TFSI Downpipe fitting guide

[Hofmiester]

Figured I'd do my bit and document this install. I was pretty scared of this job before I decided to just go for it but it was actually pretty straight forward

Parts needed

PipeWerx 3" downpipe and 200cel sports cat

Turbo to downpipe gasket 1K 0 253 115 AB

ECS torque mount insert

Stage 1 (above), start with the car flat on the ground but with room in front to put it up on ramps. Next remove the engine cover. Details on how exactly to do that can be found here OOOO-A3: How To Remove the Engine Cover / Stock Airbox

Stage 2 (Above 3 images) locate the top of the downpipe (DP for short) at the back of the engine, there are 4 bolts that attach it to the turbo, however only 3 are accessible from the top. These can be removed with a 16mm (deep) socket and a decent length extension bar. Note: I gave these bolts a good soaking in WD40 before I started and they came off easy. Its cramped back there and you cant see all the bolts but you can feel them and get a socket in there easy enough.

Note: The tops exhaust gas sensor in the image, I couldn't get this off as there isn't enough room to work with a spanner so I just disconnected it as it can be removed along with the old DP and detached later.

Stage 4 (above) Get the car up on some ramps, in my case i was replacing the stock engine cover with a CAI so I just very loosely attached it so that I could start the car and get it onto the ramps. Make sure you chock the wheels and put the handbrake on tight!

Edited 1 March, 2009 by Hofmiester

[Hofmiester]

Stage 5 (above) remove all of the bolts arrowed and also while under the car you can get to the 1 of the 4 downpipe bolts. In my case I didn't remove the top exhaust gas sensor while it was on the car as it was very tight. Instead I removed the heat shield labeled (3 torx screws) and then slid the whole DP out along with the sensors. Remember to disconnect the sensors first! The top one is easy but the bottom one involves loosening some of the plastic covering under the car to get to the connector.

Stage 6 (above) a comparison of the stock 2.5" DP and the 3" PipeWerx DP, note that the stock DP appears to have 2 catalysts, one directly after the Turbo and another further down the pipe and it is pretty narrow in places.

The Pipewerx DP is very straight in comparison with minimal bends and changes in diameter. It also has some very nice welding (if you like that kind of thing!) and looks to be of exceptional quality. Overall it fit perfectly with only a minor adjustment being made to 1 of the 2 mounting prongs, it was about 10mm out so I had to bend it back using a bit of pipe for leverage...30 second job

Highly recomended http://www.pipewerx.com/

Stage 7 (above) remove all these parts from the old DP, be carefull with the exhaust sensors as they are pretty delicate, for the mounting bracket I used a rubber mallet to hammer it off. The exhaust connector should slide straight off.

Stage 8 (Above) This is the old gasket that fits between the turbo and the DP and next to it is the bag that the new gasket came in with the part number. I forget to mention that earlier so be sure you've taken the old one off the car and you have a new one handy.

Stage 9 (Above) fitting the new DP and connecting up the bottom exhaust gas sensor, you can leave the top one until the DP is full installed as its easier to move the DP around when mating to the turbo without the sensor in place. The DP is heavy so take your time. Also remember to install that new gasket before tightening up any bolts.

Edited 2 March, 2009 by Hofmiester

[Hofmiester]

Stage 10 (above) Everything back in place under the car, I installed all 4 DP to turbo bolts from under the car but only tightened the bottom 2 properly as you cant really get any room to tighten the top 2 from under the car and with the car on ramps, I couldn't reach them from the top either. Then when the car was down off the ramps, I fully tightened the top 2 and install the top exhaust sensor.

Stage 11 (Above) the ECS torque mount insert stops the engine moving around so much which can damage the new and expensive downpipe!

Stage 12 (above) from under the car, remove the engine cover and you can see the large round engine mount at the bottom of the engine. You must first remove the old bolt which was "F" tight. Then gently hammer the ECS insert into place with a rubber mallet.

Stage 13 (above) use the ECS supplied bolt and tighten the whole thing back up. I didn't have a torque wrench so just tightened it to "F"

....now take the car down off the ramps, tighten the top 2 DP bolts and the reconnect and tighten top exhaust sensor. Refit the intake system.

Job done! It took me 2 hours in total but if I'd had notes like this it would have been 1.5 hours

Edited 1 March, 2009 by Hofmiester

[Hedge]

Nice write up.

Is the Cat and DP sleeved down to fit the standard back box?

[Hofmiester]

Yes, the downpipe has a built in taper taking it down from 3" to 2.5" for the standard system.

It has made the standard system sound more beefy which is a bonus.

[vRSy]

gleaming write up there. This shall be my bible when i get my downpipe.

[muckipup]

Just wanted to say a big topic-resurrecting thank you for this guide. I followed it (more or less) today and it worked a treat

I have to confess that it took a little longer than expected i.e. all afternoon but that was down to me being over cautious, atrocious weather (I have no room in my garage!) and a bit more effort to loosen those dp-turbo bolts than I would have hoped for on a 57 car...even one soaked in WD40 ! At least my luck held out and I didn't strip the studs which is the 'bad dream' associated with this job.

[Hofmiester]

Glad it was useful mate

vRSy PM'd me to say you were getting come errors? did you drill out the blank C02 sensor hole? if not, you will need to. i got intermittend CEL light saying that the CO2 sensor was slow to respond.

Ron

[muckipup]

Glad it was useful mate

vRSy PM'd me to say you were getting come errors? did you drill out the blank C02 sensor hole? if not, you will need to. i got intermittend CEL light saying that the CO2 sensor was slow to respond.

Ron

Thanks Ron, I tried to PM you directly but had a 'no can do' message. I got a CEL which Shark's STS unit showed as a P0139 and a P0140 code relating to slow and non-functional rear O2 sensor respectively. I cleared the codes and CEL went out although P0139 returned with no CEL.

For the life of me, I really do not remember two rear O2 sensor ports (you meant O2 rather than CO2 , yes?) and would be surprised if I missed that...however, I have done dumber stuff in my time! In fact, I can't even see it on the picture up above ( http://briskoda.net/forums/uploads/2/6/7/8/3/27492.attach ) of your DP. I will get the car up in the air and have a look. Interestingly, I also found the following thread:

http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=7760.15 I can see the alternative sensor ports on the final picture here!

Luckily I kept the screw in plug to blank out the sensor port.

Cheers, Dave

Edited 26 January, 2010 by muckipup

[muckipup]

Hold on, I think I have been taken off in the wrong direction after being confused by the picture on the GTI forum...

Do you mean that there is only 1 post-cat O2 sensor port but it is blanked off on the inside by a steel tube which shrouds the sensor. So, even if you screw in the sensor, it will go in fine but can not 'see' the exhaust gases? I stuck my pinky in to test this before but would not have sussed this method of blanking out the sensor.

If so, was it a case of just sticking a large HSS drill bit in and drilling it out (and hopefully not going through the other side of the exhaust )

Edited 26 January, 2010 by muckipup

[vRSy]

thats my take on it, there were only two holes on my DP, so i think he must have drilled one of them, one at the top by the turbo, and the other on main pipe. i think it was the second one he drilled

Edited 26 January, 2010 by vRSy

[muckipup]

thats my take on it, there were only two holes on my DP, so i think he must have drilled one of them, one at the top by the turbo, and the other on main pipe. i think it was the second one he drilled

Jeez, I think you are right. I have since found this thread from the Hof:

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/123927-performance-down-pipe-question/

If my post-cat sensor port is capped off in such a way then that would explain the P0139 code - no wonder the sensor is reading as inefficient if there is a steel tube shrouding it off from the exhaust gasses!!!

[Hofmiester]

Jeez, I think you are right. I have since found this thread from the Hof:

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/123927-performance-down-pipe-question/

If my post-cat sensor port is capped off in such a way then that would explain the P0139 code - no wonder the sensor is reading as inefficient if there is a steel tube shrouding it off from the exhaust gasses!!!

Yep, second sensor hole is blanked off on the pipewerx DP, Ian who makes them said it was due to some big turbo conversions running too rich and so ruining the second O2 sensor but on a standard turbo like my car was I had to drill this out as it caused a CEL, it fixed the issue. Easy job, £3 6mm drill bit did it as you just need to puncture the blank so that the gasses get in and not completely drill it all out.

I didnt have to remove the DP, just disconnect the battery and undo the sheath connecting the DP to the exhaust, remove the cross member and you can then drop the DP enough to remove the O2 sensor and drill the hole.

[muckipup]

Yep, second sensor hole is blanked off on the pipewerx DP, Ian who makes them said it was due to some big turbo conversions running too rich and so ruining the second O2 sensor but on a standard turbo like my car was I had to drill this out as it caused a CEL, it fixed the issue. Easy job, £3 6mm drill bit did it as you just need to puncture the blank so that the gasses get in and not completely drill it all out.

I didnt have to remove the DP, just disconnect the battery and undo the sheath connecting the DP to the exhaust, remove the cross member and you can then drop the DP enough to remove the O2 sensor and drill the hole.

Fantastic, I will sort that out this weekend. Ben offered to map it out but this is such an easy job (would have been easier if Pipe Werx had let me know!) and will keep things functional which I would prefer.

Ron / Simon - many thanks for all your help with this. The added bonus is that this is now part of the fitting guide thread and means that anyone else fitting the Pipe Werx DP will be aware.

Cheers , Dave

PS - I'm glad I followed your lead and went with the Pipe Werx 3" DP when mating it with a stock cat-back; it is a fantastic piece of kit and I don't feel that I am wanting for a performance cat-back section. Just my humble opinion but if keeping the stock cat-back, I think that the built-in reducer in the PW makes it the most sensible and cost-effective way of doing this as opposed to the hassle and expense of getting a custom reducer made up as would be needed with some other DPs.

Edited 27 January, 2010 by muckipup

[muckipup]

UPDATE: I went under the cat and popped the O2 sensor out. The port for the sensor was not blocked-off on my PW exhaust. Perhaps they stopped doing this.

On to Plan B for fixing the DTC codes....

[Gurupprasad]

Hi All,

I own a Skoda Octavia vRS Nov 2005 Model in India. Bought second hand, i was going all fine till the Floods played spoil sport.

Post flood, when i connected the VCDS, i did see 1 error code with respect to O2 sensor:

"16514/P0130/000304 - Oxygen (Lambda) Sensor B1 S1: Malfunction in Circuit

Possible Causes
Oxygen (Lambda) Sensor Heating Bank 1 Sensor 1 faulty
Possible Solutions
Check Oxygen (Lambda) Sensor Heating Bank 1 Sensor 1"

My mechanic suggested to remove the "Catalytic Converter" and check for blockage. And yes, the culprit was the Cat-Con. it was blacked out with carbon, disrupting the free flow of exhaust. 

I was suggested to drive with Cat-Con removed and it turned out good as the car was breathing easily.

The Next Morning, i got to see the "EPC & Check Engine" lights glow. Given below are the error codes.

"17524/P1116/004374 - Oxygen (Lambda) Sensor Heating Bank 1 Sensor 1: Open Circuit

Possible Symptoms
Malfunction Indicator Light (MIL) ON
Possible Causes
Fuse(s) faulty
Wiring and/or Connector(s) from/to Oxygen (Lambda) Sensor (G39) / Oxygen (Lambda) Sensor Heating (Z19) faulty
Oxygen (Lambda) Sensor (G39) / Oxygen (Lambda) Sensor Heating (Z19) faulty
Possible Solutions
Check Fuse(s)
Check Wiring and/or Connector(s) from/to Oxygen (Lambda) Sensor (G39) / Oxygen (Lambda) Sensor Heating (Z19)
Check/Replace Oxygen (Lambda) Sensor (G39) / Oxygen (Lambda) Sensor Heating (Z19)"

and

"17511/P1103/004355 - Oxygen (Lambda) Sensor Heating; B1 S1: Performance too Low
Possible Solutions
Check Oxygen Sensor Heating for Oxygen Sensor before Catalytic Converter"

please help me understand if it is due to removal of Cat-Con? do i have to do some adaptive coding using VCDS to let the ECU know that i have removed the Cat-Con?

Thanks in advance 

Guru