vent mounted vacuum/boost ES2713030 This tutorial is provided as a courtesy by ECS Tuning. best viewed in Acrobat Reader Proper service and repair procedures are vital to the safe, reliable operation of all engine vehicles as well as the personal safety of those performing the repairs. Standard safety procedures and precautions (including use of safety goggles and proper tools and equipment) should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety. Although this material has been prepared with the intent to provide reliable information, no warranty (express or implied) is made as to its accuracy or completeness. Neither is any liability assumed for loss or damage resulting from reliance on this material. SPECIFICALLY, NO WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR ANY OTHER WARRANTY IS MADE OR TO BE IMPLIED WITH RESPECT TO THIS MATERIAL. In no event will ECS Tuning, Incorporated or its affiliates be liable for any damages, direct or indirect, consequential or compensatory, arising out of the use of this material.
mounting the gauge Step 1 Open the driver side door. Using a non-marring plastic trim removal tool or similar, pry out at the front of the dashboard side panel. Pivot the cover away and remove it completely. Step 2 Use an 8mm socket to remove the side screw (arrow). 2
mounting the gauge Step 3 Use the same 8mm socket to remove the two underdash screws (arrows). (Dash panel removed to show screw locations.) When all screws are removed, pull the top edge of the dashboard straight out until it clears the retainer tabs in the dash. When the tabs clear the dash, drop the dash panel down into the driver side footwell. Step 4 Remove the footwell light. No need to unplug it; just push the end of the light opposite the electrical connector down through the hole. Then turn the light sideways and pull it back through the hole. 3
mounting the gauge Step 5 Remove the data link connector from the underdash panel, as well. There are three plastic retainer clips holding it in place (arrows); squeeze them all at the same time and pull the connector from the underdash panel. Remove the underdash panel from the footwell and lay it aside. Step 6 Remove the dashboard trim surround panel, shown here removed from the car. Use a non-marring plastic trim removal tool and pry carefully between the edges of the panel and the dash support beneath. Service Tip: Note that while the chrome trim surrounding the instrument cluster and MMI (MultiMedia Interface) screen opening come off with the dash surround, the chrome trim for the left side air vent should NOT be removed. Do not attempt to remove the chrome trim, since it holds the vent louvers and linkages in place. (You don t want to have to reassemble the vent if it falls apart.) Do not remove the chrome surround trim from the left side vent. Exercise caution when removing the dash surround panel to avoid damaging the small plastic tabs on the left side vent opening, visible in this photo (arrow). 4
mounting the gauge Step 7 Removing the trim surround is not difficult, just work slowly with your trim tool as you release all those snap-in-place retainer clips. When the surround is free, remove it and lay it aside if a safe place. Step 8 Use your non-marring trim removal tool to pry between the vent housing and dash. Service Tip: We find it easiest to start at the lower corners on either side and work our way up the sides until the assembly pops free. 5
mounting the gauge Step 9 Slide the vent housing out of the dash far enough to disconnect the illumination harness; depress the small locking tab on the yellow electrical connector and unplug it. Then remove the vent assembly completely. Step 10 Pry up on the retainer tabs holding the trim bezel to the main vent housing. Move the tabs just far enough to release them all until you can remove the bezel and chrome trim beneath it. 6
mounting the gauge Step 11 Pop off the center trim panel at the vent control rollers. Again, this is a snap-in-place piece, so work carefully to avoid damaging it. Step 12 Install the gauge in the vent pod. Use the nuts in the box to secure it. Lay the vent pod and gauge aside for now. 7
mounting the gauge Step 13 Remove the four screws holding the MMI display in the dash. Step 14 Pull the screen from the dash and lay it on a soft, clean cloth on the top of the dashboard. 8
mounting the gauge Step 15 Drill a 10mm (3/8-inch) hole in the duct in the location shown in the photo. Step 16 Take the plastic vacuum tubing from the kit and fish it down through the left side of the dash next to the air ducts (arrow) until it comes out beneath the dash in the driver side footwell. This is a fairly large opening, and fishing the narrow, rigid plastic tubing down to the footwell is easy. 9
mounting the gauge Step 17 When the tubing comes out in the footwell, tape the power harness and the harness from the transducer to the plastic hose, then pull the hose back through the dashboard cavity into the opening above the vent duct. Untape the tubing and harnesses. Lay the tubing aside for later when we run the vacuum/boost line. Step 18 Route the two harness leads down through the hole drilled in Step 15, and pull them through the vent duct opening, as shown here. 10
mounting the gauge Step 19 Route the two harness leads into and through the left side of the vent housing. Hold the vent pod up to the opening and connect the two harnesses to the rear of the gauge. Service Tip: The harness connectors are different sizes and will plug in only one way. Step 20 Install the vent pod with gauge into the vent housing. Insert the small pivot pins on the left side lovers into the holes in the housing, then pivot the vent pod inward on the right side until the right side pins fall into the slots, highlighted here. Reinstall the vent roller trim panel removed in Step 11. Reinstall the chrome trim and vent housing bezel on the main housing (removed in Step 10). Make sure all the plastic tabs snap in place securely. 11
mounting the gauge Step 21 Slide the vent assembly into the dash opening. Pull the slack out of the cable as you slide the vent in place. Reconnect the light harness removed in Step 9 before you slide the vent all the way in. Step 22 Now it s time to provide power, ground and illumination to the gauge. The best place to get all three is at the 12V power adapter (cigarette lighter socket) at the base of the center console. Service Tip: To prevent damage to the dashboard polished faces and console carbon fiber trim, apply masking tape as we have done here. Slide the heat and AC control head from the dash. You may have to pry at the edges with your trim tool to free it. Tie the head up, out of your way with a piece of thin, insulated wire, or similar. 12
mounting the gauge Step 23 Service Tip: Work carefully in this step. Tape the surrounding area to prevent damage. Do not pry anywhere in this area with steel or other hard tools or you will damage some very expensive plastic. Insert your fingers into the shift boot area indicated by the upper arrows. The idea is to lift the rear of the shift boot and surrounding console cover. If you must pry at the perimeter, do so carefully, working in the area indicated by the lower arrows. When the center cover is removed, rotate it 90 degrees and pull it back out of your way. Step 24 Remove the two screws holding the ashtray assembly in the console (locations indicated by arrows). Then slide the ash tray assembly toward the shifter, out of the console. Service Tip: Before flipping the ashtray over to access the power adapter wiring, you may wish to slide a clean plastic bag over the assembly to prevent scratching of the smooth plastic surfaces. 13
mounting the gauge Step 25 Fish the power harness from the footwell, up the side of the center console, into the opening behind the ashtray, and pull it through. (Use the plastic tubing as a fish again, if necessary.) The power harness has four wires: white, red, black, and green. Step 26 Crimp the yellow Scotchlok connectors over the red (keyedpower) and brown (ground) wires at the rear of the power socket. Crimp the blue Scotchlok connector over the gray/blue wire (dashboard illumination). Make sure the connectors snap closed. Strip away a short length of insulation from each of the power harness wires to expose bare copper strand. Crimp one insulated spade connector over the white wire copper, and another over the black wire. Twist the red and green wires together, and crimp them in a third insulated spade connector. Plug the spade connectors into the Scotchloks as follows: plug spade connector with red and green wires into Scotchlok at red wire plug spade connector with white wire into Scotchlok at gray/blue wire plug spade connector with black wire into Scotchlok at brown wire 14
mounting the gauge Step 27 STOP here. Before we start reassembling the dash, we want to check our electrical connections. Turn on the dash lights. The gauge background should illuminate, and go from full-bright to dim with the rest of the rest of the dash lights when the dimmer control is used. Switch the ignition to the ON position. The gauge should go through its initialization process as soon as it is powered. The gauge needle will rotate counterclockwise to 30 in-hg, then sweep fully clockwise to 30psi, before settling back at zero. If the gauge passes these tests, the wiring is correct. Step 28 Time to put the dash back together. Reinstall the ashtray, making sure the wires are not pinched in the process. Reinstall the center trim in the shift console. Align it, and press it in place. Reinstall the heat and AC console. Slide it into the dash until it snaps in place. Reinstall the dashboard trim surround. 15
running the vacuum/boost hose Step 1 Raise the hood. Remove the plastic beauty cover at the rear of the engine. Lift up on the front of the cover to pop the plastic tabs from the clips (arrows). Remove the cover to expose the air bypass elbow (highlighted). Step 2 This photo, taken from the rear looking forward, shows the location of the seven Torx bolts that must be removed at the manifold and throttle body. Use a T30 Torx driver to remove all the bolts. 16
running the vacuum/boost hose Step 3 Access to one screw is partially blocked by a rigid plastic hose. Temporarily lift the rubber block that supports the hose off its black metal support bracket and lift the hose to improve access. Here, we remove the screw with a T30 driver and wobblehead extension. Step 4 Service Tip: Lay the screws aside in a safe place so they cannot fall into the engine when you remove the elbow. Immediately cover the throttle and intake manifold openings with a clean cloth. Then pull the black adapter (arrow) out of the elbow and set it aside. Service Tip: The adapter is a push fit that slides into a sealing o-ring in the throat of the elbow. Twisting the adapter as you pull it off aids removal. 17
running the vacuum/boost hose Step 5 Your vacuum/boost gauge kit includes a modified adapter with two threaded-hole vacuum ports. The ECS-engineered adapter is packaged in a fourcompartment plastic bag with a small tube of thread locking compound, two threaded vacuum nipples, and a set screw. Step 6 The adapter plate has two available ports. We need only one for this project, so we ll install one nipple and plug the other port with the threaded set screw in the bag. Service Tips: Cut the end off the thread locker tube. Apply a few drops to the threads on the nipple and set screw. Tighten the set screw using a 3mm hex key. Temporarily slide a length of tight-fitting rubber hose over the nipple for added leverage, and screw the nipple in by hand. Put the extra nipple somewhere safe in case you need a second vacuum port in the future. 18
running the vacuum/boost hose Step 7 Insert the engineered adapter into the hole in the elbow. Make sure the sealing o-ring is pliable and intact. Twist the adapter slightly as you push it all the way into the elbow. Step 8 Twist the adapter in the o-ring until the nipple points to nine o clock with the intake face of the elbow sitting flat on a table as shown here. Don t worry about exact positioning, you can fine tune the position on the car. 19
running the vacuum/boost hose Step 9 Reinstall the elbow. Thread the four short Torx bolts into the holes in the intake manifold. Rotate the adapter as needed to align the adapter holes with those in the throttle plate and the threaded holes beneath it. Then thread in the remaning Torx bolts, finger tight. Step 10 The bolts must be tightened in the proper order. Start at the manifold (shown here). Torque the four manifold bolts to 10Nm (7.5 ft-lb). Then tighten the three remaining bolts securing the adapter to the throttle to 10Nm, as well. 20
running the vacuum/boost hose Step 11 Move to the water tray. Unscrew the two plastic nuts on the left and right sides of the plastic water tray cover. See following two steps for details. Step 12 Both of the plastic nuts have a slotted head that turns easily with a common screwdriver. 21
running the vacuum/boost hose Step 13 The water tray cover is also held in place by a white plastic retainer pin, located beneath the plastic cover, at the positive jump start lug. Pry up on the head of this clip to remove it. With both plastic nuts and this retainer clip removed, lift up on the front of water tray cover and slide it out. Lay the cover aside. Step 14 With the water tray cover removed you can see the main power distribution center/ecu box. Remove the three T30 Torx screws and lift off the cover. 22
running the vacuum/boost hose Step 15 Removing the cover exposes the ECU (Engine Control Unit) inside the main power distribution center. This large plastic, water-tight box houses the main fuses as well as the ECU. Push outward on the two plastic retainer clips holding the ECU in place (arrows) to release them. Hold them outward as you pull the ECU forward. Step 16 When the ECU clears the retainer clips, slide it all the way out of its bracket, and pull it carefully off to the side with all wire connectors attached. 23
running the vacuum/boost hose Step 17 With the ECU pulled off to one side, there is a large opening into the cabin. Take the plastic vacuum tube from the kit and feed it through the opening, routing it next the electrical wires entering the cabin (right arrow), just above the dead pedal. Use your diagonal cutters to make an angle cut at the opposite end of the plastic tubing (inset). This will create a sharp point on the tubing that can be pushed through the rubber grommet in the side of the box (left arrow). Push the plastic tube all the way through the grommet and pull it into the water tray, next to the electrical box. Step 18 Run the plastic line forward to the front of the water tray. Locate the foam seal where the steel brake lines pass through the front wall of the water tray. Run the plastic line through the foam an inch or so, and attach the rubber hose from the gauge kit. 24
running the vacuum/boost hose Step 19 Run the rubber hose across the front of the water tray. Route it to the vacuum port on the throttle adapter and plug it onto the vacuum nipple. (The location and routing of the hose are highlighted in pink). Use zip ties to secure the hose at several places. Do not pull the hose too tight or run it too close to anything hot. Make sure it cannot rub or chafe. When the hose is routed, connected, and properly secured, reinstall the beauty cover above the throttle. 25
Step 20 Working beneath the dash, pull the excess length of plastic hose into the driver side footwell. Route it next to the main wiring harness and secure it in several place with zip ties. Reinstall the ECU; slide it back into its bracket and push it inward until the snap clips secure it. Reinstall the plastic weather-tight cover above the power box, and reinstall the three screws (removed in Step 14). 26
running the vacuum/boost hose Step 21 Zip tie the transducer to the metal support bracket at the left side of the dash. Use a short length of rubber vacuum hose to connect the transducer vacuum port to the inline plastic filter. Make sure the vacuum nipple on the transducer points downward so moisture in the hose cannot collect inside the transducer body. The filter can be installed pointing either way. Run the plastic line from the engine compartment up close to the filter and cut away any excess line. Connect the plastic line to the filter using a short length of vacuum hose. Route the transducer wire from the gauge across the air duct, above pedals. Tie the excess length into a neat bundle. Then use zip ties to secure the cable to the duct so it cannot get tangled in the pedals, steering linkage, or any other moving components. Before you finish, make sure all hoses and cables are routed and secured where they cannot interfere with pedals or steering column movement. 27
Audi B8 S5 Vent-Mounted Finishing Up Now its time to finish the job: Reinstall the underdash panel, footwell lighting, and data link connector. Reinstall the dashboard fuse panel side cover. Test drive your new vent pod boost gauge. ES2713030 Thanks for purchasing your vent pod vacuum boost gauge from ECS Tuning. We appreciate your business, and hope this tutorial has been helpful and informative. 28