a no go as it was just too tight. So there's a kink but it's not so bad that it will completely stop flow, just mild.

(2): This wiring tube was mounted where the CP separator is now. There is a metal bracket that must be removed and the whole wiring unit must be rerouted along w/ the smaller wire (and wire clamp, which is #4) to avoid getting in the separator's way.

(3): Although it was not in the instructions the kit included foil heat reflecting wrap. Now I wasn't exactly sure where to put this, but this tube seemed the only logical choice so I went with it. Afterwards, measuring temperatures I did notice that the wrap was around 170-180F as the turbo was quite warm. I checked various other temps through the bay including the various newly installed tubes and moved wiring tube. All temps checked out OK aside from the one toasty tube which I wrapped. *score*

(4): As mentioned above, just another smaller electrical cable which I routed to latch onto the power steering tube.

(5): I cut off this wire clamp mounting device since it didn't serve a purpose anymore from the electronic wiring tube.

(6): This was my trouble spot on the install! Because it was such a damn tight spot to work in, I really struggled to get all these tubes to hook up and connect properly to the engine crank case breather on the engine block. I mentioned some of these issues before, but my problem was the tube was not fully seated, thus I had less room to get the turbo->intercooler hose connected on the bottom side b/c the newly installed tubes were there pushing up.

What I also did to make my life easier on the TMIC reinstall is to remove the right TMIC bracket for more leverage, and remove the rubber washers from the TMIC mounting points. This made my life about 300% easier. The turbo tube snapped on like a glove, and then I worked the throttle body tube on and I was gtg. This of course would not have been possible, had I not moved the crank case breather Y adaptor further down onto the breather port.

(7): This just shows the area where the separator is mounted. Before, a black metal bracket would've been installed here w/ a big black/grey plastic device attached to it. That unit is now BELOW the separator. You can see where that tube leads to (the "7" is hovering right on the tube)


Anyway, I like trying to clarify installs when I do it myself. Clearly the install notes from CP were for an 04-07 as my engine bay did not look the same in some areas. I'm glad I did it myself though as I learned how stuff works and where things go in my car as I did a lot of disconnecting/reconnecting. I look forward to getting some power into this beast now!

PICTURES:

First two pictures are the completed install. Afterwards, it is before it was fully mounted w/ the TMIC back on.

[sysfailur]

Oh lord... ordered myself:

WL 22mm FSB
WL 20mm RSB
WL F/R endlinks
WL LCA bushings (can't wait to get that crisp steering!)
HM CAI (black crinkle)

This ish is getting SERIOUS... QUICK!

[sysfailur]

Some goodies arrived. Stage 1 flashed until I have time for DP install. I fscking LOVE IT!

[caveguru]

Originally Posted by sysfailur

Oh lord... ordered myself:

WL 22mm FSB
WL 20mm RSB
WL F/R endlinks
WL LCA bushings (can't wait to get that crisp steering!)
HM CAI (black crinkle)

This ish is getting SERIOUS... QUICK!

I fully expect to see you at the track this summer!

Frank

[altaic]

Originally Posted by sysfailur

Oh lord... ordered myself:

WL 22mm FSB
WL 20mm RSB
WL F/R endlinks
WL LCA bushings (can't wait to get that crisp steering!)
HM CAI (black crinkle)

This ish is getting SERIOUS... QUICK!

Which lower control arm bushings did you get (front, rear alk, rear "race" alk)? The next thing I'm going to do are the front bushings; crisp steering would be so awesome! (missing my old car which had hard LCA bushings and a rev-labs q-rack which had solid mounts-- no rack bushings)

I'm waiting on the alk since it messes with caster and I'm happy with stock caster. I'm also not convinced the anti-lift geometry change is beneficial on the new chassis with the stock springs/struts. The amount of braking dive on a track (I brake very hard as late as possible) is already substantial, and I'd worry about the rear walking around on me any more that it already does. Kinda ironic that they call the kit WALK.